December 9, 2025 • 36 mins
Charlie's final book "STOP, in the Name of God" is finally out nationwide, and nobody is more fitting to talk about the book's message than Erika Kirk. She joins the show to discuss why the Sabbath meant so much to Charlie and how God's gift of rest only made him more effective as a campaigner, communicator, and leader. Plus, Hillsdale's Matthew Spalding talks about his new book on the Declaration of Independence and its central role in defining the "American mind."
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
My name is Charlie Kirk.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I run the largest pro American student organization in the country,
fighting for the future of our republic. My call is
to fight evil and to proclaim truth. If the most
important thing for you is just feeling good, you're gonna
end up miserable. But if the most important thing is
doing good, you'll end up purposeful. College is a scam, everybody.
(00:26):
You got to stop sending your kids to college. You
should get married as young as possible and have as
many kids as possible. Go start at turning point, you
would say, college chapter. Go start atturning point, you say,
high school chapter. Go find out how your church can
get involved.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Sign up and become an activist.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I gave my life to the Lord in fifth grade,
most important decision I ever made in my life, and
I encourage you to do the same. Here I am.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Lord, Use me.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Buckle up, everybody, Here we go. The Charlie Kirk Show
is proudly sponsored by Preserved Gold, leading gold and silver
experts and the only precious metals company I recommend to
my family, friends and viewers.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
All Right, welcome to our two of The Charlie Kirk Show. Blake,
this is the I think the moment everybody's been waiting
for today, and that's because, of course we have Erica
Kirk on the show. She is joining us remote because
she has a busy, busy day. But Erica, if you
can hear us, Welcome to the Charlie Kirk Show.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Hey, everyone, can you hear me?
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Brand New York City?
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Hi?
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Well, today is the book launch of Charlie's book, his
final book, Stop in the Name of God. And here
is this beautiful artwork. Yes, and Erica, you and Charlie
and your beautiful daughter are on the back. And it's
just a beautiful book. I've been voraciously reading it. It
(01:56):
is a wonderful personal tribute and that such an important
message tell us about it.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
It is a book that my husband, as you know, Andrew,
he was writing this for what a year and a
half and he finished it in July and I'll never
forget him coming downstairs and he was like, I've finished it.
I finally finished it. I was like, maybe, I'm so
proud of you. And he was like, you know, if
this only changes just one person's life, at least it
changed just that one. He's like, but honestly, he and
(02:25):
I have to tell you this, watching him live this
out in real time changed his life, totally elevated him.
I mean he was already elevated, but it was the
next level. It was amazing. I mean, yes, my husband
was amazing to begin with, but this really took it
to the next level.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Yeah. Well, and I can just tell you and Blake
probably saw this as well. So this is a little
this is a little funny stroke. So Charlie loved to work.
He loved loved working. He's good because he had to
do it all the time. Yeah, he I mean, and
he really loved working. And I remember when I first
started working with Charlie, it was kind of like just
like twenty four seven, you know, And he was always
(03:01):
good natured about it, always upbeat. He loved he loved it.
And I remember my wife was like, hey, you know,
we are we ever going to have any you know,
time down? Yeah, like how about a weekend husband? And
I was like, yeah, we know, we will, I'll talk,
I'll talk to Well. Then it long comes Erica. Now
you guys have a family, And Charlie starts getting really
(03:21):
into this idea of how to rest, how to rest well.
And I can just tell you that I saw not
only did I see Charlie, this take Charlie to the
next level, but it also allowed everybody else to kind
of go to the next level too, because our lives
and everybody that he was leading their lives became more
in balance too. It was an amazing transformation for the
(03:43):
entire team, it.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Was, and not even so much from just a productivity level.
But Andrew and Blake, you guys both know this. The
whole team knows this. Being in politics and just in
a total echo chamber, and then also just dealing with
real world issues and then also just dealing with the
even personal life issues, all of those to re combined
become this absolute trifecta of this weight on you where
(04:07):
you're just like, can I just have a second to breathe?
I just need a second to breathe. And that's what
this is. It has nothing to do with running away,
it has nothing to do with take it's literally taking
a pause so you can lay out and map out. Okay,
pause the noise for a second. Just stop the noise
for a second. What truly matters? Have people pour into you,
(04:28):
have some alone time with the Lord, spend some time
with your family, have a beautiful meal with your family
on whatever.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Day you choose to do this.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
It does not have to be a Friday, does not
have to be a Sunday. It doesn't even have to
be a Wednesday. You can choose that. That's what's so beautiful.
Charlie was not legalistic about the Sabbath. He was saying,
please just take the time to be just set aside,
to be alone with the Lord, to be able to pray,
to be able to just even journal. How Charlie loved
a journal. He left hundreds of his journals, and that
(05:00):
him was just so cathartic to be able to just
write out what he was grateful for, you know, even
just I don't know when. He would go for a
walk and he just would have ideas that came to
him for his show. He just really took the time
to think, you know what, this worked for me because
it helped me from burning out. And that was a
superpower for him. People would say, how do you do this?
(05:22):
How do you operate? And he would always say, I
get He'd get eight hours, eight to ten hours of
sleep a night if he could when he was at home.
But not only that, he made sure that if he
kept this pace and rhythm of giving himself a break.
He wouldn't burn out like many other people because they
thought it was cool to pull all nighters. Actually it's not,
(05:44):
and it's not good for your brain health either. But
he felt like he found that ultimate secret and the
ultimate hack as an entrepreneur and wanted everyone else to
be in.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
On them on that can. I just read this section
that hit me so hard last night as I was this.
It's such a good book, and it's like so good.
I think it's there's just something about I just God
has a plan and you just sometimes have to.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
The depth and level of the theology in here is unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah, he really took I mean, I'm telling you, Resting
for Charlie took him to the next level. And here's
what Here's what he said. To stop, utterly, decisively, rhythmically
is perhaps the most radical command God ever gave humanity.
In a world governed by unrelenting drive, by the mantras
of faster, harder, and more, the divine voice says something astonishing.
(06:40):
Stop in his name, Cease cease striving, cease earning, cease proving,
cease buying and selling and producing. This is not a suggestion.
It is a divine imperative. What did you notice when
Charlie really put this into practice? Because I have my
own stories, but what did you see Charlie He.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
I mean, he was already amazing husband to me, but
our love for one another just amplified him, and his
role as a father amplified. He was so intentional with
his time to begin with. I mean, he had it
down to a millisecond. You guys know that. But Charlie
was so good about making sure that his priorities remained
(07:25):
his priorities. And even just hearing you read those words, Andrew,
I have to tell you, like I hear my husband's
voice and spirits so much in this book. Like I
said this morning when we were having an interview earlier
about this, I just he feels so alive with me
still when I read these pages, because I feel like
(07:47):
he's addressing it to me personally. And again, he made
sure that when he took the time to rest and
go for a hike, or spend some time with the kids,
or just be able to show the world the rest
of the world. Yes, I'm Charlie Kirk. Yes I have
these organizations. Yes I have my show, but what's the
(08:09):
most important to me is God and my family. You
guys can wait twenty four hours. If it's an emergency.
You know how to get a hold of me, but
you can wait, and that's so special.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Yeah, he was so intentional. And by the way, what
you could see from what I just read, Blake, how
serious Charlie took this. Yes, it was. It was very
very serious to Charlie and we would all get the
notes like heye, see you later.
Speaker 5 (08:36):
I'm not even that it was always I always met
coming around the same time Shabbat Shalom exclamation point.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
I Shabbat Shalom.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
Telegram always the same one, and I'm like I would
sometimes be working on stuff I wanted Charlie to see
something right before, and it would come through. I'm like,
it's done. Not getting a respected that one until Sunday.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
We still got everything done. That's the key. As a
matter of fact, I think you get more done in
six days with rest than you do with seven days
with no rest. And that's the breakthrough you do.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
And another thing too, is that Charlie made sure that
this wasn't a legalistic thing. It didn't matter if you
were Jewish, Christian, non observing citizen that had nothing to
do with it, actually really doesn't. What it boils down
to is that you are taking the time to really
use your time wisely. Charlie was only alive for thirty
one years. That sucks, It just does. Your life is
(09:30):
so short. We have no idea how long we'll be here.
We have no idea our expiration date, and one will
be in heaven with the Lord. But what we do
know is that we have a choice.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Every day.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
We can decide to take the time that we're given
to do something amazing, to go out and make a difference,
to go and empower people, to serve people, or you
can use that to be destructive. You have an option.
Charlie knew that if he took the time to have
a moment to breathe to strategize to create solutions instead
(10:01):
of problems. He knew how important that time was, and
if you didn't have the time to give his brain
the space to do that, he wouldn't be able to
be an effective leader like he was and still is.
He's just in a different location.
Speaker 6 (10:16):
This is Lane Schoenberger, chief investment officer and founding partner
of y REFI it has been an honor and a
privilege to partner with Turning Point and for Charlie to
endorse us. His endorsement means the world to us, and
we look forward to continuing our partnership with Turning Point
for years to come. Now hear Charlie in his own words,
tell you about why Refi.
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Speaker 1 (11:25):
We have the great Erica Kirk, who is out there
doing an amazing job telling the world about Charlie's last book.
Stop in the name of God. We are so proud
of you, Erica. You're doing an amazing job. You have
such a busy day.
Speaker 5 (11:38):
You know, it was just I always think with the
tap of how I just walked in in the middle
of it. You guys have all testified how it transformed
Charlie for the better once he adopted it. I just
think of how I got in and I saw this
person who was hugely effective, had so much agency, had
this immense ability to change the world. But then he's
(11:59):
also checking out for one day a week, and everyone's saying, Blake,
you have no idea how different Charlie is for how
he was just.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Two years ago. It was just he just he expanded
his capacity. It was just amazing, like the man had
it felt like unlimited capacity. And then he takes one
day off a week and somehow it expanded his capacity.
Speaker 5 (12:18):
And everyone around him as well. Yes, it really was
a force multiplier. Stop in the name of God.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Charlie's last book, which breaks my heart honestly makes me
kind of want to cry every time I say it,
and I'm trying not to. But I'm so proud of Erica,
who's doing it for her husband. She is doing an
amazing job promoting this book in his stead. Erica, what
does that mean to you? You know, just to be
(12:44):
out there doing this for Charlie, to spread this word
that was so near and dear to him.
Speaker 4 (12:49):
It's really I mean, I'll be honest, Andrew, I can't
finish the last chapter. I don't know when I'll be
able to. It's kind of like when you again, I've
said this before, you get only so many firsts and
last within one thing, and for this book, that's united
(13:12):
in one for me, meaning it's the first time I
am reading my husband's last book. It's not the last
time I'll read the book, but it's the first time
to read his final words, and it's hard to think that.
It's just it's so it's so divine too, that of
all of the books that he leaves for us, it's
(13:34):
not a book about politics, it's not a book. I mean,
although he does talk about some things politically within here,
and he does talk about worshiping idols, and he does
talk about, you know, different philosophies and theologies that have
implications towards certain things. But he, of all the books
(13:55):
to write, he writes something about honoring God, and he
writes it in a way where he literally became the
subject matter expert on it because he wasn't trying to
preach and lecture to you you need to do this.
He was like, you know what, guys, I did it,
and this made an impact in my life. And these
(14:16):
these are the final words that I will leave you with.
He went on campus knowing that communication was key, but
he also knew that if the students, if whoever he
was communicating with, also took some time to nourish their soul,
to nourish their brain, to actually give themselves a better
night's sleep, to take care of themselves holistically, there would
(14:41):
be way more of a difference made in this country.
There would actually be healing in this country if people
actually took those combined holistically. And to me, it's just
Charlie being like, you know what, stop and pause and rest.
That doesn't mean you're weak, That doesn't mean that you know.
It means just take some time for the Lord and
(15:03):
take some time to really just hold into perspective what's
true and what's beautiful?
Speaker 7 (15:09):
Man.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
I almost don't want to ask question after that, that's
so beautiful, But I thought, we do have we have
do have three minutes here still Erica.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Obviously Charlie was working on this at home a lot.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
I thought I'd ask, is there anything you've read in
the book so far that stands out? Oh, I remember
that conversation that led to that, Or on the flip side,
is there something that you learned to your surprise while
going through reading this book?
Speaker 4 (15:35):
The surprise side is I mean, I knew my husband
was brilliant, but the depth of understanding of this topic
is amazing, and how he weaves in the Bible and
how he reads in just weaves in all these different
interesting facts and history of the Sabbath, and then even
(15:55):
certain laws like blue laws that we had here in
this country, and how we have changed as an American
citizens without having that rest built into our country, and
how that's actually impacted us as a as a whole,
as a body. So That was kind of because I
(16:17):
you know, I hear him writing about this book and everything,
and he shares certain topics with me. But that was
really interesting. The one thing that was really sweet he
at towards the end of the book he will give
you practical ways of applying the Sabbath for yourself, whether
that means you going for a hike in nature, whether
that means you doing something like sun setting your device
(16:39):
where after five pm the phones off, just how it
used to be years ago, before there were devices everywhere
and once you left the office, that was it. But
what was really sweet to me is that in there
there was something called a Sabbath box that you can
have with your kids. And I got to see that
with him and my children. I mean, they were that
was such a special time for them, and man, just
(17:03):
I'm missing you guys. I just miss of.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Course, of course, Erica Kirk. You are doing an amazing job.
You can get this book. It comes out today at
forty five books dot com. Forty five books dot com.
Check it out. Erica, you're doing phenomenal. I know how
busy your day is because I've seen the schedule and
I just love it.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
It's a Charlie schedule.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
We're honoring him well exactly you are today. You're not resting,
but you will rest this weekend.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Yeah, but I will yeah on Friday and Saturday and Sunday.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
You deserve it, you have earned it, and then some.
I mean, everybody, pick up your copy today. This is
Stop in the Name of God by Charlie Kirk. Erica.
You're the best, and you're doing a great job.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
I'll bless you, guys. You'll see you guys soon.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Send us your thoughts freedom at Charliekirk dot com. Blake
can gather them. I'm so proud of Erica doing that.
I can't that was That was incredible. I can't tell
you just how hard that must be. I can't imagine
how hard it would be. But I doing the press
tour for your husband's book in his stead. It's just
(18:10):
something nobody should have to do, and I'm very proud
of her.
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the future you deserve. Very excited about this. Next conversation
with doctor Matthew Spalding. He's vice president Hillsdale College. He
has a new book, The Making of the American Mind,
The Story of our Declaration of Independence. I wanted to
do this this book today. Been talking about it for
(19:47):
a little while with their team because you know, you
got this birthright citizenship thing coming up, and that the
discussion gets very distracted very quickly. Uh, but doctor Spalding
has a very i think focused points. So doctor Spaulding,
welcome to the Charlie Kirk Show.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Great to be with you.
Speaker 7 (20:04):
I'm I'm I'm honored to be on the show with
both of you, and also in light of of Charlie.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
So yeah, absolutely, Well, we just had his wife, Erica
Kirk on She's doing the tour for her Charlie's last book,
The Stop in the Name of God. Honoring the Sabbath
will transform your life, And so it's a it's an
important day in that respect, and but it's also important
about your topic. What is an American is a is
(20:29):
a question that is really echoing across I think elite
intellectual circles but also social media circles. What is an American?
And you have this book that just it, you know,
endeavors to answer that in a in a very unique
way by you're saying the making of the American mind,
the story of our declaration. What is your book about? Uh,
(20:50):
and and what there's a through line I want to
dive into, but I'll give you the floor.
Speaker 7 (20:55):
There absolutely is a through line, and I think it's
it's a very clear through line, to be perfectly hon
But you know that we're coming up of our tourning
fifty anniversary of the Declaration itself, which is the timing
of it, I suppose. But I've been working on this
for a long time, but studying the modern debates, both
on the left and the right about numerous topics, almost
(21:18):
all of them go back to an understanding of what
we are as a people. What does it mean to
be an American? What are the principles that form us?
And there's this conception of what makes us Americans. And
the document that is really central to that whole thing,
that whole conversation is the Declaration of Independence, which we oftentimes,
(21:40):
you know, we'll read or we'll hear spoken parts of
the famous sections on the fourth of July, maybe we'll
know a little bit about it in its history. I
wanted to write a book that tells its own story,
the story of the Declaration, how we got it, how
it came into being, how Jefferson ended up drafting it,
for the Continental Congress, how they edit it to definitely
to make more points about, among other things, theology, the
(22:05):
theological cases of the Declaration, and go through it es
since she's a commentary looking the Declaration for a general
audience very closely, lined by line in a way that
people can understand, because when you understand, you can't really
love your country if you don't know your country. And
the thing we do need to know is the Declaration
in Dependence. It is the greatest uh and the most
(22:29):
most eloquent statement of freedom in Western civilization, especially in
the American tradition. It's a beautiful document and we should
know it. Our our listeners should know it. Members of
tp USA, every college student in America. Children, It's a
beautiful thing.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
I'm just looking at the Constitution. It's it's under Charlie's
his his hat here and and his gift from his daughter.
But yeah, he would always flash this thing on the show.
Is it the Declaration? Just we have versions, at least
we used to with the Declaration.
Speaker 7 (23:02):
A lot a lot of times they put them, they
put them together, Yeah exactly, Yeah, but I mean the
extend to which there are two documents they go together.
You can't do without the Declaration.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Well, and here's here's something that you say about this,
uh you said? Thomas Jefferson called the Declaration of Independence
an expression of the American mind, not merely a document.
The Declaration is the common creed of our civic life,
and it inspires the shared poetry of our political soul.
I think that's a really fascinating way to put it.
(23:33):
It is a common creed, it is. I guess the
question then, for you, doctor, would be, you know, we
just love Hillsdale. Charlie loved Hillsdale, so you know. I
didn't give your bio. But you are the Kirby Professor
in Constitutional Government and Dean of the Van Andel Graduate
School of Government at Hillsdale College. And you have a
lot of other titles, which is very academic academia of you.
(23:57):
Your titles are always so long. But but I guess
the question, the real question of our time is with
how much the nation has changed, with how much technology
has changed, how many new cultures have come into the
country in the last forty years especially, can this common creed,
this shared poetry of our political soul, can it bring
(24:21):
us together again?
Speaker 7 (24:22):
And that a great question, central question probably the question
for us to think about. But here's the way to
answer that. I think that Charlie, among those, I think
was getting at when he was studying more and more
about these questions, in particular the American Founding. The founding
occurs in a time period that's not the modern one
we are used to being surrounded by and what is
(24:45):
taught in college campuses. It was a world in which
we still had Christian moral horizons and we were still
within the broad confines of what we might call a
classical educational system. And in that way of thinking, the
way we think about things that change, technology, methods of warfare, shipbuilding,
(25:06):
whatever it might be, there are things that change, but
the most important things, understand are the things that don't change.
And the things that don't change are those things that
have to do with our theological pursuits, which is why
the Christian roots of Western civilization is so important.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
But also the kind of.
Speaker 7 (25:23):
The intellectual, moral, rational roots of our thinking about unchanging
principles and the Declaration really brings in the American context especially,
brings both of those things together in a very deep way.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
And so the argument of kind of this that this
sense of education that.
Speaker 7 (25:43):
We were underlia All this is that you know the
permanent things, and then these other questions become kind of
crudential matters. We can debate about them, we can think
them through, but you look at them in light of
something else.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Today.
Speaker 7 (25:57):
One of the problems is we look at these things
in particular as if that's the only thing at issue here,
this particular policy question. The founders looked at it differently.
I think Charlie looked at it differently. I think we
at Hillsdale look at it differently, Which is, these are
all interesting questions. Let's think it through, Let's argue and
debate and deliberate, which is why it's so important to
(26:18):
have that conversation. But we do so in light of
things that don't change. Because you can't judge whether something
immediate new is good or bad unless you have something
a standard by which to judge it.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
And that's really the heart of the declaration.
Speaker 7 (26:32):
It's also the heart of the kind of the Westerns,
the whole Western tradition, both Christian and rational, going back
to the Greeks.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
And the Romans.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Yeah, it's it's the Western tradition.
Speaker 5 (26:44):
But I think one thing that's often worth remarking upon
is how really fortunate America has been. We were created
in a revolution, But you can compare the French Revolution,
another Western country, another historically Christian country, and their revolution
was spectacularly bloody. We've had other spectacularly violent overturnings of
(27:07):
the existing order, and in America ours was relatively peaceful.
Even our civil war we recovered from quickly. I was
wondering if you could comments on were there special ingredients
into the American declaration of independence?
Speaker 7 (27:20):
Absolutely, and you're you're again at that is a fabulous
question itself as well, because there's an American we call
it the American Revolution, and then to know they called
the French Revolution. They are diametrically opposed in very different
and it's important to understand the differences, which is why
we call it an American Revolution. But more rightly we
referred to it as the American founding. As they were
(27:43):
they were declaring their independence, having a revolution against England,
but at the same time they were starting a new nation,
so that it really kind of points the roots in
a way that whereas the French Revolution was all about
tearing things down. But there are a number of important differences.
One is the the the American Revolution, American founding is
(28:03):
influenced by the roots of Western civilization that go through
in particular England, which means it's more religious. It also
means it's more tolerant and focus on constitutionalism in the
rule of law. The French Revolution really is all the
bad aspects of the Enlightenment, the French thinkers which give
(28:27):
rights to the German thinkers, and a lot of the
modern progressive liberals we have today, which which largely rejects.
It was very anti religious, it was anti constitutional order.
The other aspect I would add to it, which I
get into some here, but is another aspect of some
of my other scholarship, is the people involved. The members
(28:49):
of the Continent of Congress and in particular George Washington,
are their their particular roles, their characters, their their shaping
of their values, and their their moral sensibility. So our
revolution ends in Washington making sure we have a constitutional convention,
as opposed to the French Revolution ends in people cutting
(29:09):
getting their heads cut off the guillotine and Napoleon making war.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
On the rest of the world for his own glory.
Speaker 7 (29:16):
So they can't be You couldn't have two revolutions that
are more different than each other than the America and
the French.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Yeah, I mean the French Revolution. I have not studied
it to the extent that Blake has, but it is,
as you said, diametrically opposed to the American experience. By
the way, there is something you know. You hear sometimes
these arguments about a case for British colonialism and a
case for the British Empire, and it really is remarkable.
Speaker 5 (29:41):
It was such a Britain has shaped the world so much.
We overlook how amazing Britain was the places that created America, Australia,
even Canada.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Before you go, I don't know about that, but yeah, no,
I'm just kidding. But I will say what I I'm
really curious doctor, I want to I want to dive
into this because you're saying that the Declaration is a
particular and a unique outflow of the spirit of the
people of America. And so I when we have you
(30:13):
in the next segment, I want to I want to
ask you what what was the break and what was
the distinction between America and UH and in Britain, what
what what what made us so unique? UH? And so
hold on, hold on to that thought, there, doctor, until
we have you for for the next segment. But that
is that is a unique question. I think Thanksgiving holds
(30:39):
so many memories, and I'm sure it's the same for you.
Right now, there's a girl finding out she's pregnant in
the next couple of weeks. She's going to make a decision,
and whatever decision she makes will become her memory of
this Thanksgiving for the rest of her life. What will
she be thankful for a year from now, you She'll
be thankful that you introduced her to her baby by
providing a three ultrasound, and she'll be thankful that she
(31:02):
chose life as she prepares for her baby's first Thanksgiving.
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(31:25):
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For years to come call eight three three eight five
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banner at Charliekirk dot com. Today, doctor Spoley, do you
take any of these classes? Have you? Have you taken them?
Have you gone through them?
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (31:44):
Hey, I take I take most of the when they
first come out, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
And I know they're amazing to do.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
We talk about them a lot.
Speaker 7 (31:50):
We have two coming out next year on the on
seventeen seventy six from the American Revolution, So look out
for those two.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Oh, it's fantastic. They are really well produced. People don't
like appreciate that. Like, they're beautifully shot, the lighting is perfect,
the visuals, I mean, they're incredible, and plus this one
you get doctor Larry On. So we're talking about how
great British the British imperialism actually maybe was because if
you could pay I mean, I know that's a controversial statement, Okay,
(32:17):
I get it. It was complicated business. But if you
take their colonies versus others, you could see that they
were far more successful. Even in Kenya, you know, which
was a British colonies. It's one of the most stable
countries in Africa anyways. But America was a British colony,
but we broke from what made America unique from the motherland,
(32:37):
From the mother country, what made the American soul so different?
Speaker 7 (32:42):
Well, I'd almost have to write a book in you
a full answer to that question.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Well, that's your next one, doctor.
Speaker 7 (32:49):
This one gets into a lot of that because I
actually draw that out, because that's again a crucial, crucial question.
So America is unique and different because it draws on
a lot of these traditions, I mean Western civilization, going
back to the Greeks and Romans, going through the Christian tradition,
going through England in particular, that is extremely important, creates
(33:10):
this thing called America. And America could go places the
British just could not go. The British weren't going to
get rid of their king as a practical matter, they
were going to have consent.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
But the really the turning point comes when all those.
Speaker 7 (33:23):
Things kind of combine, if you will, the Christian tradition
in particular, and the kind of rational Greek Roman tradition
and the British ruled law tradition, and they are forced
by the king and by his regulations and taxes to
come up with a new idea for the basis of
their freedom, and they do.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
And the base of that is to.
Speaker 7 (33:46):
Recognize in the very nature of things there is human equality.
And that is a radical idea, not revolutionary in the
modern sense of the French, but radical in the sense
of going back to the root of things, which is
the word radical means. That's a radical idea. Now that
grows out of the whole Western tradition through England, and
(34:06):
equality is a very Christian idea. But it's the first
time a nation dedicates itself to the idea.
Speaker 3 (34:14):
Is the Americans.
Speaker 7 (34:16):
So what's unique about it the American tradition is that
it's both a tradition of people.
Speaker 3 (34:20):
We have a particular history. We're a place. We're made of.
Speaker 7 (34:24):
This mix of these English people especially that can mix
with other people, and we have a lot of different religions.
All that is important, but we have this political these
ideas which are universal. All men are crety equal, not
just Americans, not just British. All men are cret equal.
So we're a particular nation dedicated to universal principles. That
(34:48):
those two things together gets back to what you were
earlier asking about what's unique here. A lot of countries
are defined as merely because they're they're German, or they're ethnicity.
And then there are a lot of modern countries like
the French or kind of radical claims, these various forms
of rational idealism. But the Americans had this melding, if
(35:11):
you will, of a certain ethnicity, tradition, and history with ideas.
But their ideas really go back to the earlier arguments
you get from the Christian and the Greek and Roman traditions.
And as a result, I would say that's why America
really is is as Lincoln said the Last.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Great Hope, Doctor.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
We do represent Western tradition today.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
Yeah, no, and I wish we could keep going. We're
hitting the end of our show here. But it does
feel like America somehow took all the best things from
all the all the best ideas and put them together
and lifted up these universal truths. Of course, yeah, exactly. Well,
please check out that book, doctor spauld Spaulding. It was
(35:54):
so good to have you. We are the making of
the American mind. Thank you so much much. We'll see
you guys tomorrow.
Speaker 6 (36:07):
For more on many of these stories and news you
can trust, go to Charliekirk dot com
My name is Charlie Kirk.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I run the largest pro American student organization in the country,
fighting for the future of our republic. My call is
to fight evil and to proclaim truth. If the most
important thing for you is just feeling good, you're gonna
end up miserable. But if the most important thing is
doing good, you'll end up purposeful. College is a scam, everybody.
(00:26):
You got to stop sending your kids to college. You
should get married as young as possible and have as
many kids as possible. Go start at turning point, you
would say, college chapter. Go start atturning point, you say,
high school chapter. Go find out how your church can
get involved.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Sign up and become an activist.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I gave my life to the Lord in fifth grade,
most important decision I ever made in my life, and
I encourage you to do the same. Here I am.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Lord, Use me.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Buckle up, everybody, Here we go. The Charlie Kirk Show
is proudly sponsored by Preserved Gold, leading gold and silver
experts and the only precious metals company I recommend to
my family, friends and viewers.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
All Right, welcome to our two of The Charlie Kirk Show. Blake,
this is the I think the moment everybody's been waiting
for today, and that's because, of course we have Erica
Kirk on the show. She is joining us remote because
she has a busy, busy day. But Erica, if you
can hear us, Welcome to the Charlie Kirk Show.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Hey, everyone, can you hear me?
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Brand New York City?
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Hi?
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Well, today is the book launch of Charlie's book, his
final book, Stop in the Name of God. And here
is this beautiful artwork. Yes, and Erica, you and Charlie
and your beautiful daughter are on the back. And it's
just a beautiful book. I've been voraciously reading it. It
(01:56):
is a wonderful personal tribute and that such an important
message tell us about it.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
It is a book that my husband, as you know, Andrew,
he was writing this for what a year and a
half and he finished it in July and I'll never
forget him coming downstairs and he was like, I've finished it.
I finally finished it. I was like, maybe, I'm so
proud of you. And he was like, you know, if
this only changes just one person's life, at least it
changed just that one. He's like, but honestly, he and
(02:25):
I have to tell you this, watching him live this
out in real time changed his life, totally elevated him.
I mean he was already elevated, but it was the
next level. It was amazing. I mean, yes, my husband
was amazing to begin with, but this really took it
to the next level.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Yeah. Well, and I can just tell you and Blake
probably saw this as well. So this is a little
this is a little funny stroke. So Charlie loved to work.
He loved loved working. He's good because he had to
do it all the time. Yeah, he I mean, and
he really loved working. And I remember when I first
started working with Charlie, it was kind of like just
like twenty four seven, you know, And he was always
(03:01):
good natured about it, always upbeat. He loved he loved it.
And I remember my wife was like, hey, you know,
we are we ever going to have any you know,
time down? Yeah, like how about a weekend husband? And
I was like, yeah, we know, we will, I'll talk,
I'll talk to Well. Then it long comes Erica. Now
you guys have a family, And Charlie starts getting really
(03:21):
into this idea of how to rest, how to rest well.
And I can just tell you that I saw not
only did I see Charlie, this take Charlie to the
next level, but it also allowed everybody else to kind
of go to the next level too, because our lives
and everybody that he was leading their lives became more
in balance too. It was an amazing transformation for the
(03:43):
entire team, it.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Was, and not even so much from just a productivity level.
But Andrew and Blake, you guys both know this. The
whole team knows this. Being in politics and just in
a total echo chamber, and then also just dealing with
real world issues and then also just dealing with the
even personal life issues, all of those to re combined
become this absolute trifecta of this weight on you where
(04:07):
you're just like, can I just have a second to breathe?
I just need a second to breathe. And that's what
this is. It has nothing to do with running away,
it has nothing to do with take it's literally taking
a pause so you can lay out and map out. Okay,
pause the noise for a second. Just stop the noise
for a second. What truly matters? Have people pour into you,
(04:28):
have some alone time with the Lord, spend some time
with your family, have a beautiful meal with your family
on whatever.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Day you choose to do this.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
It does not have to be a Friday, does not
have to be a Sunday. It doesn't even have to
be a Wednesday. You can choose that. That's what's so beautiful.
Charlie was not legalistic about the Sabbath. He was saying,
please just take the time to be just set aside,
to be alone with the Lord, to be able to pray,
to be able to just even journal. How Charlie loved
a journal. He left hundreds of his journals, and that
(05:00):
him was just so cathartic to be able to just
write out what he was grateful for, you know, even
just I don't know when. He would go for a
walk and he just would have ideas that came to
him for his show. He just really took the time
to think, you know what, this worked for me because
it helped me from burning out. And that was a
superpower for him. People would say, how do you do this?
(05:22):
How do you operate? And he would always say, I
get He'd get eight hours, eight to ten hours of
sleep a night if he could when he was at home.
But not only that, he made sure that if he
kept this pace and rhythm of giving himself a break.
He wouldn't burn out like many other people because they
thought it was cool to pull all nighters. Actually it's not,
(05:44):
and it's not good for your brain health either. But
he felt like he found that ultimate secret and the
ultimate hack as an entrepreneur and wanted everyone else to
be in.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
On them on that can. I just read this section
that hit me so hard last night as I was this.
It's such a good book, and it's like so good.
I think it's there's just something about I just God
has a plan and you just sometimes have to.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
The depth and level of the theology in here is unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah, he really took I mean, I'm telling you, Resting
for Charlie took him to the next level. And here's
what Here's what he said. To stop, utterly, decisively, rhythmically
is perhaps the most radical command God ever gave humanity.
In a world governed by unrelenting drive, by the mantras
of faster, harder, and more, the divine voice says something astonishing.
(06:40):
Stop in his name, Cease cease striving, cease earning, cease proving,
cease buying and selling and producing. This is not a suggestion.
It is a divine imperative. What did you notice when
Charlie really put this into practice? Because I have my
own stories, but what did you see Charlie He.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
I mean, he was already amazing husband to me, but
our love for one another just amplified him, and his
role as a father amplified. He was so intentional with
his time to begin with. I mean, he had it
down to a millisecond. You guys know that. But Charlie
was so good about making sure that his priorities remained
(07:25):
his priorities. And even just hearing you read those words, Andrew,
I have to tell you, like I hear my husband's
voice and spirits so much in this book. Like I
said this morning when we were having an interview earlier
about this, I just he feels so alive with me
still when I read these pages, because I feel like
(07:47):
he's addressing it to me personally. And again, he made
sure that when he took the time to rest and
go for a hike, or spend some time with the kids,
or just be able to show the world the rest
of the world. Yes, I'm Charlie Kirk. Yes I have
these organizations. Yes I have my show, but what's the
(08:09):
most important to me is God and my family. You
guys can wait twenty four hours. If it's an emergency.
You know how to get a hold of me, but
you can wait, and that's so special.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Yeah, he was so intentional. And by the way, what
you could see from what I just read, Blake, how
serious Charlie took this. Yes, it was. It was very
very serious to Charlie and we would all get the
notes like heye, see you later.
Speaker 5 (08:36):
I'm not even that it was always I always met
coming around the same time Shabbat Shalom exclamation point.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
I Shabbat Shalom.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
Telegram always the same one, and I'm like I would
sometimes be working on stuff I wanted Charlie to see
something right before, and it would come through. I'm like,
it's done. Not getting a respected that one until Sunday.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
We still got everything done. That's the key. As a
matter of fact, I think you get more done in
six days with rest than you do with seven days
with no rest. And that's the breakthrough you do.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
And another thing too, is that Charlie made sure that
this wasn't a legalistic thing. It didn't matter if you
were Jewish, Christian, non observing citizen that had nothing to
do with it, actually really doesn't. What it boils down
to is that you are taking the time to really
use your time wisely. Charlie was only alive for thirty
one years. That sucks, It just does. Your life is
(09:30):
so short. We have no idea how long we'll be here.
We have no idea our expiration date, and one will
be in heaven with the Lord. But what we do
know is that we have a choice.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Every day.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
We can decide to take the time that we're given
to do something amazing, to go out and make a difference,
to go and empower people, to serve people, or you
can use that to be destructive. You have an option.
Charlie knew that if he took the time to have
a moment to breathe to strategize to create solutions instead
(10:01):
of problems. He knew how important that time was, and
if you didn't have the time to give his brain
the space to do that, he wouldn't be able to
be an effective leader like he was and still is.
He's just in a different location.
Speaker 6 (10:16):
This is Lane Schoenberger, chief investment officer and founding partner
of y REFI it has been an honor and a
privilege to partner with Turning Point and for Charlie to
endorse us. His endorsement means the world to us, and
we look forward to continuing our partnership with Turning Point
for years to come. Now hear Charlie in his own words,
tell you about why Refi.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
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(10:57):
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Speaker 1 (11:25):
We have the great Erica Kirk, who is out there
doing an amazing job telling the world about Charlie's last book.
Stop in the name of God. We are so proud
of you, Erica. You're doing an amazing job. You have
such a busy day.
Speaker 5 (11:38):
You know, it was just I always think with the
tap of how I just walked in in the middle
of it. You guys have all testified how it transformed
Charlie for the better once he adopted it. I just
think of how I got in and I saw this
person who was hugely effective, had so much agency, had
this immense ability to change the world. But then he's
(11:59):
also checking out for one day a week, and everyone's saying, Blake,
you have no idea how different Charlie is for how
he was just.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Two years ago. It was just he just he expanded
his capacity. It was just amazing, like the man had
it felt like unlimited capacity. And then he takes one
day off a week and somehow it expanded his capacity.
Speaker 5 (12:18):
And everyone around him as well. Yes, it really was
a force multiplier. Stop in the name of God.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Charlie's last book, which breaks my heart honestly makes me
kind of want to cry every time I say it,
and I'm trying not to. But I'm so proud of Erica,
who's doing it for her husband. She is doing an
amazing job promoting this book in his stead. Erica, what
does that mean to you? You know, just to be
(12:44):
out there doing this for Charlie, to spread this word
that was so near and dear to him.
Speaker 4 (12:49):
It's really I mean, I'll be honest, Andrew, I can't
finish the last chapter. I don't know when I'll be
able to. It's kind of like when you again, I've
said this before, you get only so many firsts and
last within one thing, and for this book, that's united
(13:12):
in one for me, meaning it's the first time I
am reading my husband's last book. It's not the last
time I'll read the book, but it's the first time
to read his final words, and it's hard to think that.
It's just it's so it's so divine too, that of
all of the books that he leaves for us, it's
(13:34):
not a book about politics, it's not a book. I mean,
although he does talk about some things politically within here,
and he does talk about worshiping idols, and he does
talk about, you know, different philosophies and theologies that have
implications towards certain things. But he, of all the books
(13:55):
to write, he writes something about honoring God, and he
writes it in a way where he literally became the
subject matter expert on it because he wasn't trying to
preach and lecture to you you need to do this.
He was like, you know what, guys, I did it,
and this made an impact in my life. And these
(14:16):
these are the final words that I will leave you with.
He went on campus knowing that communication was key, but
he also knew that if the students, if whoever he
was communicating with, also took some time to nourish their soul,
to nourish their brain, to actually give themselves a better
night's sleep, to take care of themselves holistically, there would
(14:41):
be way more of a difference made in this country.
There would actually be healing in this country if people
actually took those combined holistically. And to me, it's just
Charlie being like, you know what, stop and pause and rest.
That doesn't mean you're weak, That doesn't mean that you know.
It means just take some time for the Lord and
(15:03):
take some time to really just hold into perspective what's
true and what's beautiful?
Speaker 7 (15:09):
Man.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
I almost don't want to ask question after that, that's
so beautiful, But I thought, we do have we have
do have three minutes here still Erica.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Obviously Charlie was working on this at home a lot.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
I thought I'd ask, is there anything you've read in
the book so far that stands out? Oh, I remember
that conversation that led to that, Or on the flip side,
is there something that you learned to your surprise while
going through reading this book?
Speaker 4 (15:35):
The surprise side is I mean, I knew my husband
was brilliant, but the depth of understanding of this topic
is amazing, and how he weaves in the Bible and
how he reads in just weaves in all these different
interesting facts and history of the Sabbath, and then even
(15:55):
certain laws like blue laws that we had here in
this country, and how we have changed as an American
citizens without having that rest built into our country, and
how that's actually impacted us as a as a whole,
as a body. So That was kind of because I
(16:17):
you know, I hear him writing about this book and everything,
and he shares certain topics with me. But that was
really interesting. The one thing that was really sweet he
at towards the end of the book he will give
you practical ways of applying the Sabbath for yourself, whether
that means you going for a hike in nature, whether
that means you doing something like sun setting your device
(16:39):
where after five pm the phones off, just how it
used to be years ago, before there were devices everywhere
and once you left the office, that was it. But
what was really sweet to me is that in there
there was something called a Sabbath box that you can
have with your kids. And I got to see that
with him and my children. I mean, they were that
was such a special time for them, and man, just
(17:03):
I'm missing you guys. I just miss of.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Course, of course, Erica Kirk. You are doing an amazing job.
You can get this book. It comes out today at
forty five books dot com. Forty five books dot com.
Check it out. Erica, you're doing phenomenal. I know how
busy your day is because I've seen the schedule and
I just love it.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
It's a Charlie schedule.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
We're honoring him well exactly you are today. You're not resting,
but you will rest this weekend.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Yeah, but I will yeah on Friday and Saturday and Sunday.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
You deserve it, you have earned it, and then some.
I mean, everybody, pick up your copy today. This is
Stop in the Name of God by Charlie Kirk. Erica.
You're the best, and you're doing a great job.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
I'll bless you, guys. You'll see you guys soon.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Send us your thoughts freedom at Charliekirk dot com. Blake
can gather them. I'm so proud of Erica doing that.
I can't that was That was incredible. I can't tell
you just how hard that must be. I can't imagine
how hard it would be. But I doing the press
tour for your husband's book in his stead. It's just
(18:10):
something nobody should have to do, and I'm very proud
of her.
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(19:26):
the future you deserve. Very excited about this. Next conversation
with doctor Matthew Spalding. He's vice president Hillsdale College. He
has a new book, The Making of the American Mind,
The Story of our Declaration of Independence. I wanted to
do this this book today. Been talking about it for
(19:47):
a little while with their team because you know, you
got this birthright citizenship thing coming up, and that the
discussion gets very distracted very quickly. Uh, but doctor Spalding
has a very i think focused points. So doctor Spaulding,
welcome to the Charlie Kirk Show.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Great to be with you.
Speaker 7 (20:04):
I'm I'm I'm honored to be on the show with
both of you, and also in light of of Charlie.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
So yeah, absolutely, Well, we just had his wife, Erica
Kirk on She's doing the tour for her Charlie's last book,
The Stop in the Name of God. Honoring the Sabbath
will transform your life, And so it's a it's an
important day in that respect, and but it's also important
about your topic. What is an American is a is
(20:29):
a question that is really echoing across I think elite
intellectual circles but also social media circles. What is an American?
And you have this book that just it, you know,
endeavors to answer that in a in a very unique
way by you're saying the making of the American mind,
the story of our declaration. What is your book about? Uh,
(20:50):
and and what there's a through line I want to
dive into, but I'll give you the floor.
Speaker 7 (20:55):
There absolutely is a through line, and I think it's
it's a very clear through line, to be perfectly hon
But you know that we're coming up of our tourning
fifty anniversary of the Declaration itself, which is the timing
of it, I suppose. But I've been working on this
for a long time, but studying the modern debates, both
on the left and the right about numerous topics, almost
(21:18):
all of them go back to an understanding of what
we are as a people. What does it mean to
be an American? What are the principles that form us?
And there's this conception of what makes us Americans. And
the document that is really central to that whole thing,
that whole conversation is the Declaration of Independence, which we oftentimes,
(21:40):
you know, we'll read or we'll hear spoken parts of
the famous sections on the fourth of July, maybe we'll
know a little bit about it in its history. I
wanted to write a book that tells its own story,
the story of the Declaration, how we got it, how
it came into being, how Jefferson ended up drafting it,
for the Continental Congress, how they edit it to definitely
to make more points about, among other things, theology, the
(22:05):
theological cases of the Declaration, and go through it es
since she's a commentary looking the Declaration for a general
audience very closely, lined by line in a way that
people can understand, because when you understand, you can't really
love your country if you don't know your country. And
the thing we do need to know is the Declaration
in Dependence. It is the greatest uh and the most
(22:29):
most eloquent statement of freedom in Western civilization, especially in
the American tradition. It's a beautiful document and we should
know it. Our our listeners should know it. Members of
tp USA, every college student in America. Children, It's a
beautiful thing.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
I'm just looking at the Constitution. It's it's under Charlie's
his his hat here and and his gift from his daughter.
But yeah, he would always flash this thing on the show.
Is it the Declaration? Just we have versions, at least
we used to with the Declaration.
Speaker 7 (23:02):
A lot a lot of times they put them, they
put them together, Yeah exactly, Yeah, but I mean the
extend to which there are two documents they go together.
You can't do without the Declaration.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Well, and here's here's something that you say about this,
uh you said? Thomas Jefferson called the Declaration of Independence
an expression of the American mind, not merely a document.
The Declaration is the common creed of our civic life,
and it inspires the shared poetry of our political soul.
I think that's a really fascinating way to put it.
(23:33):
It is a common creed, it is. I guess the
question then, for you, doctor, would be, you know, we
just love Hillsdale. Charlie loved Hillsdale, so you know. I
didn't give your bio. But you are the Kirby Professor
in Constitutional Government and Dean of the Van Andel Graduate
School of Government at Hillsdale College. And you have a
lot of other titles, which is very academic academia of you.
(23:57):
Your titles are always so long. But but I guess
the question, the real question of our time is with
how much the nation has changed, with how much technology
has changed, how many new cultures have come into the
country in the last forty years especially, can this common creed,
this shared poetry of our political soul, can it bring
(24:21):
us together again?
Speaker 7 (24:22):
And that a great question, central question probably the question
for us to think about. But here's the way to
answer that. I think that Charlie, among those, I think
was getting at when he was studying more and more
about these questions, in particular the American Founding. The founding
occurs in a time period that's not the modern one
we are used to being surrounded by and what is
(24:45):
taught in college campuses. It was a world in which
we still had Christian moral horizons and we were still
within the broad confines of what we might call a
classical educational system. And in that way of thinking, the
way we think about things that change, technology, methods of warfare, shipbuilding,
(25:06):
whatever it might be, there are things that change, but
the most important things, understand are the things that don't change.
And the things that don't change are those things that
have to do with our theological pursuits, which is why
the Christian roots of Western civilization is so important.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
But also the kind of.
Speaker 7 (25:23):
The intellectual, moral, rational roots of our thinking about unchanging
principles and the Declaration really brings in the American context especially,
brings both of those things together in a very deep way.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
And so the argument of kind of this that this
sense of education that.
Speaker 7 (25:43):
We were underlia All this is that you know the
permanent things, and then these other questions become kind of
crudential matters. We can debate about them, we can think
them through, but you look at them in light of
something else.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Today.
Speaker 7 (25:57):
One of the problems is we look at these things
in particular as if that's the only thing at issue here,
this particular policy question. The founders looked at it differently.
I think Charlie looked at it differently. I think we
at Hillsdale look at it differently, Which is, these are
all interesting questions. Let's think it through, Let's argue and
debate and deliberate, which is why it's so important to
(26:18):
have that conversation. But we do so in light of
things that don't change. Because you can't judge whether something
immediate new is good or bad unless you have something
a standard by which to judge it.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
And that's really the heart of the declaration.
Speaker 7 (26:32):
It's also the heart of the kind of the Westerns,
the whole Western tradition, both Christian and rational, going back
to the Greeks.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
And the Romans.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Yeah, it's it's the Western tradition.
Speaker 5 (26:44):
But I think one thing that's often worth remarking upon
is how really fortunate America has been. We were created
in a revolution, But you can compare the French Revolution,
another Western country, another historically Christian country, and their revolution
was spectacularly bloody. We've had other spectacularly violent overturnings of
(27:07):
the existing order, and in America ours was relatively peaceful.
Even our civil war we recovered from quickly. I was
wondering if you could comments on were there special ingredients
into the American declaration of independence?
Speaker 7 (27:20):
Absolutely, and you're you're again at that is a fabulous
question itself as well, because there's an American we call
it the American Revolution, and then to know they called
the French Revolution. They are diametrically opposed in very different
and it's important to understand the differences, which is why
we call it an American Revolution. But more rightly we
referred to it as the American founding. As they were
(27:43):
they were declaring their independence, having a revolution against England,
but at the same time they were starting a new nation,
so that it really kind of points the roots in
a way that whereas the French Revolution was all about
tearing things down. But there are a number of important differences.
One is the the the American Revolution, American founding is
(28:03):
influenced by the roots of Western civilization that go through
in particular England, which means it's more religious. It also
means it's more tolerant and focus on constitutionalism in the
rule of law. The French Revolution really is all the
bad aspects of the Enlightenment, the French thinkers which give
(28:27):
rights to the German thinkers, and a lot of the
modern progressive liberals we have today, which which largely rejects.
It was very anti religious, it was anti constitutional order.
The other aspect I would add to it, which I
get into some here, but is another aspect of some
of my other scholarship, is the people involved. The members
(28:49):
of the Continent of Congress and in particular George Washington,
are their their particular roles, their characters, their their shaping
of their values, and their their moral sensibility. So our
revolution ends in Washington making sure we have a constitutional convention,
as opposed to the French Revolution ends in people cutting
(29:09):
getting their heads cut off the guillotine and Napoleon making war.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
On the rest of the world for his own glory.
Speaker 7 (29:16):
So they can't be You couldn't have two revolutions that
are more different than each other than the America and
the French.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Yeah, I mean the French Revolution. I have not studied
it to the extent that Blake has, but it is,
as you said, diametrically opposed to the American experience. By
the way, there is something you know. You hear sometimes
these arguments about a case for British colonialism and a
case for the British Empire, and it really is remarkable.
Speaker 5 (29:41):
It was such a Britain has shaped the world so much.
We overlook how amazing Britain was the places that created America, Australia,
even Canada.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Before you go, I don't know about that, but yeah, no,
I'm just kidding. But I will say what I I'm
really curious doctor, I want to I want to dive
into this because you're saying that the Declaration is a
particular and a unique outflow of the spirit of the
people of America. And so I when we have you
(30:13):
in the next segment, I want to I want to
ask you what what was the break and what was
the distinction between America and UH and in Britain, what
what what what made us so unique? UH? And so
hold on, hold on to that thought, there, doctor, until
we have you for for the next segment. But that
is that is a unique question. I think Thanksgiving holds
(30:39):
so many memories, and I'm sure it's the same for you.
Right now, there's a girl finding out she's pregnant in
the next couple of weeks. She's going to make a decision,
and whatever decision she makes will become her memory of
this Thanksgiving for the rest of her life. What will
she be thankful for a year from now, you She'll
be thankful that you introduced her to her baby by
providing a three ultrasound, and she'll be thankful that she
(31:02):
chose life as she prepares for her baby's first Thanksgiving.
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(31:25):
provides an ultrasound machine that can save thousands of babies.
For years to come call eight three three eight five
zero two two two nine or click on the preborn
banner at Charliekirk dot com. Today, doctor Spoley, do you
take any of these classes? Have you? Have you taken them?
Have you gone through them?
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (31:44):
Hey, I take I take most of the when they
first come out, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
And I know they're amazing to do.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
We talk about them a lot.
Speaker 7 (31:50):
We have two coming out next year on the on
seventeen seventy six from the American Revolution, So look out
for those two.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Oh, it's fantastic. They are really well produced. People don't
like appreciate that. Like, they're beautifully shot, the lighting is perfect,
the visuals, I mean, they're incredible, and plus this one
you get doctor Larry On. So we're talking about how
great British the British imperialism actually maybe was because if
you could pay I mean, I know that's a controversial statement, Okay,
(32:17):
I get it. It was complicated business. But if you
take their colonies versus others, you could see that they
were far more successful. Even in Kenya, you know, which
was a British colonies. It's one of the most stable
countries in Africa anyways. But America was a British colony,
but we broke from what made America unique from the motherland,
(32:37):
From the mother country, what made the American soul so different?
Speaker 7 (32:42):
Well, I'd almost have to write a book in you
a full answer to that question.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Well, that's your next one, doctor.
Speaker 7 (32:49):
This one gets into a lot of that because I
actually draw that out, because that's again a crucial, crucial question.
So America is unique and different because it draws on
a lot of these traditions, I mean Western civilization, going
back to the Greeks and Romans, going through the Christian tradition,
going through England in particular, that is extremely important, creates
(33:10):
this thing called America. And America could go places the
British just could not go. The British weren't going to
get rid of their king as a practical matter, they
were going to have consent.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
But the really the turning point comes when all those.
Speaker 7 (33:23):
Things kind of combine, if you will, the Christian tradition
in particular, and the kind of rational Greek Roman tradition
and the British ruled law tradition, and they are forced
by the king and by his regulations and taxes to
come up with a new idea for the basis of
their freedom, and they do.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
And the base of that is to.
Speaker 7 (33:46):
Recognize in the very nature of things there is human equality.
And that is a radical idea, not revolutionary in the
modern sense of the French, but radical in the sense
of going back to the root of things, which is
the word radical means. That's a radical idea. Now that
grows out of the whole Western tradition through England, and
(34:06):
equality is a very Christian idea. But it's the first
time a nation dedicates itself to the idea.
Speaker 3 (34:14):
Is the Americans.
Speaker 7 (34:16):
So what's unique about it the American tradition is that
it's both a tradition of people.
Speaker 3 (34:20):
We have a particular history. We're a place. We're made of.
Speaker 7 (34:24):
This mix of these English people especially that can mix
with other people, and we have a lot of different religions.
All that is important, but we have this political these
ideas which are universal. All men are crety equal, not
just Americans, not just British. All men are cret equal.
So we're a particular nation dedicated to universal principles. That
(34:48):
those two things together gets back to what you were
earlier asking about what's unique here. A lot of countries
are defined as merely because they're they're German, or they're ethnicity.
And then there are a lot of modern countries like
the French or kind of radical claims, these various forms
of rational idealism. But the Americans had this melding, if
(35:11):
you will, of a certain ethnicity, tradition, and history with ideas.
But their ideas really go back to the earlier arguments
you get from the Christian and the Greek and Roman traditions.
And as a result, I would say that's why America
really is is as Lincoln said the Last.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Great Hope, Doctor.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
We do represent Western tradition today.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
Yeah, no, and I wish we could keep going. We're
hitting the end of our show here. But it does
feel like America somehow took all the best things from
all the all the best ideas and put them together
and lifted up these universal truths. Of course, yeah, exactly. Well,
please check out that book, doctor spauld Spaulding. It was
(35:54):
so good to have you. We are the making of
the American mind. Thank you so much much. We'll see
you guys tomorrow.
Speaker 6 (36:07):
For more on many of these stories and news you
can trust, go to Charliekirk dot com
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