Plenty of legacy media outlets had atrocious coverage of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and his assassination on Wednesday. But a purportedly Christian media outlet rightfully drew a special degree of ire for their reaction to his tragic death.
Christianity Today, founded by evangelist Billy Graham but run in more recent years by subversive woke evangelicals like Russell Moore, coughed up an article about the martyrdom of the Christian conservative hero entitled “Died: Charlie Kirk, Activist Who Championed ‘MAGA Doctrine.’”
In a distant tone, the article described his career as a political activist and his cultural impact, as well as discussed his role in influencing the MAGA movement and the administrations of President Donald Trump.
The piece largely overlooked his testimony to the Christian faith and his sincere desire to see young people trust in Jesus.
Christian social media users quickly noticed the distinction between that coverage and the coverage of another high-profile death of a far less worthy man five years ago.
Here’s Charlie Kirk rightly critiquing the water downed gospel message in America… pic.twitter.com/fwNB9tVs4V
— J.C. Ryle (@JCRyle) September 12, 2025
That article was entitled “George Floyd Left a Gospel Legacy in Houston” and featured a picture of the career criminal hoisting a Bible in the air.
“Floyd didn’t just provide access and protection; he lent a helping hand as the church put on services, three-on-three basketball tournaments, barbecues, and community baptisms,” the article gushed.
Acquaintances of Floyd quoted in the article compared him to Abel, the first martyr in history. One of them even called him a “Christ figure.” No such language was used of Kirk in the more recent piece.
Tom Buck, a pastor in Texas, posted a side-by-side comparison of the articles from Christianity Today.
“I’m thankful that these people keep telling us who they are!” he said. “And whatever it is, it isn’t Christian!”
I’m thankful that these people keep telling us who they are!
And whatever it is, it isn’t Christian!
Compare these two headlines! https://t.co/BLjbphSaqT pic.twitter.com/5TyoefUisc
— Tom Buck (Five Point Buck) (@TomBuck) September 12, 2025
Other believers made clear their sentiments toward the eulogies of the two men, especially noting that the article about Kirk coolly said that he “Died.”
“If you guys represented Christianity, it wouldn’t be so hard for you to say that he was a Christian who was murdered for his faith,” commentator Samuel Sey wrote. “Shame on you.”
“He didn’t just ‘die.’ He didn’t choke on a gumball — he was assassinated, murdered by a leftist,” evangelist and pastor Justin Peters added.
“He was murdered for having good faith conversations in public,” Ohio pastor Michael Foster said, warning Moore and other Christianity Today leadership that their “spin doesn’t play” anymore.
Many have rightly noticed that America has reached a new “Turning Point” after the death of Charlie Kirk. The left may have, for example, increased the temperature of American political discussion enough to make such peaceful discussion impossible moving forward.
The culture has reached this “Turning Point” in many ways because of compromised institutions like Christianity Today and craven leaders like Russell Moore.
Rather than confronting the wickedness of leftism, the evangelical elite have largely absorbed their worldview. On issues like abortion and transgenderism, they softened their approach to strike the impossible balance of retaining even a veneer of Christian orthodoxy while not offending the leftist elites with whom they so desperately wanted to lock arms.
The culture has reached this chaotic point, in other words, because many Christian leaders have failed to be distinctly Christian.
Instead of presenting moral clarity, they displayed the sort of moral confusion needed to write a hagiography of a violent felon while offering a far more tepid reaction to the actual martyrdom of an exemplary Christian husband, father, and patriot.
That is why the most important “Turning Point” after the death of Charlie Kirk must come from within the institution that his surname quite literally identifies.
The church must permanently turn away from subversive, soft leadership and turn toward strong, steel-spined men who will boldly lead in faithfulness to Jesus Christ in all domains of life, from the home to the public square.
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