Actor and writer Kirk Cameron defends family, faith and God in new kids' book

Kirk Cameron, who rose to fame on the TV sitcom "Growing Pains," is today known as a passionate force for family, faith and personal freedoms — and he's out with a new children's book that conveys his values and beliefs in a vibrant and lasting way.

And with "As You Grow" — a children's book published by Brave Books, out Dec. 1 — he's "fighting back," he said, against a toxic and "dangerous" culture for America's kids, as he told Fox News Digital in a phone interview this week. 

"We're seeing that the education of children is critically important for the future," he said. "And the indoctrination of children into bad and dangerous ideas is spelling disaster for our children's future."

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"As Bibles are literally being removed from schools and libraries — and as Christianity, and faith, and the Ten Commandments are being taken out of schools and replaced with toxic ideas like transgenderism, CRT and the 1619 project, I'm looking to fight back," he said. 

"I'm putting my new book — along with other books by Brave Books — into America's schools," he said, "so that we can begin to rebuild those values and love for God, love for family, and love for country into the future generation."

His new book is the December 2022 entry in Brave Book's subscription series for families and kids. Brave Books is a Christian, conservative and anti-woke publisher that promotes morals and values in children. 

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Cameron is assertive about his responsibility as a husband and dad to stand firmly for the values he believes in. 

"The stakes are high for me," he said. "I have six children. So I have a lot invested. And I've got grandbabies to think about, as well."

"Everyone understands that whoever controls the textbooks controls the future." 

Cameron also said, "It's no coincidence that we're seeing these dangerous and toxic ideas such as gender theory and CRT and these kinds of things targeted toward our kids [today]."

"Drag queen story hour and all of that — it's not a mistake that this is going after the children because everyone understands that whoever controls the textbooks controls the future." 

This is about "shaping the hearts and minds and souls of the next generation of human beings," he said.

"So I think what happened is we just assumed that everyone understood things like faith in God and love for your mom and dad and love for your country. And that we don't lie, we don't steal — and love your neighbor as yourself."

"We already have many districts … across the country who have agreed to receive copies of my book and place them in their libraries."

These things, he said, "were all such obvious truths that no one would question them, especially in America. That's what our country was built on."

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"But we sort of handed education over to a government system that's now been infiltrated with those who are fundamentally opposed to those ideas and looking to fundamentally change America," said Cameron. 

"And the way [that people] are doing that is by taking the long-game approach and controlling the education of the children."

"And if you train them up in the way you want them to go — CRT, transgenderism — when they're old, they'll tend to stay with it. Or, if you train them up in loving God, loving your family, loving your country, the Ten Commandments, faith, prayer, ‘Do unto others' — they will tend to stay with that."

"I know there's going to be other districts in more blue-state counties that are going to reject the book — but that's OK. We're going to keep trying."

He said the reason he's partnering with Brave Books is that "I'm looking to fight back. And we already have many districts in counties across the country who have agreed to receive copies of my book and place them in their libraries."

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Those districts, he said, are in the states of Florida, Texas and California. 

"And I know that there's going to be other districts that are in more blue-state counties that are going to reject the book — but that's OK," he said. "We're going to keep trying anyway" with "this amazing little book."

He praised the "beautiful illustrations" in "As You Grow" — and said the book is "part of a whole universe of books, with a whole series of characters." 

And "it teaches biblical wisdom and the value of producing the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control."

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The book, by the way, does not shy away from sadness or sorrow in life.

"The reality is we live in a very broken world … Kids want to understand, Why are these things happening? Why don't people love each other?"

"The reality is that we live in a very broken world," he said. 

"My goodness — we have kids who have experienced that brokenness and that sorrow and that pain through poverty, through divorce, through violence, through all kinds of things that are in their world."

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"So we can't deny those things," said Cameron. 

"What kids want is to understand why are these things happening? Why don't people love each other and take care of one another? And then they wonder, ‘What do I do when I feel angry? What do I do when I feel revenge? How do I deal with these things?’"

The book, he believes, "is going to help parents and teachers talk to little ones about things like knowing the one who loves you the most."

And "when you're small, you should send down your roots down into truth and wisdom. And then as you grow bigger and bigger, you will produce sweet fruit — such as love and joy and peace and patience and leadership, all of those kinds of things."

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He added, "I'm really excited about this book and about other great books like this from Brave Books. We're talking about courage and perseverance and leadership — all the things that I want to teach my children and that millions of other people want to teach their kids as well."

"I'm much more interested in what my children think of the person I am than what CNN wants to report about me."

Cameron's six kids are all between the ages of 25 and 19. He and his wife, Chelsea Noble, adopted "our first four kids," he said. "Then we had two kids after that." 

In today's environment — at a time when Cameron's sister, Candace Cameron Bure, has been facing backlash for saying her Great American Family movies will focus on "traditional marriage" and wanting to put Christ back in Christmas — does Kirk Cameron himself worry about how he's viewed in Hollywood?

"In Hollywood, which tends to be dominated by left-leaning leadership that looks for ratings, looks for narratives — [they] seem to need some sort of punching bag to make a story out of," he said. 

"So I think they take an opportunity — whenever I come out with a movie, or a book, or a teaching, or an article, and regardless of how successful it is — to say, ‘Oh, look at the horrors of these people who love God, and love family, and love America — and they’re Christians.'"

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He said, "I don't really give it any weight. I don't really care. I understand that if you try to please everybody, you'll never end up being able to stand for anything."

He added, "Life is short. I want to live for an audience of one person. And it's not the leadership in Hollywood. I'm not depending upon them." 

"Life is short. I want to live for an audience of one person. And it's not the leadership in Hollywood."

Instead, he said, "I'm looking to be a good father and a good husband — and to do the right thing."

"So at the end of the day, I'm much more interested in what my wife thinks of me than what TMZ thinks of me. I'm much more interested in what my children think of the person I am than what CNN wants to report about me," he said.

Remember, he said, that "we have a great teacher in history that tells us that good people of faith, who love the Bible and these kinds of values, have been in much, much worse situations, facing much greater odds against them, all throughout history. Our country is filled with it and the world is filled with it."

There are people who "appear to be outnumbered, outgunned, outfunded, with a set of ideas that are not popular in a culture that's got corrupt government, hypocritical religion and a woke mob wanting to chase them out of town."

Look at the "pilgrims, at St. Patrick, at Luther in Germany … "

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And then, added Cameron, "Somehow, miraculously, against all odds, a book comes out, or a person teaches a sermon at church — and suddenly you have a great awakening."

And "you have a revival," he said. "You have another great awakening. And you have these resurgences that happen. And it appears as though it's the hand of providence guiding the whole process."

"Light is always going to outshine the darkness," he added. "No amount of darkness can win if the light keeps shining."

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And that's "what I'm hoping this little book does. That's what I'm hoping my documentaries, my movies, my fireside chats do — it's a light that God will amplify. And I'm not worried about the outcome," he added.

"This is [God's] story. This is his plan. And that's where faith comes in, when you say, ‘What can you do to make a difference?’ You know what you can do? You can say, ‘God, what do you what me to do?’"

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And then, once you do something — "no matter how small it is, it can turn into the very thing that's used to turn a whole nation," he said.

"And I don't know if my new book will do it," he said, "but Brave Books and I are sure going to try."