Remembering Charlie Kirk: The Dialogue that Defeated the Darkness
- CVCU
- Sep 13
- 4 min read
This week we mourned the tragic loss and celebrated the multigenerational influence of Charlie Kirk, a wholehearted defender of truth who was martyred for his faith on a pagan college campus.
As a fourth-generation educator, I have had the honor of speaking at two Turning Point events, and I saw in person the powerful impact of his intergenerational influence.
Charlie is one of a small handful of now-historical figures to be both martyred and assassinated, which means he was murdered for both his faith and his political professions.
Why is this combination so rare?
Charlie spent his life boldly, courageously, and often humorously defending the truth of God's word. He fought to enter the “cancelled” realm of public university campuses, and unlike many believers, he allowed his faith to inform his political beliefs and behaviors.
This combination is a rarity today because so many modern Christians have bought the lie that their faith must be compartmentalized, separated, segregated from their public life, that somehow "We the People" are allowed to voice our religious freedoms only within the four walls of the church. This is antithetical to the Great Commission.
Where did the youngest generation learn this conceptual model of segregation? None other than the education systems that trained them up in childhood to the way they would go in adulthood.
This attempt at silencing Christian principles is rooted in the evolution-driven poison pit fueling the campus cultures Charlie sought to confront, boldly stepping into these ecosystems of anti-faith, anti-family, anti-freedom doctrines to bring the good news, defeating the darkness with dialogue.
To watch the hours and hours of his interactive interviews on campus is to witness the vitriol, the confusion, the heresy of a generation of students who have been brainwashed to believe that their lives have no purpose, that there is no ultimate authority, and that their “truth” is the whole truth.
Again and again, they attempt to attack and undermine and bait him with their misguided teachings, walking up to TPU events on their campus quads straight out of classrooms that suffocated faith, mocked Christianity, and dissected the truth of God’s word from the formative process of education.
But this is not the end of the story.
As John 1:5 reminds us, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." The shadow of evil that fell on that campus on September 10, 2025 will never snuff out the light of truth. It will only serve to illuminate it, to strengthen it, to fan the flame.
Tertullian, a second century Christian writer and church Father noted in Apologeticus that martyrdom is not the end but the beginning: "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Throughout recorded history, tragic losses like these have served to amplify the voice of the church, not silence it—to build the church, not shrink it.
The courageous call of Charlie Kirk's work must live on in each of us as believers. We will not shrink back. We will not be silenced. We will never stop speaking the truth or setting the captives free. May God be glorified in his church and in his martyrs.
When I received the call about Charlie’s murder, I was attending an event that brings together higher education thought leaders from around the globe to dialogue current issues in the academic sector. These authentic conversations are vital in an era where the value of higher education is in question by skeptics and supporters alike.
And, as Charlie Kirk’s murder clearly exemplifies, these authentic conversations are vital in an era where the poison drip on America’s college campuses is seeping into the hearts and minds of our youngest generations at a pace never seen before. Today’s youth are the most anxious, depressed, atheist generation in America’s history. Cut loose from the anchor of morality and the truth of God’s word, they are adrift on a sea of hopelessness, frustration, and despair.
Let’s face it; American education is broken.
It’s no longer hyperbolistic to say that this dialogue (or lack thereof) will determine the rise or fall of our nation. The tragic death of Charlie Kirk is yeet another example of the horrific fallout of institutions that have falsely claimed to be ramparts of critical thinking and free speech. Instead, the sociocultural conditioning of soul-less, values-free, truth-deficit education has spawned a generation of hedonism and lawlessness.
If we want a better America, we have to start by facing the brokenness of this one. We have to hold professors and parents accountable for the weighty work of shaping the moral thought of another human being.
As details emerge about the killer’s life, we will no doubt see a parade of complicit adults who interacted with a wayward soul, stoked the fires of his angst, and then looked the other way when the Frankensteinic monster they created came to life.
Universities must recognize and repent for the role they’ve played in silencing free speech, undermining critical thought, and severing parental support for the scholastic process.
Education is soul formation.
May we continue to carry on the courageous legacy of confronting and exposing the darkness in high places on public university campuses.
Thank you, Charlie, for the legacy life you lived in your 31 brief but powerful years on this planet.
#Legacy #Hero #Martyr #CharlieKirk @charliekirk1776
Dr. Lisa Dunne is an author, speaker, and president of Chula Vista Christian University. Her podcast is The Communication Architect, and her radio show MindsetMatters airs weekly on KPraise Radio. As an expert in Gen Z educational methodology and psychosocial development, she helps pastors and parents partner together to launch church-based academic support centers to rescue their congregations from public school indoctrination. Learn more at www.cvcu.us, www.veritascc.us, and www.academicrescuemission.com.
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