“September brought a wave of troubling events—violence, geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty—underscoring a pattern: In times of crisis, more people turn to faith for comfort and support,” Brenna Connor, an analyst at Circana BookScan, said, as reported by the WSJ.
[snip]
The report comes after Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University. Kirk was known for publicly discussing his Christian faith.
“The West is the best because of Christianity,” Kirk wrote in an Aug. 13 X post, less than a month before his assassination. “We must seek Christ first, and our national and cultural resurgence will naturally follow.”
Moreover, Kirk wrote in a May 2024 social media post that Americans “must defend the Christian heritage and institutions that gave birth to America.”
“Christianity is the key, irreplaceable element,” Kirk wrote further. “If we lose it, it’s not so much that America will fall, it’s that America will become evil.”
Erika Kirk, Mr. Kirk’s widow, said during a speech at his memorial service on Sept. 21 that her late husband’s assassination had helped spur a Christian revival.
[snip]
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth similarly said during the memorial service that Kirk’s assassination had sparked “a spiritual revival” in the U.S.
“Charlie started a political movement but unleashed a spiritual revival,” Hegseth said. “This moment is the turning point for the USA.”
While Bible sales have remained “strong” over the past two years, Kirk’s assassination “awakened a lot of people,” Mark Schoenwald, president and chief executive of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, said, the WSJ reported.
“They started to think about what they believe and why,” Schoenwald added.
[snip]
“Ever since the Charlie Kirk shooting there has been an awakening, not only with Bibles but with all Christian-related items,” Borrero told the outlet. “Even people like my father who never knew about him were affected by his death.”
A Pew Research Center study published in February found that 62% of U.S. adults said they identify as Christians, marking a decline of 9 percentage points since 2014. A separate survey from Pew Research Center released in September 2020 showed that 63% of teenagers in the U.S. aged 13 to 17 identify as Christian.
Moreover, 68% of Americans identify with a Christian religion, according to a Gallup survey released in late March 2024. This includes 33% who said they are Protestant, 22% who reported they are Catholic and 13% who identify with another Christian religion or simply as a “Christian,” according to the poll.
President Donald Trump posthumously awarded Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Tuesday, calling him “a fearless warrior for liberty.”
* Original Article: