Charlie Kirk: “The fastest growing religion in America is atheism”

By Michael Hernandez 

NEWBURY PARK—“The fastest growing religion in America is not Christianity, not Islam, but it is atheism,” said Charlie Kirk speaking at Godspeak Calvary Chapel on Sunday.  “Atheists proselytize and evangelize” at our college campuses while Christians do not, Kirk said.  “I find many more self-described atheists than self-described Christians in our college campuses.

“The difference between an agnostic and atheist is that an agnostic is searching; while an atheist is making a declarative statement that there is no God, no higher power, no Creator.”

Pastor Rob McCoy described Charlie Kirk, the 2012 founder of Turning Point USA—a conservative nonprofit organization with a mission to “identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government”) as someone “contending for the culture.”   Kirk spoke to two packed services—the day before his 26^th birthday.

“When you embrace the doctrine of atheism, you are saying you are the most important person in the world; you can do whatever you want; however you want to do it.  For an audience looking for a self-gratification culture, this has distinct attraction.”

Atheists are “deeply unhappy people, confused of their place in a broken world.  I call (atheism) a religion because there are: a core set of beliefs; you have membership; you recruit others; and are committed to persuasion.”  Kirk told his audience we can “become disciples of nothingness or we can be disciples of the gospel.

Atheists have developed a “propaganda campaign to remove the greatest book ever created in history from our schools.  Whether you are a Christian or an atheist, the Bible is the most important literature book created in the history of the world.  Jesus Christ is the most important historical figure to walk the earth.

“We are not talking about separation of church and state; but as if the Christian doctrine does not exist.  We are putting atheism as a state religion and the Bible has been steadily carved out of all curriculum.

“If atheists believe that nothing is Divine about the Bible, then why not allow it in the schools?  If the book is a fable, leave it in the schools.  But they find a threat in this book.  Individuals who appreciate and read the Bible cannot be controlled.”

Kirk spoke on three types of trinity:  an American trinity; a Christian trinity; and a secular leftist trinity.

“The rise of anti-Americanism is so unbelievable.  God gave us the great gift of living in this country.  The founding fathers studied every successful and unsuccessful rise of government by looking in the Bible.   They believed that self-governance could work and they created the American trinity of ‘E pluribus unum’ (Latin for ‘Out of many, one’).   This idea is rooted in scripture:  “from one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth (Acts 17:26).”  This idea of only one race and acceptance of all people is a unique concept of the American trinity and in 1776 this became the design of the Great Seal of the United States.

The notion of liberty comes out of the Christian trinity.   “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17).’   Jesus Christ gives us freedom from bondage.   Our official motto:  ‘In God We Trust’ (adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1956), comes from Proverbs 3:5:  ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.’

“The Christian Trinity of Father, Son, Holy Spirit” unites us but what divides us is the secular leftist trinity which tells people to “divide and conquer—it pits people against each other and accelerates the rate of differences.  This is not liberty.  It is control.” 

A few days ago at a Town Hall meeting, Democrat presidential candidate Robert (Beto) O’Rourke said, “Any institution or church that does not perform same sex marriages should lose their tax status.  He did not talk about mosques only churches.”

For leftists and atheists, it is “government we trust.   The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.”

According to Kirk, “America has a unique culture” of generosity.   “Go to Europe, ask them about private charity or philanthropy.  As the social state increases, church attendance goes down, tithes (giving 10 percent) disappear.  The average European gives less than one percent (to charity).   The average American gives six percent and the average Christian between eight to 11 percent.  Americans gave over 600 billion dollars to charity last year—individuals helping other individuals.

“It is a lie that Jesus was a socialist.   This is intentionally misrepresenting the gospel.  This is a far left social gospel that wants to give our money to an inefficient government bureaucracy to solve our problems.  But Jesus challenged individuals to help individuals.  Jesus was against the collective. Kirk stated that Jesus focused on multiplication.  “You must have liberty to multiply.”

Kirk stated the culture war was waging war in three fronts:

• The most important institution—the family has been attacked. The decline of the American family has marked the last 40 years.  “Some 74 percent of Black children are born in fatherless homes,” said Kirk who stated that trillions have been spent to solve this issue but the nation has ended up “subsidizing bad behavior.”  The lie that women can “do it alone” has caused men to become the “enemy” and gang membership has increased; opioid usage has increased; self-indulgence has increased.   “We must reclaim the American family.”
• Freedom and liberty have been attacked. “The hard truth is that the young Christian community is skewing toward a statist collective side at an alarming rate.   We are growing government and increasing the size and power of this bloated, inefficient government.”
• Lines of communication are attacked. Kirk said the top viewed television shows in the 50s and 60s such as Leave it to Beaver and The Munsters portrayed an intact family but became replaced with Desperate Housewives and Modern Family in the most recent decades.  “The stories we are now telling are headed in the wrong direction.  Even children movies made by Disney and Pixar are harsh to religion and pushing themes I find very troubling.”

Kirk said his focus is on the education system. “The most intolerant people in the world are those on college campuses.  The ones that say they are tolerant. I am a huge fan of homeschooling.  I believe the homeschool movement will double in America in the next 10 years.  The homeschool movement is the greatest hedge against the direction we are going.

“But I see children raised in Christian homes who have gone to church and who have been homeschooled go to a college that invalidates them.  We need to let our kids know they are going to be in the minority.           

Atheists “will not be satisfied until they edit pastor’s notes (sermons) and what they are saying.   The days of ‘live and let live’ are gone.   They (leftists) are coming into your church and your culture.

Kirk spoke of two different responses to the cultural war in America:

–Be angry;

–Be thankful.

“The angry are living in the greatest country on the earth—a country with abundant wealth and blessing in which the majority of the world does not have access.   Yet, we are being told this is a horrible place in which to live.  

“The struggle is inevitable.  We can be a victim or a victor.   We can blame other people for our problems or we can recognize God’s sovereignty.   Those who hold to a victimhood currency (seeking someone at fault) are a generation that believes in victim-hood.  

“Our best last hope is an active Christian community—that is feared the most.”

Michael Hernandez, Co-Founder of the Citizens Journal—Ventura County’s online news service; editor of the History Makers Report and founder of History Makers International—a community nonprofit serving youth and families in Ventura County, is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor. He has worked 25 years as a middle school teacher in Monrovia and Los Angeles Unified School Districts. Mr. Hernandez can be contacted by email at [email protected].

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