For decades, author Frank Turek has defended the idea that a Christian worldview offers the truest explanation of reality. The murder of his close friend, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk one year ago, only reinforced that conviction.
Now, Turek is sharing those beliefs in his new book, “The War on Reality: Recovering Truth in a World that Celebrates Lies,” co-authored with Phoenix Hayes. The book argues that popular culture views about the family, gender, education and politics defy logic and aims to equip Christians to challenge these beliefs.
Kirk’s wife, Erika, wrote the foreword for the book, in which Turek says she reveals the source of her late husband’s quiet confidence during hostile debates on college campuses.
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“She writes that the reason Charlie would go to college campuses and not get flustered is because he knew that the foundation of his belief was true — that there is a God, he is not Him,” Turek told Fox News Digital.
“He has put us on this earth to know him and to make him known through Jesus,” Turek said. “And everything else is really just details. And so he could stand firm on a college campus despite any kind of threat or despite any question that might come his way. But he knew he had to be prepared to answer those questions.”
As an example of this “war on reality,” Turek pointed to the debate over transgender issues, which he argued has caused immeasurable harm to women and children.
“It’s a contradictory worldview that tragically is hurting children the most, because we have people now, politicians and mostly Democrats saying… what we ought to do is transition children that are confused about their sexuality,” Turek said. “This is not care, this is child abuse. It’s a war on women, by the way, because now women aren’t protected in women’s sports or in women’s changing facilities.”
Turek mentored Kirk on applying strategies he discusses in the book, such as employing the laws of logic and identifying fallacies when responding to polarizing cultural topics.
Their friendship began in 2020 after Kirk asked Turek to mentor him in Christian apologetics, which is the practice of defending Christianity with evidence and reasoning. Turek said their bond deepened over time until he came to view Kirk as a son.
“Charlie was the same person offstage that he was onstage. He was somebody that was always trying to learn,” Turek told Fox News Digital. “It can be hard to mentor somebody smarter than you, but not with Charlie, because the only thing that exceeded his intellect was his humility. The few things that I knew that he wanted to know, he asked me to tell him. So we would get together and discuss questions he might get on a college campus, because I’ve been presenting on college campuses for about 20 years. And we would sharpen one another.”
Turek was standing just feet away when Kirk was shot and killed Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University during the first stop of TPUSA’s “The American Comeback Tour.”
At Kirk’s memorial service weeks later, Turek reflected on his friend’s faith.
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“Now, I want you to know that Charlie, right now, is in heaven,” Turek said at the service. “Not because he was a great husband and father, not because he saved millions of kids out of darkness on college campuses, not because he changed minds and chased votes to save the country, not because he sacrificed himself for his Savior. Charlie Kirk is in heaven because his Savior sacrificed himself for Charlie Kirk.”
Ultimately, Turek hopes his book encourages Christians and churches to speak out boldly in the public square and to carry on Kirk’s legacy.
“I hear from pastors all the time, ‘I don’t get involved in politics, I just preach the gospel,’ to which I say to them, ‘I guess you don’t think the gospel is very important then.’ And they say, ‘Well, what do you mean?’ And I say, ‘Because the laws that are made politically can affect your ability to preach and live the gospel’… So for no other reason, Christians have to be involved in politics to protect our ability to preach and live the gospel, to have religious freedom,” Turek said.
“The second reason, major reason, is because we’re called to love one another. And God set up governments to protect innocent people from evil. According to Romans 13, the government is supposed to punish wrongdoers. Why will we not put laws in place as Christians to punish people who are doing evil? We should,” Turek said.
