Back Into the Battlefield
2026 offers great promise for conservatives. Delivering more wins for Americans demands perseverance, and James Owen is ready to pilot the way forward.
Owen is the CEO of Awaken USA, partners with College Republicans, and works for Off the Record USA. He aims to ignite a fire within young people’s hearts and minds by taking modern conservative ideas onto college campuses. Owen is carrying out the movement that Charlie Kirk wanted on college campuses and in high schools.
If you are not familiar with Owen, he gained immense traction on Instagram within the last year with a unique form of content, but one mission in mind: Proclaiming the Gospel.
Through poetry—almost parables—Owen distills his experiences and thoughts into a few words. His reach on social media thrives because it fits into the rhythm of mindless scrolling. The algorithm Owens creates offers a quick, efficient read that cuts deep, accelerates your heart beat, and lingers in your mind long after the screen moves on.
Owen began vocalizing his convictions after a heartbreaking relationship with his brother John Sullivan, led him to speak out against BLM. Sullivan, co-led the black lives matter protests in Utah with the help of ANTIFA. Owen and Sullivan spent that year fighting against each other personally and professionally.
When Sullivan went to prison and the fight against BLM died down, Owen stated, “I felt an emptiness. It was not an emptiness, that I have nothing left to do. I had the following, but there was an emptiness of what I do, and how it was benefitting me. Am I going to be known for taking someone down?”
During this time, Owen’s heart aligned firmly with God’s word. He began to understand that it was one side fighting against everything that was good and natural. This movement was no longer merely Democrat versus Republican, it was a fight to defend God’s word every waking moment.
Owen found a way to communicate with the world. A way that ignites, encourages, and emboldens communities.
In one of Owen’s most recent posts, he wrote, “Charlie gave you the time of day. He was respectful. So I will be as well, but mark my words: I have walked back onto the battlefield. I will not rest. I will not bend. I will not go silent.”
(instagram: @realjamesOwen)
Owen also cited scripture reference Micah 7:8, “Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise.”
James Owen equipped himself for the world he was willing to step into. He had braced for backlash, hardships, and disagreements. He did so by making sure that Jesus Christ was the focus of everything he did.
Owen highlights that throughout the Bible, Jesus did not cower with passivity when it came to controversy. Jesus opposed evil.
Owen proclaimed, “He literally expelled demons. Jesus did so not by leading with passivity, but by leading forward with kindness and righteous rage…People take the story of Peter as we should turn the other cheek, we should be passive. We are supposed to turn the other cheek to disagreements, not to power and principalities. Our leader is Jesus Christ.”
As Christians, it should come to no surprise that we are stepping into the battlefield every time we proclaim the name of God.
We are called to equip ourselves, to become spiritually healthy by devoting our time to understanding and devouring God’s word.
James Owen says, “My greatest fear as a Christian and that I think every Christian should have is staying silent in the presence of evil. The presence of people being consumed by the world because Jesus Christ will not. Tell it all, while standing on the truth.”
The world is created to tear humanity apart and destroy followers of Jesus. As believers, our foundation must originate from the Gospel. Why would conservatives take on forces of evil without the Armor of Christ? Owen believes deeply that the Holy Spirit is our inspiration and provides discernment.
Everything we build can crash at any moment . However, Jesus never fails. Owen advises young conservatives to step into the Word, exist in it, digest it, and apply it. Obey the calling that the Lord has given all believers.