Rob Schneider addressed the AmericaFest audience on the conference’s second day in a speech honoring the impact left by late TPUSA Founder Charlie Kirk and the principles he defended throughout his life.
As with many college students, Kirk helped change the trajectory of Schneider’s thinking.
“Charlie did for me what he did for so many university students across this country. He dismantled foundational thinking. He understood that America is now the keystone of Western civilization,” Schneider said.
He then reflected on American history, providing speculation on the nation’s future.
“Will America be a temporary experiment inhuman history? A brief moment [for] freedom for the individual—enjoyed by relatively few people in human history–before it returns to some brutal feudal system where individual freedom is lost to a world government with complete control?” Schneider asked.
The preservation of the US will “take something more than political posturing,” he claimed, emphasizing Charlie Kirk’s recognition of this.
“Charlie understood something fundamental. Without faith, freedom becomes fragile. Our roots must be rooted in something higher than government. And he warned us, ‘A civilization that abandons God will deteriorate and ultimately collapse from the inside out.’ Charlie said, “When you stop having a human connection with someone you disagree with, it becomes a lot easier to want to commit violence against that group.”
Schneider called for the US to avoid allowing what he says is presently “a cold civil war” from becoming a “hot civil war.” The best way out of this is through “reasonable disagreement”
“We are in a cold civil war right now, but we must do everything in our power to make sure that this doesn’t become an actual hot civil war. And we must do that with dialogue and debate. We must let the better nature that each of us has rise to the surface. I want to point out that after Charlie was murdered, no American cities were burned to the ground. No cars were set ablaze.”
“And though we lost him way too soon,” Schneider said toward his conclusion, ”Charlie Kirk knew you don’t kill a Christian. You only changed his address.”
