Religious Liberty Commission hails Charlie Kirk as martyr for freedom
WASHINGTON, DC: The Religious Liberty Commission held a hearing on Sunday, September 29, focused on religious freedom in education. The commission hailed slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk as a hero who gave his life for that freedom. A speaker even compared Kirk to Stephen from the Bible, considered the first Christian martyr.
Commission hailed Charlie Kirk as martyr of freedom
The third meeting of the commission took place at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC. It began with a video montage of Kirk encouraging young people to read the Bible and ancient philosophy, which he viewed as lacking in America’s education system.
Hutz Hertzberg, chief education officer for Turning Point Education, recalled September 10, the day Kirk was shot, as “a day that changed everything for us at Turning Point and changed nothing for us at Turning Point.”
Kirk was “martyred” for his cause, Hertzberg said, noting he was wearing a shirt that said “Freedom” when he was fatally shot. “He gave his life for that freedom,” Hertzberg added.
Pastor compared Charlie Kirk to Biblical Stephen
Jentezen Franklin, senior pastor of the multi-campus megachurch Free Chapel, compared Kirk’s assassination to the killing of Stephen, who was stoned to death for his speech.
He cited Acts 6:10, describing Stephen as having wisdom that overcame his adversaries. “If that’s not a description of Charlie Kirk, I don’t know what is,” Franklin said.
Franklin also referenced Erika Kirk’s statement that she had forgiven the suspected assassin during her late husband’s September 21 memorial service, which deeply moved him.
He said he had “never been more proud of America nor of religious freedom” than while watching the service, filled with Christian music and scripture.
Franklin highlighted recent tragedies affecting people of all faiths, from a Michigan shooting targeting Latter-day Saints to Catholic children killed and injured in a Minneapolis school shooting in August.
“My prayer is as Charlie fell and the Apostle Paul stood up, the church and ten thousand preachers will stand up and say ... ‘where he fell, we will stand like never before,’” Franklin said.
Allegations of promoting Christian Nationalism at schools
Meanwhile, some speakers at the meeting framed recent incidents as attacks on maintaining separation of religion and state.
They included Joseph Kennedy, a football coach fired for praying on the field who later won a Supreme Court case, and Monica Gill, a Virginia teacher who sued her school over policies on students’ chosen names and pronouns.
Other topics discussed included school choice and anti-Semitism, with speakers alleging schools treated religious families unfairly.
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State criticized the commission, claiming it promoted Christian Nationalism in schools.
“The commission continues to ignore the true threats to religious freedom in public education: Christian Nationalist mandates to display the Ten Commandments, teach the Bible as truth, infuse curricula with Christianity, install school chaplains, and impose coercive prayers on students, to name just a few,” Rachel Laser, president and CEO of the organization, wrote in a news release.
