Speaker 1: What's going on. Thank you so much for listening to
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smartphone or tablet, and again, thank you so much for
your support. In the last hour, we played a bunch
of clips from the first roughly two hours of the
Charlie Kirk memorial held in Arizona at a football stadium.
They had an overflow facility as well, so they filled
that stadium and then they had an overflow facility as
well with thousands of people watching there. They were lining
up at like three or four in the morning, just
a massive turnout. And this is why I said in
the last hour, I'm not sure people who who haven't
been moved or who don't understand, you know, why the
why the outpouring of emotion and grief in the wake
of Kirk's assassination and the people who are, you know,
trying to find some rationalization or justification for why Kirk
was assassinated. To the people who are celebrating, I don't
think you understand what has changed. Because if you watched
that memorial yesterday, and I was. I watched it, you know,
in my home studio. I just had the had the
live feed up and I was recording it, making notes
the whole time. And I mean you could feel it.
You could feel the divine, you could feel the presents.
I could, and uh, that stadium was overwhelmed with it.
And here's the thing. In my adult life covering politics,
I don't remember seeing so many public officials speaking like
they did yesterday about God and about Christ. I have
nothing else to compare this to. I remember after nine
to eleven when George W. Bush made a speech and
he said the word crusade, and the left went and
the media, but I repeat myself, they went nuts. They
went nuts over it. And then Bush was like, Okay,
probably shouldn't have used that word whatever, whatever I mean.
And George W. Bush was a man that frequently would
cite you know, scriptural passage, and he would uh, he
would work in you know, stories and references as a
sort of an acknowledgment to the quote unquote religious right,
but to hear the kind of overt Well, here, I'll
tell you what. Let's just start with this, because I
thought the best eulogy from a political figure came from
Marco Rubio, who said, Charlie took his message with his
Christian faith, his love of country. He took that message
to the people that he knew needed to hear it
the most.
Speaker 2: Understand where we were at that time in our history,
understand where we are still today. In many places where
young Americans are actively told that everything that they were taught,
that all the foundations that made our society and our
civilization so grand, they were all wrong, they were all evil,
That marriage is oppressive, that children are a burden, that
America as a source of evil, not of good in
the world. And here was this voice that inspired a
movement in which young Americans were.
Speaker 1: Told that is not true.
Speaker 2: The highest calling we are called to is to be
in a successful marriage and to raise productive children. And
a movement that taught them that ours was not a
great country, but the greatest, most exceptional nation that has
ever existed in the history of all of mankind, and
that it's worth fighting for, it's worth defending it's worth
preserving and it's worth passing on to the next generation.
Speaker 1: This was the mission and the work of Charlie.
Speaker 2: Kirk, and a couple things that stound out about him.
He led this movement, but he did so with incredible knowledge.
It's unbelievable how much he knew. He came to me
very recently. He said some he said, I said, who
said that? He said, Marcus Aurelius. I said, what district
does he represent? I kind of knew it was, but
he said back, no, it's a Roman, you know, philosopher,
king or emperor. His incredible knowledge.
Speaker 1: And let me tell you that.
Speaker 2: One of the last messages I had with him was
just a few days before his passing, where he wrote
me from overseas, I'm in South Korea. I have many
concerns I want to share with you when I get back.
He was constantly expanding his horizons, but he just didn't
have knowledge. He had wisdom, an uncanny amount of wisdom
for a man as young as he was, wisdom that
sometimes it takes a lifetime to accumulate.
Speaker 1: He had it in just thirty one years.
Speaker 2: He was also bold, it is so easy and listen
I've been guilty of it.
Speaker 1: I think many of us have been guilty of this.
Speaker 2: You hide behind the walls and you surround yourself with
people that agree with you.
Speaker 1: We do it as a society all the time.
Speaker 2: Increasingly, people are moving into neighborhoods with other people that
agree with them politically and isolate themselves from people that.
Speaker 1: Do not agree with them. But Charlie Kirk was bold.
Speaker 2: He actively sought out to engage peacefully, respectfully those who
he disagreed with. As recently as two days ago, we
learned of one of the hosts on CNN who said
that one of the messages he had gotten just a
few days before Charlie's passing was from him inviting him
to dialogue. And he did this on campuses, He did
this on podcasts, He did this on radio shows, He
did this on television shows.
Speaker 1: Time and again.
Speaker 2: He sought to engage those he disagreed with, because he
understood that we were not created to isolate ourselves from
one another, but to engage. The irony in all this
is that what our nation needs, one of the many
things that needs, is the ability to discuss our differences openly, honestly, peacefully, respectfully.
And Charlie Kirk did that more than anyone alive in
America today is doing. And Charlie Kirk was impactful, impactful.
Speaker 1: Because of all the things I've said. But look around
this place.
Speaker 2: There's one hundred and something thousand people here. The President
of the United States is here, his entire cabinet is here. Television,
audio outlets, and media outlets.
Speaker 1: From all over the world they're covering this.
Speaker 2: I just came from overseas and every country I stopped
they gave us their condolences for his passing. Impactful and
just thirty one years of life. He made a difference.
He mattered, and he will matter now more than he
ever has before. And let me close with this, how
do you remember? This is a memorial service, it's to
honor him. How do you best remember it? I'll take
the liberty of saying what I think we can best do.
Speaker 1: Look, I think he had an.
Speaker 2: A tremendous impact on young Americans in general. I think
he had a very special and direct impact on young
men in this country. That's one of the greatest developments
I've seen. It's been very positive. I think we remember
him for that.
Speaker 1: I think we.
Speaker 2: Remember him for constantly saying you want to live a
productive life, get married, start a family, love your country.
These are powerful messages. But I hope many who are watching.
I imagine there are people watching here tonight that didn't
know much about Charlie Kirk.
Speaker 1: Until eleven days ago.
Speaker 2: Maybe they were disengaged from politics, maybe they were partially engaged.
I hope one of the things they take from this
is that the movement Charlie Kirk led and started and
gave fuel to was about politics, but not only about politics.
Speaker 1: It was deeper, It.
Speaker 2: Was broader, and I would say that taking the liberty,
but I'm confident he would agree.
Speaker 1: One of the things he wants.
Speaker 2: Us to take away from this from all of this
is the following his deep belief that we were all created,
every single one of us, before the beginning of time,
by the hands of the God of the universe and
all powerful God, who loved us and created us for
the purpose of living with him in eternity. But then
sin entered the world and separated us from our creator.
And so God took on the form of a man
and came down and lived among us, and he suffered
like men, and he died like a man.
Speaker 1: But on the third day he rose unlike any mortal man.
Speaker 2: And then, and to prove any doubters wrong, he ate
with his disciples so they could see and they touched
his wounds. He didn't rise as a ghost or as
a spirit, but his flesh.
Speaker 1: And then he rose to the heaven.
Speaker 2: But he promised he would return, and he will. And
when he returns, because he took on that death, because
he carried that cross, we were freed from the sin
that separated us from him. And when he returns, there
will be a new heaven and a new earth, and
we will all be together and we are going to
have a great reunion there again with Charlie and all
the people we love.
Speaker 1: Thank you and God bless you. When is the last
time you heard a politician, an elected official speak like that.
I don't know if I've ever heard that kind of
alter call, if you will, from a politician, from an
elected leader like that. That's why I think this is different.
It's one of the reasons. Also people keep talking about
the impact Charlie Kirk made in thirty one years, but
the work that he did was only thirteen. He started
at age eighteen. He died at thirty one. He only
had thirteen years of this work, and this is the
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let's sad over to the phones. We'll talk with Ray.
Hello Ray, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3: Hello Bete. I'll try to be quick. I heard somewhere
this morning. Eric Kirk was talking to her daughter, and
her daughter asked her why this happened, or why it
happened this way or something, and she tried to explain
it to her, and I just wanted to say that
in the early eighties, my grandmother and my aunt were
killed in an auto accident and my grandfather in the
car almost was and I just wanted to say my
brother had a pretty close walk with God back then.
And I asked my brother, I said, I said, why
did Grandma and and Alice have to go in this manner?
And he told me, he said, well, Ray, when we
get to heaven, we'll ask God why it happened this way,
and He'll look at us and tell us, and then
we'll say to ourselves, Yep, that was the best way
it could happen. That's my comment.
Speaker 1: Thet Yeah, no, it is, you know, the searching for answers.
This is the why do bad things happen to good
people and kind of question. And we struggled to find
those answers because we don't know. And what Erica Kirk
said in her eulogy last night or yes, you know,
last evening was she said she doesn't understand the plan,
but God does. That's what faith is, is you put
that faith in God that he that he does know,
and that's all we can do because we can't know,
So Ray, I appreciate the call sorry for your loss
too as well. I mean loss like that, especially sudden loss.
It is part of the human experience, you know, and
it is very human of us to try to make sense,
to try to find some order, some reason why something happened.
And there are a lot of people today that believe
that this happened for a larger reason, and we are
seeing some of that larger reason. That's faith, you know.
And it's hard for me to disagree with that because
the amount of people that tuned in to watch that
service and to hear Christ's message, the amount of people
that have been going back to church that sort of
had their eyes open to mention the line that caller
Chris made earlier, right, I mean, that's that's some good
that may come of this, is that the quote plan
I don't know. I have no idea. I'm just a
human too. Mark wants to know he did not watch
the service Where there are any protesters outside. I think there
were a couple. There was like ten to twenty. I
think not enough that made any kind of an impact
or difference. And I think I think that's a good
sign that there were very few people that were willing
to show up to protest a funeral and behave Remember
the Westboro Baptist Church. Remember those people and how just
grotesque they were to the body, politic and to society.
They were shunned. I mean, just nobody supported what they
were doing. And that's where too many on the left
have now arrived, as they trash memorial services and vigils
and paint over rocks and such. So when I was
a kid, my grandpa died with Alzheimer's, and before he died,
my mom and my dad took care of him as
he got worse. Forty years ago, there were no treatments
and not much support for caregivers and family. But things
are different today because of the work of so many people,
including the Alzheimer's Association of Western Carolina. It's a great
organization with awesome people with huge hearts. I've been a
supporter for twenty five years. This cause means a lot
to me. I participate in the annual Walk to End
Alzheimer's and I'm leading a Charlotte team again this year,
and it's called once Again Pete's Pack. You can sign
up and you can join the team and walk with us.
It's on October eighteenth that truest field. Sign up at
alz dot org slash walk and then you could search
for my team name Pete's Pack. There's also a link
at thepetepod dot com. There's also a link in the
description of this podcast. Also, I'll be am seeing the
Gastonia Walk on October eleventh, and so you can make
a team and join that one too, or make a
donation and help me hit my goal of five thousand dollars.
If you do, I really appreciate it. There are a
bunch of other walks all over the Carolinas. You can
go to alz dot org slash walk for all the
dates and locations. We're closer than ever to stopping Alzheimer's.
Can you help us get there? Will you walk with me?
For a different future, for families, for more time for treatments.
This is why we walk. Let me go over here
to the phones and chat with Diane. Hello Diane, Welcome
to the show.
Speaker 4: Hey Pete, Hey Pete. I just want to tell you
I try to listen to you every day. I love
how you broadcast. You're so smart, you're humble, you're just wonderful,
and I think a couple of quick little I can
barely hear you, but I got two little things I
would love to tell you about twenty two years ago,
I lost a very beautiful thirty one year old daughter
and it was so hard. And after about a month
or two, I found out what had happened and who
gave her the drug that took her life. And I
went there and I told him that I hated him,
but I loved him. And then a little bit later,
when he was walking me to the door, I said,
Jesus forgave Judas, I have to forgive you. Then the
other night, Saturday night this week, this past week, my
husband and I went to Wendy's because just because, and
we went to order and this young man, young man say,
nineteen twenty years old, and the young lady was with
He walked over and he goes, I want to buy
your dinner, and my husband said, we have money, and
he said, no, I need to do this. I want
to pay forward. And he bought our dinner. Charlie Kirk
is working.
Speaker 1: Well, and I just, yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 4: I just wanted to thank him, and I wanted the
moment to thank you Pete, for every day that you
make me listen and appreciate who you are, and when
you do your little giggle, it just oh, it just
it just makes me happy.
Speaker 3: Well, thank you, Pete.
Speaker 1: You're very kind.
Speaker 5: Diane.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you saying the kind words and for listening
to the show. And I do appreciate that. And I'm
sorry for your loss, but I'm glad that you had
that moment at the Wendy's because it's stuff like that
that puts people back in touch with their common humanity.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: Yes, and this young man and young lady they have it.
They were smiling, they were beautiful. They were truly God's children,
as are all of us. And I especially give you credit.
You are an amazing.
Speaker 1: Well thank you, Diane. I do appreciate that. God bless you,
God bless you. Take care.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 1: So what Diane was saying there about forgiving, see, this
is the thing too, and I've seen some of these
text messages, you know, people like I couldn't, I wouldn't
forgive you know, the assassin and all of this forgiveness
is what we are called to do. But it's also
for you, forgiving your transgressor your trespasser is for you
to carry around hate and anger your entire life is
destructive to you as well. So his Charlie Kirk's widow, Erica,
This was just gut wrenching to watch. She comes onto
the stage. She stands there for a moment. You can
tell before she walks to the mic. She's praying. She's
got her eyes closed, her lips are moving. You can
see she's trying to keep it together right, to be strong.
She talked about how she went to the hospital. She
wanted to see her husband and she was warned like
this is not something you should see, but she said,
I wanted to see what they did to him, and
in looking over her husband body, she said that God's
love at that moment was revealed to her.
Speaker 5: I also saw on his lips the faintest smile, and
that told me something important. It revealed to me a
great mercy from God in this tragedy.
Speaker 6: When I saw that, it told me Charlie didn't suffer.
Speaker 1: Even the doctor told me.
Speaker 5: It was something so instant that even even if Charlie
had been shot in the operating room, it's itself, nothing.
Speaker 6: Could have been done. There was no fame, there was
no fear, no agony.
Speaker 5: One moment, Charlie was doing what he loved, arguing and
debating on campus, fighting for the gospel and truth.
Speaker 6: In front of a big crowd.
Speaker 5: And then he blinked.
Speaker 6: He blinked and saw his savior in paradise.
Speaker 1: Yeah, this was It was truly remarkable. And you'll hear
what she said next that I'm sure you've heard by now.
She forgives the man who killed her husband. All right,
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trips deserve even better returns. From the text line, Danny says,
if there was ever any doubt in regard to Charlie's
prophetic persona, look no further than the name of his organization,
which started so many years ago, and many probably thought,
why name it turning Point, But as now crescendoed to
his death in the proverbial turning point of our society
and youth within that society. In her eulogy yesterday, Charlie's widow, Erica,
talked about God's love being revealed to her, but also
in how there has been no violence, no rioting, no revolution. Instead,
we saw what Charlie always prayed we would see, which
is revival.
Speaker 5: He knew things were not right with America and especially
with young people, and they needed a new direction. Charlie
passionately wanted to reach and save the lost boys of
the West, the young men who feel like they have
no direction, no purpose, no faith, and no reason to live.
The men wasting their lives on distractions, and the men
consumed with resentment, anger and hate. Charlie wanted to help them.
He wanted them to have a home with Turning Point, USA.
And when he went on to campus, he was looking
to show them a better path and a better life
that was right there for the taking.
Speaker 6: He wanted to show them that.
Speaker 5: My husband, Charlie, he wanted to save young men.
Speaker 6: Just like the one who took his life.
Speaker 1: And then she, you know, kind of paused, and she
got emotional and offered forgiveness that young man, that young.
Speaker 5: Man on the cross, our Savior said, Father, forgive them,
for they not know what they do.
Speaker 6: That man, that young man, I forgive him.
Speaker 1: So this applause would last for a minute, solid minuted.
As she's trying to collect herself, she wept, crowd supported her,
applauded for her. In love.
Speaker 5: I forgive him because it was what Christ did and
is what Charlie would do. The answer to hate is
not hate. The answer we know from the Gospel is
love and always love, love for our enemies.
Speaker 1: And love for.
Speaker 5: Those who persecute us. The world needs turning Point USA.
Speaker 1: It needs a.
Speaker 5: Group that will point young people away from the path
of misery and sin. It needs something that will lead
people away from hell in this world and in the next.
Speaker 1: Now, there was a contrast between some of the political speeches,
particularly Stephen Miller's where you talked about destroying our enemies,
and people have been making a big deal about this.
But Ali Beth Stuckley I thought, had a very good
or Stucky had a very good explanation for this. She said,
there's this big contrast between Erica's forgiveness speech and Miller's
destroy our enemy speech. But she says that is as
it should be. It's our job to forgive, not the governments.
Christians give grace. The government wields the sword, we turn
the other cheek. The government punishes evil. That's the breakdown.
Let me get Tara on here real quick, Hey, Tara,
I have about a minute.
Speaker 7: Okay, okay, quick. First of all, I mean Erica's speech
was amazing, and that's what I was going to say. Look,
how the difference is that we respond with love, prayers, communion,
coming together. What can we do. He never preached hate.
He hated what the young kids are becoming. The liberals
can't say. But anyway, long source, I listened to a
murder podcast and they just vitriol against him. They took
these little snippets. You know, he's a homophobe. He doesn't
believe people that said he would catch people. He opened
up the mic on college campuses and listened and answered openly.
But when he found he'd call out people that were
making up things. But it just is amazing to me
and kind of makes me feel good how we've reacted.
We're not looting, we're not killing people, we're not setting
cars on fire. We're really showing basically who he was.
Speaker 1: Yes, Tera, I appreciate the call. Is good to hear
from you. In other words, it's been literally thoughts and prayers,
the thing that we were mocked for, most recently after
the Nunciation School shooting. All right, that'll do it for
this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could
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