There is a scene at the end of the movie “Braveheart” that manifests the impact William Wallace had on Scotland’s march toward freedom from England.
And there’s a message in it as to the impact that the assassination of Charlie Kirk at 31 on Wednesday will have on the God-and-country movement he led.
In the 1995 blockbuster “Braveheart,” and in real life, Wallace raised up a movement in the late 1200s that outlasted his death as a martyr at the hands of the English in 1305. Like Kirk, he was only in his 30s at the time of his death.
Wallace won several battles in his short life, but it fell on Robert the Bruce and Wallace’s followers to finish the work of securing Scotland’s freedom, which lasted for hundreds of years thereafter.
In the last scene of the movie, Wallace has already been executed, and Robert the Bruce now sits aside his horse in front of warriors from Scotland with noblemen by his side. Across the way, forces of the king of England are arrayed. The English king’s representatives anticipate that Robert will do as other Scottish leaders have done in the past and reach a peace agreement whereby they give up more of their countrymen’s freedom in exchange for lands and titles.
Robert — who has lacked courage at other key moments in the story — looks reflective and pulls out an embroidered handkerchief that Wallace’s wife had gifted to her husband before her death at the hands of the English.
Robert looks up with resolve in his face and turns to his soldiers behind him, proclaiming, “You’ve bled with Wallace, now bleed with me!”
Wallace’s chief lieutenant, Hamish, who is in the front ranks, responds by stepping forward and screaming as he launches his sword into the air. The sword plants into the ground, appearing as a cross. The Scottish soldiers then charge forward and win their freedom at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
The symbol of the cross at the end of “Braveheart” was perfect, because the execution of Jesus Christ, in fact, took his message from a local religious movement to a worldwide one, empowered by the Holy Spirit, of course.
Christian speaker Dutch Sheets shared on his Thursday “Give Him 15” podcast that when he first heard Kirk had been shot at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley College, he earnestly prayed that the conservative leader would survive the assassination attempt.
“I couldn’t help but be reminded of how God had spared our president with a supernaturally motivated nod of his head. Why not Charlie? I wondered,” Sheets recounted.
However, the Christian leader had a premonition that Kirk would not live, as the account of Jesus’ disciple Stephen, who was martyred for his faith, came to mind from Acts, chapter 7. Like Stephen, Kirk could powerfully and persuasively argue the cause of Christ before the cultural leaders of his day. That’s what got him killed.
“As I meditated on this passage while praying throughout the afternoon, the Lord began to emphasize how Stephen’s death was used to impact Saul of Tarsus, who later became the Apostle Paul,” Sheets said.
“He was there watching and overseeing Stephen’s martyrdom. Paul was converted to Christ, of course, and became perhaps the most consequential believer in all of history. Through Paul, Stephen lived on. The attempt to silence Stephen’s voice only amplified it. And through the pages of Scripture, it speaks to us yet today,” he continued.
“God never gives Satan the last word, and will not do so where Charlie Kirk is concerned. His death only poured gas on a movement, fanning the flames of revival in thousands of young people across our nation. They will pick up the torch and burn with holy fire, as they carry Charlie’s message of revival and reformation. Through this, his voice will not be silenced: His life is now a seed that will multiply,” Sheets concluded.
President Donald Trump observed something similar Wednesday night in an address to the nation from the Oval Office.
“Charlie was the best of America, and the monster who attacked him was attacking our whole country,” the president said. “An assassin tried to silence him with a bullet, but he failed, because together we will ensure that his voice, his message, and his legacy will live on for countless generations to come. Today, because of this heinous act, Charlie’s voice has become bigger and grander than ever before, and it’s not even close.”
TO MY GREAT FELLOW AMERICANS… pic.twitter.com/oRsrE5TTHr
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 11, 2025
Several conservative media personalities also promised that Kirk’s work, using the power of positive persuasion, will continue.
“Charlie had a light in him, a special light,” Fox News host and former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Thursday in a message directed at Kirk’s assassin. “And you might have thought that you extinguished that light, but boy, did you not extinguish that light. You set a raging fire that is here to stay. It is a fire that is going across the world when you took that young man’s life.”
???? @kayleighmcenany is right.
“Charlie had a light in him…You might have thought that you extinguished it, but boy did you not extinguish that light, you set a raging fire that is here to stay. It is a fire that is going across the world, when you took that young man’s life.” pic.twitter.com/Ge9OGrONca
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 11, 2025
Others, like conservative commentators Dana Loesch, Mark Levin, and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah have argued that many more Charlie Kirks will now be raised up because of his martyr’s death.
A million more Charlie Kirks have just been created.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) September 10, 2025
To be clear, no one is calling for physical violence in response to Kirk’s death, but to use words and example to win the day.
Kirk’s earthbound journey is done, but his death will put steel in the spine of many more to advance the cause of faith and freedom he championed during his life.
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