Vice President JD Vance told the memorial audience for Charlie Kirk that Christianity is essential for good politics.
“I have talked more about Jesus Christ in the past two weeks than my entire time in public life,” he declared to the Arizona and national TV audience. The attendees roared their approval as Vance continued:
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… Charlie knew that we were all children of God. He knew deep down the truth of Scripture, and from that confidence, everything else flowed.
That unshakable belief in the Gospel lets us see differences in opinion not as battlefields to conquer, but as waystations in the pursuit of truth. He knew it was right to love others — your neighbor, your interlocutor, your enemy. But he also understood his duty to say what is right and what is wrong, to distinguish what is false from what is true.
Vance said:
Charlie exemplified kindness, courage, and a commitment to open debate, and he was a great debater, and we loved him for it. But Charlie loved debate not because he excelled at it, but because it was the vehicle for bringing the light of truth to dark places. And Charlie Kirk brought many truths in his life.
Charlie brought the truth that young people deserve to have a stake, deserve to have a voice. He brought the truth that marriage and family were the highest callings — far more important than any title or educational credential. He brought the truth that our nation would fade unless it brought order to its neighborhoods and prosperity to its people. He brought the truth that life was precious and we must fight to protect it at all stages and at all times.
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Charlie Kirk loved history. He devoured the ideas that formed the foundation of our civilization. He stood for a tradition that Socrates established 2,500 years ago, to question, to search, and to teach. He was Athens and Jerusalem, the City of Reason and the City of God in one person.
But if he loved those places, they were not his home. America was his home, and he was willing to die for it.
He loved this country with a contagious intensity. Anybody who talked to him knew it and felt it. He knew that America was a beautiful place, and we have these incredible ideas. But he also knew that our country was a covenant between the generations, past, present, and future. He believed this country’s best days were not behind us, but ahead of us.
But he knew those better days have to be earned. They would have to be worked for. We would have to sacrifice and work and tell the truth. He knew that America wouldn’t be saved just by pulling together seminars or talking about the right kind of books in front of the right kind of people. The movement, which he created, demanded more.
It demanded courage. It demanded hard work. It demanded building, and it demanded leaders, my friends, and in Charlie Kirk, we found a great American leader.
Now our whole administration is here, but not just because we love Charlie as a friend, even though we did, but because we know we wouldn’t be here without him. Charlie built an organization that reshaped the balance of politics. Turning Point brought millions of young people into conversation with one another [and] brought millions of people into advocacy.
“He asked of us, not just that we talk about saving our country, but that we actually go and do it and we do it together,” Vance declared.
“He would encourage us to remember that for every hateful voice celebrating his murder, there are 1,000 people mourning it and fighting for his legacy every single day.”
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