Today, as America remembers the tragedy of 9/11, I find myself wrestling with another tragedy that also feels too heavy to carry: the loss of Charlie Kirk. Writing these words is difficult, because my feelings are tangled. I feel grief, but also anger. Confusion, but also clarity. Pain, but also a fierce determination not to let his voice be forgotten.
Charlie Kirk was only 31 years old. By any standard, that is far too young to die. Yet in those years, he accomplished more than most do in a lifetime. He founded Turning Point USA at just 18, building it into one of the most influential conservative movements in the nation. He became a voice for millions of young Americans searching for conviction in an age of compromise. But more than all of that, he was a warrior for truth.
Charlie spoke boldly at a time when boldness often comes with a price. He defended faith, family, and freedom when so many preferred silence. And perhaps most importantly for me, he stood unapologetically with Israel. In a world eager to downplay or dismiss the Jewish people’s right to defend themselves, Charlie refused to bend.
He said it plainly: Israel’s fight is America’s fight, because the forces that want to destroy Israel are the same forces that despise freedom everywhere.
When Hamas terrorists slaughtered innocent Jews on October 7th, Charlie didn’t hide behind the cowardly “both sides” rhetoric that poisoned so much of the media and academia. He called evil by its name. He condemned Hamas with clarity and conviction, and he exposed the hypocrisy of a world that cheered America’s strikes against terror after 9/11 but condemned Israel for daring to defend its own people.
He stood shoulder to shoulder with Israel, and even more than that, shoulder to shoulder with the truth.
That is why his loss cuts so deeply. We didn’t just lose a commentator. We lost a defender. We lost a man who gave courage to countless others simply by refusing to back down. For many of us, Charlie was a reminder that we were not alone in the fight. And now, in his absence, we feel that loneliness all over again.
But here is the reality: Charlie’s death cannot just be a moment of mourning. It must be a moment of decision. It must be a turning point.
On 9/11, nearly 3,000 Americans were murdered. The United States responded with overwhelming force, striking terrorists across oceans and even eliminating leaders in foreign capitals. The world applauded. On October 7th, Jews were slaughtered in their homes. Israel responded by striking those who planned and funded the massacre, including in Doha. And suddenly, many of those same voices who had cheered America condemned Israel. Charlie Kirk had no patience for that hypocrisy, and neither should we.
Now, as America reels from Charlie’s death, we face our own hypocrisy test. Will we honor his memory by standing boldly with truth, or will we retreat into silence and despair? Do we carry forward the torch he lit, or do we allow it to be extinguished?
I confess that in these first hours, I feel more confusion than clarity. But perhaps that is the point. Perhaps grief is supposed to break us open before it builds us back up. Perhaps the turning point begins in our weakness, forcing us to decide who we will be when the voices we relied on are taken from us.
For me, I know the answer.
I will not let Charlie’s voice die.
I will not let his defense of Israel be forgotten.
And I will not let the hypocrisy he railed against go unanswered. His life was a rallying cry, and his death must be one too.
This is America’s turning point. It is a time to decide whether we still produce men and women willing to speak without fear, to live without apology, to stand where Charlie stood. It is a time for Christians and conservatives to declare again, as Charlie did, that the fight for Israel is the fight for freedom, and that truth is worth defending at any cost.
Charlie Kirk’s absence leaves a hole, but his legacy leaves a challenge. Pain must become purpose. Confusion must give way to courage. Grief must transform into resolve.
Never again means never again. For the Jewish people. For America. For freedom itself.
And if Charlie Kirk taught us anything, it is that we must stand shoulder to shoulder with the truth, and with Israel. That is how we honor him. That is how we carry him forward.