The Christian beliefs and influences of Charlie Kirk are being explored in the wake of his murder at a university event in Utah on Wednesday. At just 31, Kirk commanded a phenomenal following of up to ten million people on each of his social media platforms. He was not only a central figure in promoting Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, but also a powerful influencer urging students and young people to embrace conservative Christianity.
A detailed analysis by Mara Richards Bim in Baptist News Global traces Kirk’s journey from his early days as a conservative activist to his embrace of Christian nationalism and his close association with Trump.
He grew up in a churchgoing family in Illinois and attended an evangelical school, where he was converted at the age of 11: “I remember very vividly just raising my hand to be like, I want to sign up for that. I’m ready to make Jesus Christ the Chairman of the Board of my life.”
In 2012, at the age of 18, he launched Turning Point USA (TPUSA), with businessman Bill Montgomery, a student-focused organisation designed to champion capitalism and free markets. At that stage, his campaign was secular.
In a 2018 interview with the Rubin Report, he argued that politics should be advanced through a secular worldview and there should be a separation of church and state. He said the imposition of a Christian version of morality through government policy, was wrong.
But in 2020, the desire to break any links with neo-Nazis and the lockdowns from Covid-19 marked a turning point and he pivoted from students to church goers.
After the first lockdowns in 2020, TPUSA aligned with charismatic worship leader Sean Feucht, supporting his “Kingdom to the Capitol” tour, a series of revival-style rallies proclaiming the imminent return of Christ.
Around the same time, he endorsed the “Seven Mountain Mandate,” a theology promoted by charismatic leaders that calls on Christians to take dominion over key spheres of society: government, education, media, family, business, arts, and religion. Pastors associated with him, McCoy and Feucht, promote this idea and the US Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, is a member of a church associated with the Mandate.
In 2021, he launched TPUSA Faith, in partnership with California pastor Rob McCoy. The initiative promised to “push back against secular totalitarianism in America, eradicate wokeism from the church, inspire the rise of strong churches, and wake up believers to their biblical responsibility to fight for freedom.”
By the 2024 presidential election, Charlie Kirk had become one of Trump’s most high-profile campaigners, headlining rallies and megachurch events across the country. He repeatedly cast the contest in stark spiritual terms, claiming Democrats “stand for everything God hates” and describing the election as “a spiritual battle.”
Speaking in West Palm Beach in July 2024, Kirk declared: “I realized that there is a desire for revival in this country, that there is a yearning for a different type of Christianity. It is about preaching a hot gospel and bringing a nation to repentance, which will then lead to revival.”
His seven years in the public eye has seen a dramatic shift in America’s political landscape and the rise of the Christian right. His assassination has left many of his followers treating him not only as a political leader, but as a martyr for the faith he championed.
The Guardian: Charlie Kirk in his own words: ‘prowling Blacks’ and ‘the great replacement strategy’
New York Times: Kirk’s Christian Supporters Mourn Him as a Martyr
Fox News: Charlie Kirk leaves behind powerful Christian faith legacy after tragic shooting
Gordon Lynch, Edinburgh University, in The Conversation: Charlie Kirk: why the battle over his legacy will divide even his most ardent admirers
Daily Citizen: Charlie Kirk Committed His Life to Truth
Catholic Herald: The shooting of Charlie Kirk is a spiritual crisis, not just a political one
