Anti-woke event on Aug. 24 will celebrate family and faith, says author, actor and Christian leader
FIRST ON FOX: Outspoken author, actor, Christian and patriot Kirk Cameron is set to hold a new "See You at the Library" event this summer on August 24 as a call to stand strong for family, faith and country in a divided America — and as a continuation of what he launched last year with publisher Brave Books, which issues books focused on traditional values.
Cameron spoke to Fox News Digital about his new venture during Pride Month, as activities focused on sexuality and sexual choice occur from coast to coast, he said.
"It is not a surprise to anyone who loves God, who loves their children and who loves America that our country and our children are under assault today," said Cameron exclusively this weekend in an on-camera interview. (See the exclusive video at the top of this article, plus other videos within this article.)
"Sometimes, with so much news going on, we can forget all the things that we already know," said Cameron, speaking from Charlotte, North Carolina, where he was traveling.
"I remember very vividly how last year, the administration in Washington, D.C., hoisted a pride flag at the White House in violation of the flag code," he said, "and invited a transgender individual to come to a party at the White House, a person who was not only dressed in a flashy [way] but who was flashing the audience, including children, with their fake breasts on the White House lawn."
"It is not a surprise to anyone who loves God, who loves their children and who loves America that our country and our children are under assault today," said author and actor Kirk Cameron to Fox News Digital this weekend. He's holding a new "See You at the Library" event this summer on Aug. 24. (Fox News Digital)
And "this year, as Pride Month is upon us, we're seeing more of an inundation than ever of children [as young as] two and four years old, through television shows like ‘Rachel’ getting over 100 million views and inviting transgender [individual] Dylan Mulvaney on the program. And the Guinness Book of World Records just recorded the largest drag queen story hour in the world, with 268 people."
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Cameron added, "So many of our children are sadly being influenced to think that pride is a good thing — rather than the very dangerous thing that our previous generations warned about, that the Bible warns about, that our Founding Fathers warned about."
And "even Jordan Peterson is saying, with regard to Pride Month, that you'd better be careful what you call things, because pride is a very dangerous thing … [It can signify] a stubborn refusal to change course when evidence of error is accruing."
"We're in the position that we're in now as a nation as a result of the failure of good people to teach their children what is important."
Cameron, a husband and father of six grown children, said that too often, Pride Month is "sadly celebrating the efforts of some to come to terms with the struggles that they have, and for acceptance within the community. And yet we're actually sinking them deeper and deeper down the tunnel that leads to depression, anxiety, suicide and other sorts of things that are hugely on the rise ever since we began to celebrate these vices rather than virtues."
‘No time to waste’
Cameron said he believes there's a very real urgency to share messages of faith, family and positive values with America's children today.
"There is no time to waste when it comes to teaching our children what's important. I think we're in the position that we're in now as a nation as a result of the failure of good people to teach their children what is important," he said. "And sadly, we've believed the propaganda and the lie that others are better equipped to teach our children what's important, like public schools or even youth pastors at churches."
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However, "when we farm out the sacred task of parenting to other people who are vulnerable to bribery, or to influences that would direct them in ways that are not good for our kids," he said, "we end up paying the consequences. And we're seeing that we're losing a generation of young girls who are mutilating their bodies — boys and girls who are so lost and mixed up in their hearts and in their heads that they don't know who they are.
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"They don't know why they're here, they don't know where they're going — and they don't get much help from the adults, because the adults are filled with so much fear of pushing back against the agenda and what they see going on out there, that they're complicit in the problem."
Said Cameron, "And so what do we need? We need courage. We need hope. We need faith. And that's what our movement is endeavoring to instill into the hearts of parents and grandparents so that they can raise their children."
Cameron said the "most sacred duty" of any parent or grandparent "is to teach your children what is important, to love God with all their hearts, and to care for other people. And that doesn't mean waving a pride flag." (Fox News Digital)
Cameron said no one should "farm out" their parenting "to a school or to a church. And I don't want you to farm your parenting out to a movement started by a guy like me. But I want to put tools in your hands," he added, "so that you can do your job as parents and grandparents."
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He said the "most sacred duty" of any parent or grandparent "is to teach your children what is important, to love God with all their hearts, and to care for other people. And that doesn't mean waving a pride flag. Love — the supreme and superlative virtue — has always been opposed to pride," he noted.
"Let's teach our children the true meaning of love."
"Love embraces humility. Love speaks out against sin courageously. Love never bows to the crooked and perverse winds of a culture that seeks to enslave your children and take away their future."
Cameron said, "So let's be about love. And let's teach our children the true meaning of love. And that's what our movement and the ‘See You at the Library Day’ is all about this summer."
‘Heaven can smile down upon us'
Fox News Digital asked Cameron — who first rose to fame on the TV sitcom "Growing Pains" — how he remains steadfast and focused on the messages that mean so much to him amid the challenges of doing so, particularly during an election year filled with strife and conflict for many Americans of all walks of life.
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"I am aware of how easy it is to be influenced by bullies," Cameron replied. "I understand that children are up against forces that they are not ready to deal with, and that we need to steel ourselves against enemies of the family, enemies of liberty. And with great courage."
"That little boy's bravery spread to the entire army. And they were on the attack."
And "I try to learn the lessons from people who have gone before us," he said. "I think of our Founding Fathers and Mothers and all the courageous women and men who sacrificed and demonstrated true love, against all odds, when all hope seemed lost and when they were outnumbered and outgunned by enemies. Somehow, heaven smiled upon them and came to their rescue, and to their aid, and advanced their cause of liberty and faith and hope and love."
He said, "And I think that same heaven can smile down upon us today in the face of the challenges that we have."
Kirk Cameron speaking (Brave Books/Fox News/Debbie Wolvos)
He retold the tale of David and Goliath — and how "nobody wanted to fight [Goliath] except a little boy named David. We know the story. The stone leaves, the slingshot connects with a forehead — and the rest is history. And that little boy's bravery spread to the entire army. And they were on the attack."
It is because "David understood something his brothers had forgotten," Cameron recounted. "And that was that Goliath was not the giant. There was one standing behind Goliath that David could see that made Goliath look like a midget. And that was the almighty, good, loving and compassionate God of heaven who would champion the cause of justice and righteousness."
We need to "humble ourselves and seek to be a blessing to our children and to this nation and the next generation and do what's right in the eyes of heaven …"
Today, we can look at America's culture, said Cameron, "and say, ‘How do you stay strong? How do you stay courageous when big tech, big government, big pharma and big everything looks so intimidating?’ It's by looking behind them and seeing that the heavens declare that there is a giant that makes big tech and big government look like a midget."
He said that "when we humble ourselves and we seek to be a blessing to our children and to this nation and the next generation and do what's right in the eyes of heaven — He will come to our rescue."
‘Wholesome books of virtue’
Cameron recalled his path leading up to this year's "See You at the Library 2024" event — beginning a "couple of Christmases ago" when he began partnering with Brave Books out of Texas "to read wholesome, faith-filled stories in public libraries."
He said, "We've received a lot of pushback, particularly from the deep blue cities that seek to silence wholesome, traditional American constitutional, biblical values."
And yet, he said, "we were supported by thousands and thousands of families all across the country as we visited these public libraries and read stories about faith, hope and love and humility and, warned about cancel culture and socialism. And that has developed into a new television show for kids. It's also developed into a ‘See You at the Library’ day."
Kirk Cameron is shown last summer leading the Pledge of Allegiance before a Taylor, Texas library book reading for families in Aug. 2023. (Courtesy Kirk Cameron/Brave Books)
He noted, "We're now gathering at public libraries to sing the national anthem, to read wholesome books of virtue and to pray."
Last year, the Cameron and Brave Books events had more than 300 libraries participating and 46 states represented on this one story-hour day, he said.
"Love is the answer — which is embracing humility and kindness, faith, hope and self-control."
"So this year, we're doing something different. We are calling on families all across the nation to double what we did last year. We want to see over 500 libraries, 600 libraries, in all 50 states and tens of thousands of people gathering to say that we want to return to the American constitutional and biblical values in public libraries."
"Not sequestered in little warehouses and church buildings — but in public libraries, just like the drag queens and the LGBTQ movements are doing, and they're doing it on a huge scale at the White House, and everywhere else they're seeking to normalize [these things]."
Cameron, on left and right, is shown speaking at two different public library events in the past year or so. Center, he talked to Fox News Digital on Saturday about his upcoming August 2024 new event. (Brave Books/Fox News/Debbie Wolvos)
"What we want to shed light on is that is pride is not the answer. Pride is dangerous. Love is the answer — which is embracing humility and kindness, faith, hope and self-control. And that's what we're going to do on August 24th this summer.
"And I'm going to be at a library," he continued. "Brave Books will be there. And we've got Brave story-hour toolkits to send out to everyone who wants to host a Brave story hour."
He said it includes books that can be read, plus "Statue of Liberty stickers, hand-held American flags, bookmarks, Bible verses, memory cards" and much more for families to use in their own homes. "All kinds of amazing things to make it a blowout celebration of the values that we hold dear."
He also said that "every one of us has a role to play and an opportunity to engage."
‘Precious gift from God’
Fox News Digital asked Cameron, "What does America mean to you?"
"America, to me, means a precious gift from God, for the ability to enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness with a government that has been put in place to protect those sacred gifts," he responded.
And "I want to do my part in securing the blessing of America. I know the primary way that I'm going to do that is by living out those virtues in my own home, by loving my wife, by embracing the principle of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you, and allow liberty for your neighbors — even if they hold different positions than you do in religion, in politics."
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He added, "But when government no longer protects those virtues and plunders those virtues, it is the sacred duty and the right of the citizens of America to correct those errors. And we have to do that with integrity. We have to do that with love and understanding and with great courage."
And "America and its Constitution gives us the right and the ability and the instructions on how to do that in a way that's not going to split our country apart into another Civil War — but will unify our country if we get back to the right principles. And that's what I'm trying to teach, wherever I can in public libraries and schools, and even just us talking together right now."
"My heart is filled with thankfulness at the opportunities that God has given me in this country."
Cameron also pointed out that when "the culture, when the schools, when so much of the media, plus music and cartoons for children are all pumping out the same message, it can be difficult sometimes to see through the fog and to rightly frame issues."
And so "I think it's helpful to remind people that during Pride Month, people are being encouraged to identify by their sexuality. Whereas Christianity invites people to identify themselves as sinners saved by grace and as heirs of abundant life and eternal life."
He added that he wants to identify himself as someone who is imperfect, someone "made in the image of the Creator, someone who can be rescued and healed and made whole — and receive the gift of a full life of hope and joy and peace and courage and eternal life" through God, he said.
Kirk Cameron, left, is shown with Riley Gaines, center, amid capacity-crowd attendance last August at a Brave Books "See You at the Library" event at the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library in Alabama. (Kirk Cameron/Brave Books)
So if you want to say that "you're proud of the accomplishments of your children, that you're proud of your country, I think perhaps there's a better word. I am so grateful," he said.
"My heart is filled with thankfulness at the opportunities that God has given me in this country to raise a family, to make a living, to bless my neighbors, and to have freedom to live according to the dictates of my conscience."
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And "love is a much better word than the word that describes the cardinal vice of pride," he said.
Anyone can learn more about the August "See You at the Library 2024" event at the publisher's website.
Maureen Mackey is managing editor of lifestyle for Fox News Digital.
