Courageous Christian and creation supporter Charlie Kirk was murdered on September 10, 2025, while speaking at a Turning Point USA event held at Utah Valley University.1 Mr. Kirk was famous for engaging with college students, even those who disagreed with him, by presenting them with facts and logic. He unashamedly stood up for Christian ethics and the sanctity of human life, and he opposed the transgender ideology that has become so prevalent in recent years.
Mr. Kirk was outspoken about his faith, sometimes even wearing a “Jesus Saves” T-shirt under his sport coat. Although not a scientist, he was a creation supporter. In May 2024, he invited ICR President Dr. Randy Guliuzza to do an interview on his podcast.2 The thoughtful discussion covered a range of topics, including the utter lack of a viable naturalistic explanation for the origin of life, the lack of fossil evidence for evolution, the myth that humans and chimps are 98–99% genetically similar, and adaptation of organisms to their environments, which has been a recent focus of ICR research.3
Dr. Guliuzza commented on Mr. Kirk’s passing,
We live in a day when many Christians, especially those who consider themselves intellectual, run from the clear teaching of the book of Genesis and call it “mytho-history.” Not Charlie Kirk! After Tucker Carlson noted on the Joe Rogan podcast that Darwinian evolution had been debunked, Charlie turned to the Institute for Creation Research and readily invited me onto his program to discuss the scientific and biblical case for young-earth creation. As always, his questions were very thoughtful, and the conversation was engaging. With Charlie, standing for the truth was paramount . . . and that’s an uncommon but sterling personal characteristic. Charlie is with the Lord Jesus, but he’ll be missed here. Our prayers are with his family and close friends as they grieve his departure.
At a time when the American church seems to be losing some of its best, most courageous leaders, Charlie Kirk’s passing leaves a void, and we pray that the knowledge that he is now rejoicing in the Lord’s presence will be a source of comfort to his family and friends. We also pray that they’ll take comfort from his amazing legacy, demonstrated by the flood of tributes and prayers from conservative and Christian leaders after the shooting.
Today, on 9/11, both Charlie Kirk’s murder yesterday and the terrorists attack on our nation 24 years ago remind us that the human heart is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9) and the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only cure.
As the American church begins to get a taste of the persecution afflicting many of our Christian brethren throughout the world, now is the time for American Christians to firmly resolve to follow Charlie’s courageous example, to refuse to be intimidated, and to boldly proclaim “the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) to those around us.
References
- Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA founder, dead at 31 after Utah campus shooting. Fox News. Posted September 10, 2025 at foxnews.com, accessed September 11, 2025.
- Evolved, or Created? The Charlie Kirk Show. Posted May 1, 2024 at thecharliekirkshow.com, accessed September 11, 2025.
- Dismantling Evolution One Gear at a Time! The Creation Podcast. Posted April 2, 2024 on ICR YouTube channel, accessed September 11, 2025.
Stage image: Charlie Kirk
Stage image credit: Gage Skidmore/The Star News Network, CC BY-SA 2.0. Used in accordance with federal copyright (fair use doctrine) law. Usage by ICR does not imply endorsement of copyright holder.
