Four Trump Cabinet members and the Vice President were among those who spoke at the Charlie Kirk Memorial. They all paid tribute to Kirk’s life and work, but each one of them also spoke from the heart about God, Christianity and their faith. The following JD Vance comment received the loudest and longest applause of the day, complete with a standing ovation.
“I always felt a little uncomfortable talking about my faith in public, as much as I love the Lord and as much as it was an important part of my life. I have talked more about Jesus Christ in the past two weeks than I have my entire time in public life. And that is an undeniable legacy of the great Charlie Kirk.”
I used to believe talking about God in public was “taboo” because it made some people – Jews, Muslims, atheists – uncomfortable. Not talking about religion was respectful and tolerant of others’ “feelings.” Conservatives willingly went along with this – we are generally nice people and choose not to offend others.
But I realized after Charlie Kirk’s assassination that eradicating all public discourse on God and faith has actually been an insidious part of the left’s culture war. Public prayer and other expressions of faith were criticized and defined as narrow-minded intolerance. The resulting “cancellation” of God and faith, which play such an important part in America’s history and culture, has had terrible consequences for our nation.
Charlie Kirk realized this. And he took it on. We can no longer be afraid to speak about God and faith in public.