In an interview with Tucker Carlson earlier this week, Evangelical Christian and conservative activist Charlie Kirk praised what he described as “a really positive trend” happening across the United States: “young men are returning to church.”
Kirk, who also identifies as a Calvinist, explained why he thinks young men are choosing Catholic and Orthodox churches in particular: “They want something that is lasting. They want something that is ancient, that is beautiful, something that has stood the test of time, something that’s not going to change, something that’s all of a sudden not going to ... just flip around and have some sort of … transgender story hour.”
Reiterating his belief that men going back to church is a “positive trend,” Kirk urged young men to “stop watching porn,” smoking marijuana and “drinking endlessly.” He offered advice to “find yourself back to church” because “that will reorient your life” and “do what the church tells you to do.”
“Find a woman, marry her, provide ... have more kids than you can afford,” he insisted. Kirk also encouraged young men not to “play the victim” despite the difficulties they face. “The mindset of a victim is parasitic to your soul,” he added.
Earlier in the conversation, the topic of religion came up when Carlson discussed the role of the “Protestant spirit” in American history. Acknowledging that “the people who founded the country were Protestants,” Carlson stressed that “I’m as pro-Catholic as anyone could be.”
“This country was founded by Protestants because they think for themselves,” Carlson insisted. He identified the Protestants who founded the United States as “the heirs of Martin Luther” who “took on the ancient 1,500-year-old [Catholic] Church by himself” and “people who believe they communicate directly with God, that their conscience is more important than federal law.”
The Barna Group published the results earlier this year as part of its State of the Church 2025 Initiative. It showed that the percentage of millennial males, born between 1984 and 1998, who agreed with the statement “I have made a personal commitment to follow Jesus that is still important in my life today” jumped from 52% in 2019 to 71% in 2025.
Similarly, the share of Generation Z men, referring to those born in 1999 or later, who acknowledged making a personal commitment to Jesus increased from 52% to 67% in the same period.
Among the two youngest groups of American adults, men are more likely to embrace Christianity than women, and in 2025, a higher share of young men from these generations have committed themselves to Jesus compared to both sexes in the older generations.
