Charlie Kirk Answers Kansas City Students on Parenthood, Social Justice, Electoral College and the Pro-Life Movement
Enjoying this? Share it with someone who needs to see it.
Up Next
Charlie Kirk Explains Why the Church Must Rise Up to Preserve American Freedom and Liberty
51:21
Campus Debate on Objective Truth, Abortion, Race, and the Legacy of Malcolm X
10:40
Charlie Kirk Exposes the Greatest Failure of Modern Education and How Christians Can Fix It
19:52
Charlie Kirk Answers Kansas City Students on Parenthood, Social Justice, Electoral College and the Pro-Life Movement
Charlie Kirk takes questions from Kansas City students on a wide range of topics including balancing fatherhood with his career, defending the Electoral College against popular vote arguments, explaining his pro-life stance post-Dobbs, and addressing social justice assignments in college. Kirk shares personal insights about his two-month-old child radicalizing his conservative views, discusses why he believes self-control matters more than self-esteem, and explains how Aristotle's hierarchy of the good applies to modern life. He also tackles questions about abortion ballot measures in Kansas, the role of the church in supporting new mothers, and how to counter progressive narratives in predominantly black communities.
Charlie Kirk opened the Kansas City event by discussing his experience as a new father to a two-month-old child. Kirk explained that becoming a parent has intensified his conservative convictions, stating he cannot understand liberal parents who want to support what he views as destructive policies. Kirk emphasized the importance of establishing a hierarchy of values based on Aristotelian philosophy, placing relationship with God first, then spouse, then children, followed by career and other responsibilities.
Kirk criticized the self-love and self-esteem movements as philosophical carcinogens in society, arguing that a generation focused on themselves becomes depressed and anxious. He proposed that self-control is more important than self-esteem and that service to others provides greater happiness than self-focus. Kirk shared advice he has received from figures like Dennis Prager and Tucker Carlson about prioritizing marriage before children, which he acknowledged is not universally agreed upon but represents his current approach.
Navigating Social Justice Assignments in College
When a freshman student asked how to complete a social justice assignment while maintaining conservative Christian values, Kirk provided a direct framework. He distinguished between the ancient view of justice built on Aristotelian principles versus modern social justice ideology. According to Kirk, traditional justice focuses on giving people what is due based on their actions and agency, while social justice emphasizes redistribution based on immutable characteristics like race.
Kirk explained that social justice creates arbitrary inequities by making judgments based on appearance rather than behavior. He used the example of reparations to illustrate what he sees as the logical problems with social justice, questioning how such policies would account for mixed-race individuals or people with no connection to slavery. Kirk advised the student that depending on their grade priorities, they could challenge the assignment by advocating for liberty and the classical understanding of justice, though he acknowledged this might require retaking the course.
Defending the Electoral College System
Kirk faced a challenging question about supporting Donald Trump despite losing the popular vote twice, with the questioner suggesting this contradicts the principle of government representing the will of the people. Kirk clarified that will and majority are different concepts, emphasizing that America is a constitutional republic, not a democracy. He explained that the Electoral College exists because states created the federal government, not the reverse, making state representation a fundamental part of the system.
Kirk argued that without the Electoral College, states like Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and the Dakotas would have their interests ignored in favor of coastal population centers. He distinguished between democracy, which can enable tyranny of the majority, and a constitutional republic, which protects liberty through deliberate processes across time and geography. Kirk emphasized that the Founding Fathers designed the system to be slow and intentional to prevent rapid government overreach, prioritizing liberty over efficiency.
When the questioner pressed about population-based representation, Kirk noted that population does factor into the system through the House of Representatives and proportional electoral votes, but states maintain equal representation in the Senate. He explained this balance prevents what James Madison called "the tyranny of the cities over the farmers," ensuring agricultural and rural communities maintain political voice.
The Pro-Life Movement After Dobbs
Kirk addressed the recent failure of a pro-life ballot measure in Kansas, attributing it to poor wording, confusion among voters, and significant out-of-state money from progressive groups. However, he also acknowledged that parts of the conservative movement may not be as uniformly pro-life as commonly assumed. Kirk emphasized the need for honest assessment of where Americans actually stand on abortion rather than operating under false assumptions.
Looking forward, Kirk expressed optimism about the pro-life movement despite setbacks, noting that overturning Roe v. Wade represents enormous progress. He pointed to upcoming ballot measures in Kentucky and Montana as opportunities to learn more about public opinion. Kirk stressed that the movement has shifted public opinion noticeably more pro-life than 20 years ago, calling this trajectory encouraging for future victories.
When asked about supporting new families in states with abortion bans, Kirk outlined two primary recommendations. First, he called on churches to step up significantly, providing practical support, prayer, and resources to mothers who might otherwise feel alone. Second, he advocated for streamlining adoption processes while maintaining safeguards against abuse. Kirk highlighted that two million families currently wait to adopt in America while one million abortions occur annually, suggesting demand far exceeds supply if bureaucratic obstacles were removed.
State Support for Pregnant Women and New Mothers
Addressing a question about Missouri's proposed expansion of Medicaid coverage for pregnant women, Kirk expressed skepticism about government healthcare programs. Following Milton Friedman's economic philosophy, Kirk suggested that direct cash assistance would provide more agency and choice than government insurance programs like Medicaid, which he characterized as low-quality and inefficient despite saving lives.
Kirk acknowledged a potential role for state government in making it easier for babies to flourish post-Roe, but emphasized his preference for solutions that empower individual choice rather than expanding government healthcare bureaucracies. He stated he would need to examine the specific Missouri legislation before offering a definitive position but reiterated his general philosophy favoring direct assistance over institutional programs.
Compromise and Long-Term Strategy on Abortion
When asked whether he would accept a compromise limiting abortion to a specific number of weeks, Kirk provided a nuanced answer. He stated he would support incremental restrictions like a 14-week ban as steps toward the ultimate goal of complete abolition, but emphasized the importance of maintaining vision. Kirk quoted the biblical principle that "without a vision, people perish," refusing to stop campaigning for total protection of unborn life.
Kirk argued that prudence requires accepting progress even while maintaining broader goals. He contrasted two complex surgical procedures, cesarean sections and abortions, noting that while both require medical skill, they have completely different moral premises. One gives life while the other takes it away. Kirk's position reflects a strategic approach to politics, acknowledging electoral realities while refusing to compromise on ultimate principles.
Gratitude, Self-Respect and Mental Health
Responding to a question about overcoming resentment and depression, Kirk identified gratitude as foundational to happiness. He described gratitude as "the fruit that makes all things taste sweet" and noted that the process of being thankful naturally leads to asking "thankful to whom," opening spiritual questions. Kirk argued that American college campuses essentially offer degrees in ingratitude, teaching students to focus on grievances rather than blessings.
Kirk emphasized honoring parents as critical to personal development and spiritual health, explaining that the Fifth Commandment is the only one that includes both a promise and national implications. He clarified that the Hebrew word for "honor" means treating something with heaviness or seriousness, the opposite of treating something lightly or cursing it. Kirk suggested that inability to honor earthly parents prevents proper relationship with God.
Addressing cynicism specifically for Christians, Kirk stated that believers cannot legitimately be cynical or apathetic, as these attitudes contradict Christian hope. He also emphasized the importance of physiology in mental health, noting that diet, sleep, exercise, and avoiding pornography and excessive screen time significantly impact mental state. Kirk argued that alignment of body, mind, and spirit creates conditions for spiritual growth and resilience against depression.
The Hispanic Community and Political Independence
Kirk encouraged the Hispanic community to reject what he characterized as white liberal domination of American society. He argued that a small group of white liberals disproportionately drives cultural narratives and attempts to control how Hispanic and black Americans should think and vote. Kirk called for Hispanics to reassert themselves as a parents movement centered on traditional values, love of children, faith, hard work, and support for law enforcement.
Kirk specifically criticized what he sees as liberals treating minority communities as political footballs, assuming ownership and control over their votes and cultural expression. He contrasted this with what he described as a conservative approach that respects Hispanic culture and values without attempting to exploit it politically. Kirk expressed hope that Hispanic Americans would increasingly reject progressive narratives and assert their independence from both parties that take them for granted.
Responding to Christopher Hitchens on Religion
When a student cited Christopher Hitchens's argument that religion causes good people to do bad things, Kirk challenged the underlying assumptions. He questioned how "good" and "bad" could be defined without a transcendent moral framework, using the example of atheist Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin to illustrate that secular ideologies have produced enormous atrocities. Kirk pressed the questioner on what standard determines morality absent belief in God.
The exchange explored whether science could provide moral grounding through concepts like genetic diversity and evolutionary biology. Kirk challenged this by pointing to eugenics movements that used scientific arguments to justify horrific practices. When the student struggled to provide an objective scientific basis for condemning genocide beyond personal opinion, Kirk argued this demonstrates the necessity of transcendent moral truth.
Kirk also addressed the cosmological argument for God's existence, discussing the Big Bang and whether something outside time, space, and matter must have caused their beginning. While the student appealed to quantum mechanics, Kirk maintained that Newtonian principles of causation require an uncaused first cause that transcends physical reality, which he identified as God.
Empowering Conservative Christians in Daily Life
A businesswoman and churchgoer expressed feeling intimidated by pervasive progressive cultural messaging, asking how ordinary people can effectively stand for conservative principles. Kirk encouraged courage as the foundational virtue that enables all others, urging believers not to lose hope despite facing what seems like a cultural Goliath. He referenced the biblical story of Gideon's army to inspire confidence in righteous causes even when outnumbered.
For resources on specific issues like transgenderism, Kirk recommended Matt Walsh's documentary "What Is a Woman?" as an excellent tool for understanding and articulating conservative positions. He praised Walsh's scholarship and entertaining approach to addressing gender ideology. Kirk emphasized that conservatives possess truth on their side and should maintain optimism about the future despite current cultural challenges.
Countering Progressive Narratives in Black Communities
A young black Christian conservative asked for effective arguments against defunding police, reparations, and Black Lives Matter ideology when debating with other people of color. Kirk acknowledged the social cost of holding these positions, including being called names and facing hostility even when attempting civil discourse. He commended the courage required to maintain conservative Christian convictions in such environments.
Kirk suggested focusing the argument on the 60-year reign of white liberals in black communities since the Great Society programs. He invoked Malcolm X's warnings about white liberals, arguing that their ideology has destroyed black families and communities far more than any other force. Kirk contrasted abstract academic theories about systemic racism with the practical reality that more police presence improves safety in high-crime neighborhoods.
Kirk encouraged keeping arguments grounded in observable reality rather than engaging with complex theoretical frameworks that require advanced degrees to understand. He predicted a coming conservative renaissance in black America as people recognize that progressive ideas require accepting absurdities like men becoming pregnant or America being irredeemably racist despite visible evidence to the contrary. Kirk argued for restoration of nuclear families and asked why family breakdown occurred, pointing to white liberal ideology as the primary cause rather than conservative policies.
Video Transcript
right so first off I just personally want to thank you very much for being here it's an amazing opportunity for me and I would assume for a lot of people here as well I would like to secondly congratulate you on your whole fatherhood you know the newborn that's yeah thank you and so going off of that I would just like to know you know a husband a father and a babe it's like how do you cope with like making all those things important in your life well thank you it's um not a lot of sleep but it's a lot of fun two months today that's just amazing so we're very happy about that and so thank you and uh I'll tell you what it radicalizes you it does if you think you're a conservative before Parenthood holy moly that's why I can't understand I cannot understand liberal parents I at this point I have zero I have nothing in common with you liberal young people that are single you want to burn the world down you're miserable and do we eat all day fine I get I so I sort of understand you have a being that you are now responsible for and you want to commit civilizational arson nothing in common with you so anyway that's a separate thing so um you mentioned a lot which is I'm a big fan of Aristotle Aristotle talked about a hierarchy of the good uh when you have a lot going on this is a good rule for young people you got to make a hierarchy what matters most and you got to prioritize that thing over other things which means by definition other things are going to slip aside um and then kind of part of marriage and also fatherhood of which I'm very new at but learning very quickly but you know marriage year and a half you realize it's not all about you and this is one of the great I I just I hate the self-love movement I hate the self-esteem movement it's done so much damage I think it's one of the great you know philosophical carcinogens in our society in so many different ways I saw this sign the other day they said it's your imperfections that make you perfect and I I thought to myself I said well then therefore by definition the more imperfections you have the better you are or my favorite one is the world is better because you're in it now that might sound like a good message but in reality it should be a question is the world better because you're in it right it should and so it should be a question it has the world become a better place because of you now so the idea of a hierarchy of what matters most is not taught a lot to our kids there's a big lie out there you could have it all and that's not true you can you have to make sacrifices uh you could still do a lot you could still run a business and you could still do things but you have to make time for what matters most which the first most important thing is your relationship with God that comes above all and then relationship with your wife and then your child you know you notice I put it in that order that's biblical by the way um and getting a lot of great advice from people like Prager and Tucker and so many other great people is that the marriage comes first and then children come first which uh is not agreed upon when every in every Circle but at least that's how we're practicing it and then you can have other things like jobs and all that you know jobs and that but I think one of the reasons why we have such a depressed generation suicidal Generation Um we have such an anxious generation a medicated generation is there thinking about themselves all the time I believe a people that is not dedicated to service is a very depressed people it's not always about you sometimes you have to do stuff you don't like because it's going to benefit somebody else by the way we just know that scientifically you're a happier person because we know that regardless of the spiritual implications or the moral implications and so we have an entire generation that's always asking how do you feel how do you feel about that it's actually quite irrelevant it's more matters more about what you're doing and here's a here's a thought-provoking thing for you generally what you do should dictate how you feel not how you feel with what you do that's a good general rule to tell a young person another good rule for life which is self-control is a lot more important than self-esteem but we do the opposite thank you [Applause] okay um welcome to Kansas City um thank you I'm a big fan and we're we're glad you're here um my question is have you tried our barbecue I did and it's awesome very impressed lived up to the hype I gotta tell you for years I heard Texas versus Kansas City Texas versus Kansas City it's very very good I'm not going to tell you who's better but it's very very good that was going to be my follow-up question oh yeah is that right I take the fist thank you I am a sophomore here in credits but first year like actually on campus and so being a first year student I'm required to take this first semester experience class and so right thanks yeah so right now our um our unit is about social justice and I've got this assignment due uh on later this week and so one of the questions is what does social justice mean to you and what are important components of social justice so how do I go about completing this assignment while still maintaining my conservative and Christian values what kind of grade do you want to get in the class I'm very serious like um I would you know college education is a very important and part of me but I wouldn't let that supersede my political or or religious values so you developed a hierarchy that's what you just did right so you just said this matters more than that and so if you want to go after it you could say look I believe in the ancient view of justice that built the West I don't believe in environmental justice or racial Justice or social justice and you could go straight into how Aristotle defined Justice it is the messiest of all the virtues but one of the most necessary and it's very simple giving man to what is due social justice is not that social justice is mass redistribution based on qualities of things people can't change so justice has a preference on human agency and action you did this you get that social justice is you look like this therefore this should happen to you so social justice I'm generalizing and people can you know disagree with it throughout but this is approximately right social justice is a preference on structures and I think arbitrary iniquities saying you're a person of color therefore you deserve reparations of course they can't answer a single question in response to okay what if someone is half black and half white how are they going to get reparations exactly or why is it that someone who's never owned slaves that didn't know someone that owned slaves that wasn't related to some of their own slaves has to pay money to somebody who we can't even prove whether or not they're a descendant of slaves why is that the case exactly because of the melanin content that's where social justice leads you so then I would I would respond again depending on what kind of grade you want to get to say Liberty matters a lot more to me than social justice and then you might have to retake the course at a different time so God bless you hello um so from your talk I gathered that a big problem you have is the government representing the will of the people and you believe it should do a better job at that correct um if you say that how can you support Donald Trump when he has lost the popular vote twice okay because we don't elect presidents using the popular vote [Applause] government not uh representing the will of the people so if you personally have an issue with that then why do you support him if that is not the will of the people right so will and majority are two different things right so are we a democracy you're not you're not here are we democracy should we be no but are we why should we not be is that not a core fundamental point of American society no has democracy appeared anywhere in the Constitution I mean that is genuinely a valid point however your point of the government should represent the people why is it that democracy is not in the Constitution or why is it that you believe that the will of the majority is not as important as the will of the minority if your issue specifically is the government should represent the people better good question so we believe in the Electoral College why because Kansas deserves a voice because Missouri deserves a voice and it's the most important way I could distill it is the union we have is the States created it the federal government had created so the kind of price of admission is every state gets two senators Congressman based on population and then electoral votes based on that population so you kind of get a mix of both and it's also this tension and I would ask the question if we abolished the Electoral College do you think that the needs wants and interests of Missouri Kansas Iowa North South Dakota Montana would be taken as seriously as New York and California that would be my question to you do you believe that some citizens are more valuable than others because in our current system some people's votes hold more sway than others because people in like Wyoming who have smaller populations have more say than places like here in Missouri and Kansas why is this acceptable if it's again your issue is the will of the people because we're not a democracy so democracy a simple majoritarianism so let me give you an example in a democracy by up or down vote you could say I want to enslave black people a constitutional republic says now you're gonna have to go through a process to do that so let me ask you a question do you think the majority of the will of the people could ever be wrong yes okay so the founding fathers knew it could almost assuredly be wrong right so the system of a republic versus democracy is asked to be slow and arduous and intentional because it has a preference on Liberty right not on free stuff and so over a period of Time how do you best protect Liberty well you got to spread over all the representation over space and time right so you do it over a lot of States a lot of square miles a lot of acreage and it takes a lot of time to take over the federal government right you have to win an election and then an election an election it's not impossible we eradicated slavery we gave women the right to vote so it's possible to get change done but the founding fathers were less concerned about getting progress done really quickly and they were more concerned with the government doing bad stuff too quickly does that make sense but that is not what you said you said that your specific problem is the government does not do the will of the people why is it that your will and what you want is more important than that of the majority well it's not my will it's the framers and the system we have but to answer your question I believe the best way to determine the will of the people is through states rights and States directives if Kansas wants to say hey we can have decentralized gun laws or school choice God bless Kansas and so the question is not is National will also versus state will right so the question we have to recognize that the values of someone in Kansas in Manhattan Kansas is a lot different than the valleys of someone in Manhattan New York it's a lot different and so through a democracy it'd say hey the people of New York City want to have firearms confiscated I don't know how I don't think that dog's gonna hunt in Manhattan Kansas well Kansas State University so I don't know but it allows answer your question it allows people that disagree with one another to live in the same Nation you see a republican-style government small R allows people that might agree on almost nothing to still engage in self-government while still having a national project to participate in so to make clarified even more it is a question of the consent to the Govern if it was just a democracy it would be an up or down vote on every single person and that's it the founding fathers saw that fail time and time again Athenian democracy people just vote themselves stuff so they said we have to have some sort of system that realizes that if men were Angels government would not be necessary but Men Are Not Angels so we gotta create some sort of government Federalist 51 as Madison said so we got to figure this out so government is necessary but we don't have too big a government and people are just going to vote themselves stuff all the time so how do we do that well local is better than National but you gotta have some sort of a national influence and so they created the great balance between Jeffersonian and hamiltonian type philosophy as we know is the U.S Constitution and the one thing they all agreed on though is human nature they knew that absolute power corrupts absolutely and that people were likely to abuse it so I would just kind of counter by saying the will of the people can be best expressed through a multi-state project for example I believe a election is much healthier and much more representative by requiring candidates to go to Iowa Ohio Michigan Pennsylvania and not just spending time on the coast because you know why it might seem as if oh we don't need those flyover states we don't need them first of all that's arrogant prideful and wrong how exactly are you going to feed your family and where do you think the Bread Basket of the world comes from the founder saw ahead and final thing I'll say is this is that it was Hamilton or it was Madison that said we cannot have the tyranny of the Cities over the farmers and that that's built into our system thank you for being here tonight I got to get to the next question thank you so you believe your vote should be more important than others no I don't in fact if you want first of all the way you do senators is egalitarian the way you do Congress people is representative population and let me just reinforce this which again California still has more electoral votes in Kansas so there is a precedent there is a weight on population it's just done done in the context of that every state gets a voice for example Kansas South Dakota Oklahoma don't get merged in just because they all look the same from an airplane you're flying by it's a state with states rights its own government its own Constitution so to push back it's not as if population means nothing is that population is factored in to a national project and I'll just say one final thing on States you go through covid Europe they had one decree every part of Germany Belgium France is the same thing these Laboratories of democracy that continually happened keep us Freer and you have a state rights project or you have a national project the states rights project has kept us Freer has helped people more prosperous because if you don't like your government you're closer to it and you can make changes and adjustments thank you gotta get the next question thank you gotta get some I'm sorry I got to get to thank you thank you thank I gotta get to the next question [Music] I I heard you out thank you very much uh that's not the question more vote so hey do you live in Kansas or Missouri because guess what in Kansas you actually have a bigger voice than some people in California are hilariously because states have rights because I got to get to the next question but but I don't think you're hearing what I'm saying thank you very much thank you very much we've got to get the next question um so I'm on the Kansas side and as you're aware we just recently lost in a big abortion Amendment and so besides it being written very poorly in my opinion um there's a lot of outside media outside money to uh get that boat swayed to a no no yes could you speak to that and any advice for us pro-lifers to you know protect The Unborn thank you yeah keep the fight first of all um look I think a couple Dynamics with this I think it was poorly written I think there was a lot of confusion I asked my Kansas audience and I got a lot of emails of people that said they voted correctly but a lot of their friends were confused I know probably some of you on the Kansas side probably agree it was poorly written that's number one number two I think there was a massive amount of kind of democrat out of state money and left-wing money post dobs but number three is something that I say as someone who's 100 pro-life and talk about it and I speak at pro-life centers all the time is I don't think parts of the conservative movement are as pro-life as we think they are and that's not an accusation maybe you're in the audience and that might be your position that's fine but I'm also I I refuse to live under this delusion that everyone on the right is 100 pro-life that's not true and so politics is one thing we got a lot of work to do to explain what it means to be a human being when human life begins and why those human beings are necessary and worthy of protection now I could be wrong we're going to learn a lot in the pro-life movement in the next couple weeks both Kentucky and Montana have very similar measures up um if they fail there we're going to learn even more and so it should be kind of instructive to us of how pro-life actually are the states that we live in and we got a lot of work to do and I think there's a lot of fear-mongering there's a lot of you know I think bad moral teaching that comes alongside of it but look how far the pro-life movement has come a loss in Kansas because of a ballot referendum like that's that's small you guys will get reorganized you guys will lick your wounds you guys will figure it out we got Roe versus Wade repealed I mean come on that's huge and so we got a lot of work to do I don't think I think we got a lot of explaining to do a lot of persuading to do a lot of persistence but I'm optimistic man I really am and uh you know I want to say that the the pro-life movement needs of course talk about Solutions and adoption and creating a culture of life and making it easier to adopt in the correct way with the right clearinghouses so that bad people don't adopt kids and abuse them that's a very serious concern which was the good intent behind the bad policy that made the adoptive Community industry adoptive process I should say so bureaucratic and cumbersome good intention ended up being a multi-year just Thicket I know some of you have adopted and it's very difficult right I don't know how it is in Kansas but I know in Most states it's very very hard very bureaucratic very arduous I think if you run it through the church it's one of the best ways to do it um and I think it's one it's a way to streamline it and have a Clearinghouse so keep the fight it it is the fight that I think will Define all the others but we've made so much progress we were told our whole life that it's inevitable that everyone's going to support abortion now even the media admits the 50 50 issue you understand how big of a deal that is do you know by public opinion polls we are noticeably more pro-life than we were 20 years ago it's awesome and so at this trajectory we're gonna have even more victories God bless you man appreciate it and I'm from Texas and then Kansas City Barbecue is better okay all right [Applause] hey Charlie hi so I think this might be more of a point of clarification than a legitimate disagreement so you started off your um Talk by saying that you opposed science insofar as it stands in the way of nature or it sort of rewrites nature right is that like an accurate representation of your point or it can it can cause a lot of damage and not done under the proper moral framework it's been one of the great killers of of modern Humanity obvious with you know there's been phenomenal breakthroughs in modern medicine but continue with your questions that was actually my question actually okay well there you go so yeah I mean you could take for example so let's kind of just go back to how science has administered through things that we take for granted right so for example Sir Isaac Newton right Force equals mass times acceleration an object rest will stay at rest for every actual equal and opposite reaction right he was a phenomenal Christian wrote a lot about biblical prophecy and looked at nature as a way to explore God's creation for an intended purpose and so it's all a question of what is the intent right so I'll give you a great example if the intent is to allow human beings to flourish then I'm all for it what's an example of that how about a cesarean section what an awesome medical breakthrough over the last hundred years a cesarean section is of course a C-section without getting too graphic it's a way through medical intervention and progress to save human life with that intended purpose now obviously you know you have to have an incision you have to be able to you know have the proper um have the proper medication so that you know the woman doesn't feel it it's the most common medical procedure now done in America today and so I'm all for scientific breakthroughs in progress but that's what the intent of saving a human life right properly administered a C-section is life-giving right when you look at other things there is no life-giving nature to abortion so you look at two very complex surgical procedures one's an abortion one's a cesarean section both require a doctor they require you know medication they require breakthroughs but they have two completely different moral premises one to give life and one to take Life Away does that answer your question yeah it doesn't and and speaking of proportion I did have a sort of separate question but if you don't mind yeah so you sort of spoke you're sort of touched on abortion from a moral or philosophical standpoint in your talk um from a political or cultural standpoint how do you see the the debate playing out in the mid to long term um who do you think wins in the long term that's a smart question I I've given this advice to conservatives which is you have to be realistic about it in certain States in certain areas it's not a winning issue maybe in a longer period of time we could do our work and we could persuade people but if you're trying to get political power or win an election you've got to be realistic about whether or not you think that is going to win people over and so some people say Charlie you should talk about the issue all the time well then how are you ever going to get political power to actually fix the issue right I mean at some point you ought to be prudent about this but I think the the left is going to see a surges support I think that's going to happen they're going to see a lot of money come in a lot more activists and then I think we as pro-lifers are going to get reorganized see where we have to go and I think we have to go on a multi-decade multi-generation tour campaign project of getting into the deep moral and philosophy of it entertaining questions doing events because here's the one thing I could tell you is that most people that are pro-abortion have really not heard the best defense of life from a moral standpoint a biological standpoint a scientific standpoint but it's going to be a battle man and I think you're going to end up seeing kind of red state blue State abortion centers across the country where California is poised to make abortion a constitutional right and you're going to see a lot of that kind of Interstate travel and all that kind of stuff so that's my prediction thank you thank you uh Charlie thank you for being here first of all and thank you for everything that you do um I recently self-published a book on the political and social issues facing our country and I I covered a lot of the things that you touched on in your speech today uh the rise of secularism in our country how science has turned more into a religion than actual science The Assault on children in our country uh my question for you is what recommendations if any would you have as far as what I could do for marketing my book for someone who doesn't have a large following like yourself you're doing a good thing here by being here uh what's the name of your book downfall of America there you go so you got some plugs there um look the best piece of advice I have is do as much media as you can show up to events get to know people look for the it's turning point is an overnight 10-year success story right where everyone's like wow it's so big so many chapters so many students so much influence all this and look by the grace of God we've grown amazingly but um for those of you that were around remember five or six years of a lot of scrappiness and a lot of hustle and a lot of events and you know red-eye flights and it's just you got to put in the work right and then everyone's like wow it happened to them so quickly okay you know 330 days on the road for 10 years straight right yeah and then you might have a chance to build something where you can get the word out I'm not saying you have to do that but that's what we did we were on the road 310 315 320 335 days for a decade and then you finally have something that you know has been pretty beautiful and awesome and big and lots of staff and 130 000 donors across the country it's amazing um and praise God but you got to put in the work yeah God bless you thank you yeah of course yeah thank you you can go right now thank you love it thank you man God bless you thank you and if you disagree I just want to say it again you can come thank you hey Charlie um I've noticed in my life and you know with the political situation and the culture in the world that a lot of people are kind of say black pilled as a way of saying it like you've completely fallen into Despair and I noticed myself I was depressed like my entire life until I realized the like the core of it was I was an angry resentful person so my question is and I learned that from Jordan Peterson and uh the story of Cain and Abel in the Bible and I was wondering you know what ways could you know me personally because I still struggle with it and other people like how can we prevent ourselves from following this kind of angry resentful feeling that a lot of people I know a lot of my peers have thank you beautiful question truly um first thing is gratitude gratitude is the fruit that makes all of the things taste sweet we have the most ungrateful generation in American history because we've taught them in gratitude you go to most American college campuses they get a degree in ingratitude and if you go through the process of being thankful for something eventually your mind will go and hopefully will say thank thankful to whom and that that's important too so I'm a big believer that the Ten Commandments were given to us as a way not just to prevent against our nature but make us happier and allow us to flourish and I believe the Ten Commandments are instruction manuals for individuals and society and the one that I just harp on for young people in particular and this is one that they don't like to hear is honor your mother and father it is the only one of the Ten Commandments it's the only one of the Ten Commandments that involves your nation and a promise because it's not on your mother and father it's on your mother and father so that you may live long in the land of which you are in now that word honor is very interesting you are not commanded to love your parents it does say that in the New Testament but in the in the Ten Commandments it does not say that it doesn't have to be say you have to be your parents friend now that word honor comes from a Hebrew word the stem of it which means heavy you must treat them heavily and so that doesn't make any sense well here's a better way to explain it the Hebrew word for curse is the word light so if you were to curse something you would treat them lightly or not seriously what the Bible is commanding you is to take your parents seriously is to take that relationship with heaviness with intent of course you might have the worst parents in the history of the world they're abusive they're awful those are ex those are very very few exceptions it is not okay to dishonor your parents or treat them lightly if you don't get along with them that's not an excuse I believe this is just a side note that if you that if you cannot honor your Earthly parents you'll not be able to honor your heavenly father I believe it is the Earth the intermediary step to be able to honor God God himself and I think as a civilization we've kind of turned our back on that so kind of also the idea of cynicism and apathy are you a Christian yes sir awesome so we as Christians are not allowed to be cynical and apathetic if you're secular I have a different answer for you but as definition as Christians you have to be hopeful and you have to be optimistic or else you're not a Christian and that requires effort it requires daily effort where you remind yourself we know how the story ends that there is eternity waiting for us there's a God who loves us that we're boring new that changes the black pill really quickly and the final thing I'll say with this which is just kind of a good practice um is that this will not fix all of your problems but I am a believer in this with young men in particular is do not discount your physiology what you eat whether you do drugs whether you take you know do alcohol you know how much you sleep how much are you consuming of screens do you understand how dangerous dopamine addiction and dopamine deficiencies can be it won't fix everything because the deep down it is a soul problem but God gave us three parts when we talk about the mind and rational arguments and we talk about the spirit but sometimes I think we as Christians do not focus on the body at all and there's so much that if you have the posture of alignment that if you take care of your body you say I'm not going to drink anymore I'm not going to do drugs I'm going to not watch pornography right I'm not going to stare at my screen 10 hours a day I'm going to eat right and exercise all of a sudden you're going to take your spiritual health more seriously and then with it comes into alignment so I'm a big believer that your physiology could be a big driver towards staying away from cynicism and apathy God bless you man thanks for being God bless you too hey Charlie uh I just want to first issue how offended I am at you having the audacity the gall to confuse Kansas City Kansas with Kansas City Missouri we are better I knew it was coming we are better we came first we have a Super Bowl winning team so I just want to make clear that you're in Missouri now that now that sort of brings us to the question okay in Missouri like you as you know we had a trigger law so we essentially don't have abortions in Missouri so we have a lot of new parents who ostensibly don't feel prepared or feel ready to be parents so the question is what should state governments do especially in Missouri to try to alleviate and support these new families great question so first and foremost I've said this to every Pastor is part of TP USA faith in every church the church has got to step up big time and if we're going to talk about pro-life policies from the pulpit we got to live out pro-life practices in the streets and with people that need help and we have to offer help and Aid Pregnancy Resources there should not be a child in America that gets born post-row where a Mom feels as if she's not supported and prayed for and have things supplied to her I believe the church will step up I really do but we need pastors to be clear about it and churches to really embark on that the second thing is state governments governments have to make the process of adoption less bureaucratic while having the safeguards in place to not allow child abusers and bad people to be able to adopt children which is a very real concern I understand that but let's just look at the numbers one of the propaganda techniques of the abortionist they say there will be unwanted children there are a million abortions every single year currently there's two million families on the adoption waiting list in America so there are twice as many families waiting to adopt an America than there are abortions every single year and I believe that number would go to 5 million and 6 million if American Christians were challenged from the pulpit say hey if you have the capacity if you have the ability adopt one child to help us live out what we believe that all human life is made of the image of God if that's even Beyond state governments I think the state government though needs to make it easier to have children I think that we need to have a whole pro-life agenda be put in place and praise God for the trigger law but I don't think it's enough to say okay you know abortion is gone and we turn our back on it we got to live out the pro-life policies and everything we do if your humor a follow-up question really quick because we'll run out of time so you mentioned mainly about like church like what CR like religious organizations should do to support news and new families and you mentioned abortion or not abort adoption yes that's right 40 and slip there um what do you think of say uh Missouri's new bill in the house that will expand Medicaid protection to like pregnant women do you think there should be more like financially on like the financial level to support these new families yeah I'd have to look at it I'm a bigger believer if necessary instead of doing Medicaid which is government health insurance I'm a bigger believer in doing what Milton Friedman would argue which is if you're going to give Aid give it in a form of universal basic income to a very specific group I think that gives more agency and more Choice Milton Friedman was a big believer in that government insurance through Medicaid is awful it's like the worst Medicaid can save people's lives but the quality is low and there's tons of Fraud and a lot of inefficiencies I have to look at the look at the bill there um but I do think I I believe this there is a potential role for the state to step up to make it easier for babies to be able to flourish and live post throw I do believe that thank you God bless you nice this is on the abortion topic as well um would you say 70 of Americans think abortion's okay up to a certain point I think that's probably right okay so personally I am pro-life I think life begins at conception but I think we are a small minority and I'm almost to the point where to do something I would give in to a certain number of weeks I know Lindsey Graham said 15. you know and to me one day does it make you human and the next day you're not you know it's just an embryo and a fetus it's just a stage of life it's all life if you uh today and maybe not in the future and I think part of it is people that are in favor of abortion don't really realize what it is when you say do you know they rip your arms I don't want to hear about I don't they don't want to acknowledge what it is is there a week or a day that you would concede so that we don't have you know yeah so I would I would agree in a step towards the goal of abolition right I mean I think if there was a 14-week ban great first step but I'll never not be clear the goal is complete and total abolition like I'm not gonna back away but but do I think a 14-week ban would be a beautiful thing of course obviously especially versus the late term nonsense we see in a lot of these states but without the Vision Without A Vision people perish and abortion is a crime against humanity and I'm not going to back away from that so I know I know you'd agree you'd give a little of course yeah I mean you ought to be prudent right you got to be realistic yeah but I'm also not going to act as if the movement's over and we're going to stop campaigning we're going to stop you know persuading but it would be imprudent not to take progress right even though you have a broader goal in mind so of course right God bless you thank you [Applause] hi so you mentioned earlier I have kind of a maybe complicated question I agree with some of the points you made and I kind of disagree um you mentioned earlier something about like the love yourself movement is just really bad and I would say I agree with like a lot of self-reflection and like give so much anxiety and depression to our generation because it's all just like me me all the time but at the same time like do you feel like there's a balance between loving yourself because I know that's helped me and that's helped many people be more comfortable with themselves and not have anxiety and have more you know comfortability with the people around them and themselves like do you feel like there's like you have to be extreme one way or another or like there's I'm glad it helped you that's awesome but I don't think we should teach it to our children right so I'll give you an example if a poster said something like in a fourth grade classroom you're perfect the way you are do you think that's a good message like what would your opinion just think about it disagree with that no you disagree with it I mean you and me both right we agree because to tell a fourth grader you're perfect the way you are why would they go to school right like why would they keep on studying and why would they keep on improving now what you're getting at though is being gentle towards oneself and not being harsh on oneself that's different than self-love because I'm a big believer in self-respect and that's completely different than self-love I always want to make sure I have respect towards myself self-love is narcissism self-respect is I I will I don't want to do a series of behaviors or choices where I might look at myself in the mirror and say I'm not I'm not happy the way I acted does that make sense the dip so self-love can get into hyper Eastern infatuation with your own being and the energy within which if it helps you praise God I know it's helped a lot of people but I don't think we should teach our children that I think it could do a lot more damage than good does that make sense yeah for sure thank you God bless you message that can come from the Hispanic Community towards both parties thank you for being here I think Hispanics need to yell from the rooftops that we're not going to put up with white liberal domination of American society and I say white liberal intentionally because there is a disproportionate amount of the nonsense that just is venom in our society from a small group of white liberals that tell Hispanic and black people that they must live a certain way and so the one thing I would love to see the Hispanic Community do is reassert itself as being a parents movement loving their children and Traditional Values I I would love to see kind of that opposition movement and both parties this is what I would love to see Hispanics say is stop taking our culture as if it's something for your own political purposes I don't think conservatives are doing that at all I think that liberals do it all the time they think they own Hispanics they think they control them they think they can tell them what to do they use it as political footballs all the time and I want Hispanic to say you know what you don't own us actually we're our own community and we love our children we love God we love our hard work we love the police and you don't represent us that's what I'd love to see from the Hispanic Community it um really quick we're running out of time um comes across very cool on this sending an arrogant and it comes across as if we're not capable of doing things I agree God bless you thank you we'll go a little over time if you guys want me to because I screwed up the states so yeah I want you to go over time um are you familiar with familiar with Christopher Hitchens yeah so Christopher hitchin's statement is that while religion May occasionally make bad people do good things if you want to get good people to do bad things you use religion how would you respond to that so um do you hold that view or just I'm just curious oh you do okay what is good well anything that benefits people I mean I'm not okay I'm not really I don't really have a cogent definition of good but I there are certainly plenty of examples where religious differences have been leveraged to create horrendous atrocities yeah just the question is what is horrendous and what is good right so absent a belief in God how do you have a definition of good what benefits mankind so Stalin was an atheist who went to Seminary denounced God killed 30 40 million people but who's to say they're wrong they said they were benefiting Humanity well I I think you can make that you can argue against that based on using science how well the more diversity you have the more likely you are to survive what no I don't I don't quite understand that I'm just I'm curious like but by eliminating diversity so evolution is the center modification and survival of the fittest so the more genetic variation you have the more likely you are to develop at least some part of that population that would be able to withstand any sort of environmental change so genocides I think from a scientific standpoint you can't use science to support that okay so then why was there a lot of literature supporting eugenics because people are stupid oh I I agree right so but then so you're saying science okay so that's that's an interesting question so you think Darwinism can support and agreed upon what's Darwinism because Darwin never used Origin of Species like his okay but that's not Darwinism that's Evolution okay so how about the moral idea that the survival of the fittest well it's not really a moral idea it's a kind of a fact oh okay interesting so I kind of get but but you can make the case that so I think there are people who would say well if you have people who are sort of have genetic defects that they shouldn't be allowed to survive and I think that's horrendous but why why do you have that belief again this idea behind genetic diversity yeah but if someone has a low IQ aren't they kind of just like a strain on society why wouldn't we eliminate you can't predict on the basis certainly I'm sure we can we do it all the time we do chromosomal testing I mean in Iceland they've gotten rid of kids with downtown syndrome do you agree with that no why because those folks with Down Syndrome lead full and live full lives there well hold on no they require someone to support them so shouldn't we eliminate them not all of them why syndrome is a spectrum but it's not simply a Trisomy 21. it's it's a lot more complicated but I'm getting I'm getting at a point here which eventually it's going to be your opinion versus mine of what is good okay but I think you can make you can qualify good scientifically right but the scientific good in Iceland is Down syndrome are a strain on the environment strain on resources they're unproductive they can't produce so we might as well eliminate them right well I would say that's a mistake they don't but their scientists disagree so by what standard is good good who are their scientists the international World Community is doing this let me ask you another question though do you believe in the Big Bang um yes so you believe that time space and matter had a definitive beginning yes okay so by definition shouldn't therefore the thing that caused time space and matter be outside of time space and matter no that's so you don't believe in Newtonian physics no actually I don't I believe more in quantum physics because okay so you don't believe for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction Newtonian physics works well on large scales but it yeah the universe is pretty large dude like the Big Bang rests on quantum mechanics not applied by Newtonian physics because it's the largest possible scale imaginable so how how exactly did the big bang happen if there wasn't someone that effectuated the Big Bang okay so so it's it's a bit complicated and has to do with Quantum now I'm not saying no it's actually not it's that the only thing that could have made something that is space-time and matter is something that transcends space-time and matter AKA a God that's the only explanation so much for your work I'll just ask two quick questions as a passionate Christian and Patriot and just I would say in our everyday everyday Joe that I am a businesswoman churchgoer I feel um intimidated and discouraged so many times seeing the power of our culture as you said on every Starbucks or the social media everywhere we go there's this Goliath in our face and I just wanted to see if you could Empower all of us with just some points as a Gideon's Army on how we can continue to take a stand for conservative as conservativism and if you if Turning Point has um I I my juices are so stirred and I'm so excited that I want to be able to answer transgenderism I haven't studied all of the points but you know does your organization have something where we can learn how to be effective in really responding to this yeah and I I gotta kind of hat tip the experts I got to tell you Matt Walsh's documentary what is a woman is one of the best pieces of film is that not the greatest thing and I I don't pretend to be the leading voice on that topic because I have to carry you know we do radio so I have to talk about 100 issues a day but I I really encourage you he does his podcast is great and I think he's done more scholarship on this issue in a persuasive entertaining way than almost anybody else I would point you in that direction and also don't give up hope yeah we got the truth have courage courage is the ultimate virtue without courage there are no other virtues and I'll tell you I think our best days are ahead in that way God bless you thank you next question is this the final question yes final question okay Best For Last but um my question is um I debate often with people of color that look like me that they shouldn't support like BLM and all that nonsense so no they haven't um accepted my ideals so what would be the best counter argument for them to just stop supporting the funding police or reparations or things like that are those popular arguments you hear yeah yeah okay well first are you a conservative I'm a Christian yes God bless you man thank you and that's very I want to say that I I don't want to put words in your mouth but I can imagine you received some ridicule for those positions what are you called um trans folk well and definitely in high school um I came out as a Christian so I would uh people start debating me on my um how I believed and it was just I would set up these debates and it would be it would just be awful like I'd be called a bunch of names it never affects me much but it was just so interesting to see the rhetoric not have a civil discourse with me so yes yeah so I look I would say this that I would focus on if talking to you know other black Americans I would ask them I'd say has the reign of white liberals since 1960s benefit our community forget all this systemic racism stuff you guys want to talk about racism how about the reign of white liberals that Malcolm X warned us about Great Society program woke ideology destruction of our family they want to play the race card all the time who's been in charge of black cities the last 60 years it's not rural farmers in Western Kansas or Missouri it's no instead it's been white liberals it's been a project of the white liberal and for the white liberal and it's hyper academic ideology abstractions and here's the one thing I would say which is try to be real this is one of the reasons why I think that Black America is going to have a conservative Renaissance at some point is that these ideas require you at times to go through to get a PhD they're so insane men can become pregnant America's systemically racist you know when you walk the streets in the cities you're like actually we could use more cops you don't have to go listen to some sort of abstract thinker about why police systemic racism all that nonsense so just be real talk about things that matter in Black America you talk about how we need a restoration of nuclear families and ask the question why is this the case it's because of the reign of terror of white liberals it's not white conservatives it's not this Mega semi-fascist people no no it is the ideology of the woke that has imposed themselves on Black America if that's really they want to go I'll tell you they've done more damage than any other community and I think you could turn it on them God bless you for being here tonight man thank you okay all right well that was fun wasn't it
