Christians and conservatives must recapture the public square ceded to the “woke” culture, says actor and author Kirk Cameron.
In an interview with The Epoch Times, Cameron challenged parents who are tired of being silenced by social-justice elites, to host a pro-family, Christian story hour at their local public libraries.
Cameron hopes his push to read wholesome books at libraries that seem to prefer drag queens over faith will spark a movement nationwide to take the country back to its founding principles.
He announced the initiative on Fox New’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” encouraging parents and children to flood libraries with readings on faith-based, patriotic books.
Cameron is offering a free copy of his new book “As You Grow”—or others from his publisher Brave Books—if people want to read at libraries. He suggested reading the Bible as well.
“If they’re going to steal the hearts and minds of our children, they’ve got to do it over our dead bodies,” said Cameron, who became famous playing the role of Mike Seaver in the 1985-92 sitcom “Growing Pains.”
Cameron, who now stars mostly in Christian films, made headlines in December when he attempted to schedule story-hour readings of “As You Grow.” The book celebrates faith, family, and the Bible.
His requests to schedule the events were denied or ignored by 50 “woke” libraries, many of which had advertised drag queen story hours, he said.
Approach to Libraries
So Cameron wrote letters to the directors of the Indianapolis Public Library in Indiana and the Scarsdale Public Library in New York, asking for the same opportunity they'd given drag performers.He just wanted to use a room in their libraries to read his new book to children and their families.
The two relented after Cameron said publicly he was ready to go to court to fight for his free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution.
Scarsdale Public Library published a statement on Dec. 19, 2022, regarding the Cameron room rental.
“The Scarsdale Public Library would like to address comments received about an upcoming event booked by Brave Publishing.
“The event is not a library-sponsored program, but rather a meeting room rental, that cannot be rejected based upon political or religious content under the First Amendment.
“The Scarsdale Public Library is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion for all community members. Granting permission to use a room does not constitute an approval or endorsement of any program.”
The California father of six said thousands attended the two library events in a show of support.
Though some disputed the numbers, Cameron said about 2,500 people attended the event at the Indianapolis Library. In Scarsdale, the crowd exceeded the capacity of the rented space. So Cameron did two readings.
In a post on Twitter, Scarsdale said, “Our estimated door count during the event is around 750, not 2500. We’ve had larger events. We turn 150 years old in 2023. And our auditorium, which our guests chose not to rent, holds 300, not 2000.”
Of his troubles in holding reading events Cameron said, “What I’m learning is that these libraries do not represent the values of millions of Americans in the cities.”
New Yorkers thanked him for not passing over the Empire State, he said.
One woman told him that Christian and conservative speakers often skip visiting New York because they think everyone has bought into the “woke” socialist agenda, he said. That’s not the case, she told him.
Freedom Isn’t Guaranteed
One thing Americans should take to heart is that freedom isn’t guaranteed, Cameron said. Every generation must fight for it, or one day, he added, “we‘ll wake up, and we’ll be Venezuela, China, or North Korea.”But there’s no more powerful force for good than mothers and fathers who fight for the hearts and minds of their children, he said.
“Their Spidey senses have been telling them that something’s very wrong in America, and they just don’t know what to do,” he said.
“And sometimes it’s just something as simple as reading stories to children that sparked a movement.”
Drag performers reading to children have awakened many parents, he said. For decades, people have been too busy working to notice what schools were teaching their children.
Cameron believes parents need to take back their children’s education and refuse to hand them over to the government for eight hours a day to “indoctrinate them and get them to change their pronouns.”
“They care about drag queens coming to sexualize their 2-year-olds,” he said. “And if that’s where the battle lines have to be drawn, then that’s where we need to fight. And people are waking up.”
At the Scarsdale library event, a grandfather spontaneously burst out singing “God Bless America.” About 250 people joined in, Cameron said.
And as people waited outside, because there was no more space in the library, he saw parents pulling out their books and reading to their children in line.
“It was this chorus of voices—they love God, love their family, and love their country,” he said.
Many who attended the readings thanked Cameron, saying they wanted their children to love God and their country. They told him they unequivocally reject a “Marxist woke agenda,” he said.
History has seen good people rise up in America during times of moral decay, spiritual apathy, and political corruption, Cameron said.
New Great Awakening
“I believe that we are we are on the verge of another Great Awakening in our country.”Pastors have started holding their own story hours at their local libraries. In Arkansas, a Jan. 14 article in a local paper described “Pastor Story Hour,” led by Owen Strachan of the Grace Bible Theological Seminary in Conway at the Faulkner County Library.
Meanwhile, across the hall at the same library, the Faulkner County Coalition for Social Justice offered a “drag-queen story hour.” That event was scheduled after the leader of the pro-LGBT group learned of the church-led event.
“We need a young generation of heroes to rise up and protect Freedom Island. And parents can help make that happen by reading them the stories that inspire those virtues, and that fearless faith and that moral character,” he said.
If people want to do something to turn back the communist tide rising in America, they can no longer remain silent inside their homes or churches, Cameron said.
He’s practicing what he preaches, planning to read in Los Angeles, Detroit, Seattle, Portland, Denver, and Chicago. He was originally scheduled to do a book reading in Los Angeles on Jan. 14 but couldn’t meet their requirements in time to book the location.
So instead, he read at the Placentia Library in Orange County, California.
“Take back the public square,” he encourages. “Don’t complain about your community’s culture. Change it!”
