Millions of Americans are reeling from Charlie Kirk‘s brutal assassination. His murder cut short a life devoted to calling young people away from a culture of excess, nihilism, and despair and toward one of purpose, courage, and love.
It is tempting to now retreat into political recriminations or endless replays of the awful moment. But perhaps the greatest way to honor Kirk is to live out the words he left us, words that now feel like a legacy.
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Just after his death, a clip circulated of Kirk after he finished co-hosting a recent Fox & Friends segment. As the cameras stopped rolling, his daughter ran up to him and he shared the video with a simple, profound caption: “Get married, have kids, and stop partying into oblivion. Leave a legacy, be courageous.” That’s not just a social media post. It’s a manifesto.
Kirk was always willing to say the things others avoided, especially on the topic of family. Just two days before his death, Kirk joined Laura Ingraham’s Fox News show and offered pointed advice to women. He knew his words would be controversial, yet he said them anyway: “Ladies, listen carefully: there is no amount of corporate success, no amount of likes on Instagram, no amount of promotions that will ever come close to the fulfillment that comes from being a wife and a mother. That is the highest calling.”
The tone of the coverage that followed his remarks was predictably dismissive. One USA Today article described his comments with sneering detachment, as if the mere suggestion that women might find joy in marriage and children was backward. That reaction says more about our cultural blind spots than about Kirk. The writer reduced Kirk to a caricature to avoid wrestling with the deeper truth he was pointing to: that our society has devalued family life to its detriment.
Kirk’s words landed at a pivotal moment. A new study from NBC News found that women, especially liberal women, are far less likely to see building a family as central to their future. Marriage and children have been reframed not as blessings, but as burdens; not as a legacy, but as obstacles to self-expression. That cultural shift has consequences. Loneliness is at record highs. Birth rates are at record lows. A generation is being told that happiness is found in travel, nightlife, and career milestones, while the deeper satisfactions of home and family are neglected.
What then is the greatest tribute we can offer to Kirk? It is not simply just to mourn him or defend him against unfair attacks. The best tribute is to live out the truth he proclaimed.
Get married, build a life with someone you honor and cherish, have children, and raise them with courage and conviction. Create a home that is filled with love, laughter, and purpose. Choose faithfulness over fleeting pleasures and permanence over passing thrills. That is how you leave a legacy.
Kirk understood that marriage and family require courage. They ask us to put another person before ourselves, commit even when difficult, and persevere when the world tells us to quit. But that very sacrifice makes it so beautiful and so countercultural in an age that worships only the self. Defy the culture of oblivion and despair and choose love, covenant, and courage.
Some will continue to caricature Kirk’s words and dismiss them as outdated or even dangerous. But millions of people know deep down that he was right.
The most courageous thing a generation can do is embrace marriage and family, plant roots, and leave behind something lasting. That is the legacy Kirk lived for and left behind.