My weirdest Star Wars theory is there are actually multiple streams of Star Wars that coexist with each other, each exhibiting different aspects of the original trilogy. The *best* stream is the one that gave us Andor, which traces its origins to, of all things, the 1995 Dark Forces video game.

Did Gov. Pritzker just quote Andor? I think Gov. Pritzker just quoted Andor.

Ah man am I gonna have to write about the rapture again

An observation tucked in here: while Trump has absolutely made comments many have criticized as Christian nationalist, his remarks at Charlie Kirk’s memorial were noticeably *less* religious than almost all the other speakers — including other members of his administration. What’s odd there is…

Unrelated religion aside: Shaun King’s own religious journey has captured attention for a while now. While he was a Christian pastor, as he notes, he isn’t now. In fact, he’s no longer Christian: he very publicly converted to Islam last year. religionnews.com/2024/03/11/s...

Breaking: Jimmy Kimmel to return Tuesday.

Differences between Trump's Kirk memorial speech & Obama's eulogy for state Sen. Rev. Clementa Pinckney who was killed by a white supremacist in 2015 are striking. Distinct contexts, but both in deeply religious spaces. Trump: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHwD... Obama: www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9IG...

Q: How does Trump saying "I hate my opponent and I don't want the best for them" square with bringing down the temperature of political violence? LEAVITT: Look, the president is authentically himself. I think that's why millions of Americans across the country love him.

Tbh, I’m not sure forgiveness was the overall message of the event — but it was certainly *Erika Kirk’s* message, which is what made it so jarring when Trump forwarded essentially the opposite when speaking immediately after her.

NEW from me: At Charlie Kirk's memorial, religion and MAGA politics combine —> religionnews.com/2025/09/22/a...

Fun fact: It's actually unclear whether *all* the conservative SCOTUS justices are Catholic. The outlier is Gorsuch: he was attending an Episcopal church shortly before he joined the court, but he was raised Catholic and it's unclear how he *self-IDs.* (If you have info on that, Signal me!)

EXCLU: @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social will announce today he is cancelling a televised town hall with WABC News planned for Sept. 25 in the wake of the network suspending comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show last week. www.amny.com/news/mamdani...

FWIW, I do think anyone who hasn't spent time in evangelical megachurches AND observed TPUSA events AND observed Trump admin officials infuse religion into their work ever more explicitly in recent months might find aspects of Kirk's memorial deeply surprising. But that's why reporters are here!

This is by far the most illuminating coverage of the Kirk memorial I have read. Because it takes religion seriously.

:: tries to add some context to a conversation over on X :: :: immediately regrets that decision ::

NEW from me: At Charlie Kirk's memorial, religion and MAGA politics combine —> religionnews.com/2025/09/22/a...

I should note: The jacket I wear isn't any of the ones in that list. They don't make it anymore — and yes, I understand how aggressively 2010s hipster that sounds. I also played ukulele at house concerts and un-ironically enjoy hazy IPAs to this day. I'm gonna embarrass my kid *so bad* one day.

An interesting thing about trucker jackets with a fur collar: They don't appear to be politically coded. By which I mean: If you wear them while, say, covering right-wing OR left-wing demonstrations and events, you apparently don't stick out in either scenario. Source: me, who has done that.

Also, this kicker: wow.

This is really important reporting: several of us have tracked and mentioned this in bits and pieces, but this is a three-byline story that gives it a full, long-form treatment.

Just published a story on how Black pastors have been talking about Charlie Kirk in their congregations. With @bellwak.bsky.social and @michelleboorstein.bsky.social wapo.st/46xXBnq

Okay, Charlie Kirk memorial event has wrapped, with Trump and Erika Kirk embracing before walking off together. One of the most prominent — in terms of the political power wielded by participants — intermingle-ings of religion and politics I've ever witnessed. Anyway, hire more religion reporters.

I know folks are having thoughts on this particular thing, but, again: This service is also, very clearly, a Turning Point event. That's not at all a typical setting for a memorial service, but it's Kirk's org, and Kirk used pyrotechnics *a lot.*

Trump is, interestingly, giving one of the least religious speeches at this Charlie Kirk memorial event thus far.

Trump has now diverted from his remarks at Charlie Kirk's memorial to talk about autism, promoting an announcement at the White House tomorrow. Namely, this: www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Another note: aside from Erika Kirk, none of the speakers are members of Charlie Kirk's immediate family — i.e., his parents and sister. Entirely possible there's another, much smaller, non-public funeral later, but not one I'm aware of.

Also just now: Erika Kirk, speaking at Charlie Kirk's memorial, publicly forgave her husband’s assassin killer onstage. “I forgive him because it was what Christ did." She adds: “The answer, we know from the Gospel, is love and always love—love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”

Trump is taking the stage as Lee Greenwood sings “Proud to be an American.” Side note: Trump endorsed Greenwood's God Bless The USA Bible, and apparently got $1.3 million in royalties from it. religionnews.com/2025/06/24/p...

At Charlie Kirk's massive memorial service, it appears his widow, Erika Kirk, is not, in fact, the final speaker on the program. President Trump is.

Vance: "It is better to be persecuted for your faith than to deny the kingship of Christ."

Vice President JD Vance, speaking at Charlie Kirk's memorial, says Kirk would tell him to "put on the full armor of God and get back to work." This is the second time in recent days that Vance has invoked that specific phrase while discussing Kirk — and the second person to do so at this event.

An important thing to remember about this Kirk memorial: It appears to be, quite literally and intentionally, a Turning Point USA event, right down to QR codes for sign ups. This isn't necessarily at all incongruous with Kirk himself (it's his org!), but it's not a typical memorial setting.

Agreed — aggressively religious, complete with very specific scriptural exegesis. Haven't seen this from Don Jr. before.

Stephen Miller speaking now. It doesn't have much to do with religion, but it sure does have a lot of war/battle/conflict metaphors. It's directed almost entirely toward "our enemies." Also lots of "western civilization" rhetoric, like Posobiec. Oh wait, he declares: "We are on the side of God."

Posobiec, continuing: “We will come to find that in the final moment, western civilization was saved through Charlie’s sacrifice in the only way possible: by returning the people to Almighty God.” Ends his speech by shouting and demanding people "put on the full armor of God."

Jack Posobiec, speaking now, recounts the biblical story of Moses, then compares Charlie Kirk directly to the prophet: “On his last day, Charlie was on the top of a mountain. And Charlie Kirk led us there. And Charlie Kirk has brought us to the Promised land.”

Yeah this seems to have been an inflection point in the program, where it shifted from intimate, Kirk-centric stories to criticism of liberals/progressives/democrats etc.

Anna Paulina Luna just made yet another comparison between Charlie Kirk and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Again: Kirk very publicly and enthusiastically criticized King within the past year and a half, calling the Civil Rights icon "a bad guy" and decrying the 1964 Civil Rights Act as a "mistake."

What's wild about this: railing against the social gospel is — I kid you not — a more than *century-long campaign* by conservative evangelicals. Some theological debates never get old, it seems.

Ben Carson speaking now, unexpectedly railing against the "social gospel." For the unaware: social gospel movement emerged in the early 20th century, rooted in concern for, among many other things, the poor and opposed to child labor. A big supporter of the movement: Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Faith — specifically evangelical Christianity — at Charlie Kirk's memorial has been ubiquitous, but this is one of the first times it took an overtly outward-facing, combative tone. The big speakers haven't even spoken yet.

Benny Johnson, speaking at Kirk's memorial: “…Rulers* wield the sword for the protection go good men and for the terror of evil men. May we pray that our rulers here, rightfully instituted and given power by our God, wield the sword for the terror for evil men in our nation in Charlie’s memory.”

I’ve mentioned this before, but it never gets old to me: while other states put their flag on stuff to show state pride, Maryland is just like, “Yeah, just put a crab on it. They’ll know.” And honestly? It works.

For the unaware, at least *three* megachurches played this AI-generated clip of Charlie Kirk during their services last Sunday: religionnews.com/2025/09/17/c...

I know every parent/uncle/aunt/ teacher etc says this, but observing a child’s development up close is one of those super common human experiences that is also insanely miraculous and fascinating.

So, wait…does this mean the U.S. government *regulates* the algorithm (as governments do) or literally *controls* is? Because the difference seems significant?

Three people familiar with the federal probe into Charlie Kirk’s assassination told NBC News that investigators have yet to find a link between the alleged shooter and left-wing groups.

Maybe — or maybe the point was put it out there? To state the obvious: If the President of the United States, who wields the power of the entire executive branch, is communicating with his Attorney General *via Truth Social DM* instead of, you know, all the other available options…that's…something.

Something that isn’t clear to me from this story — did he just keep the $50,000?

More than that. "The FBI ***recorded*** Tom Homan taking the money "after indicating he could help the agents — who were posing as business executives — win government contracts in a second Trump administration."