Kirk Cameron

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rww 11 24

Kirk Cameron is creating a "modernized version of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" to teach kids "about the dangers of socialism."

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December 4, 2023 rww

Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck @ CNN: Speaker Johnson wrote foreword for book filled with conspiracy theories and homophobic insults

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson wrote the foreword and publicly promoted a 2022 book that spread baseless and discredited conspiracy theories and used derogatory homophobic insults.

Tim Alberta @ Politico: The Bogus Historians Who Teach Evangelicals They Live in a Theocracy.

They had come out by the hundreds, decked out in patriotic attire this October evening in 2021, to hear from a man who was introduced to them as “America’s greatest living historian.” They had come for David Barton.

John Fea @ Current: Chad Connelly: Those who criticize David Barton do not possess true Christian wisdom and “hate freedom.”

It reveals the deep-seated anti-intellectualism present among conservative evangelicals. It shows how politics has torn the church apart. As long as Connelly is able to secure funding to travel around the country with David Barton and tell lies about the American past in service to his “Christian” political agenda, the more anti-intellectualism and the political captivity of the evangelical church will persist.

Bob Smietana @ Religion News Service: Warren Throckmorton takes on David Barton and ‘Christian nationalists’ revisionist history.

Despite past controversy, Barton’s influence has found an eager audience with the rise of Christian nationalism in the age of Trump.’

Robert Downen @ The Texas Tribune: Texas GOP executive committee rejects proposed ban on associating with Nazi sympathizers and Holocaust deniers.

Some members of the committee said such a ban, proposed two months after a prominent conservative activist was caught meeting with a famous white supremacist, might be a “slippery slope” or too vague.

Michael Kaplan, Major Garrett, and Sheena Samu @ CBS News: Eligible voters are being swept up in conservative activists’ efforts to purge voter rolls.

Voters eligible to cast ballots are already being swept up in a grassroots effort to purge the nation’s registration rolls ahead of the 2024 presidential election, a CBS News investigation has found.

Joe Jervis: Ex-Employee Says Ousted “Ex-Gay” Church Militant Founder Was Living An “Active Homosexual Lifestyle.”

I don’t think it’s too salacious to come out and say that the accusations against Voris are of a sexual nature.

Hemant Mehta @ Friendly Atheist: Kirk Cameron wants schools to ditch Scholastic book fairs for a right-wing alternative.

Enter Kirk Cameron, whose entire post-Growing Pains career has centered around trying to replicate his success in the secular world and failing in bigger and bigger ways. His latest gambit is to offer a right-wing alternative to Scholastic book fairs.

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https://www.mediamatters.org/trinity-broadcasting-network/american-theocracy-trinity-broadcasting-networks-nightly-news-program

Trinity Broadcasting Network’s nightly news program Centerpoint repeatedly promoted Christian nationalism. Anchors and guests argue that the U.S. is a fundamentally Christian nation and encourage viewers to :{support Donald Trump:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: in order to fulfill God’s wishes.

TBN is an explicitly Christian broadcaster known globally for its televangelism and Christian lifestyle content. The network reaches around 95 million households via satellite, broadcasts 14 languages across 175 countries, and contains an extensive streaming portfolio. In 2022, TBN set its sights on a new type of programming ahead of the 2024 election: news.

On March 23, 2022, TBN launched :{Centerpoint:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:, a 30-minute nightly news program produced by former Newsmax CEO Michael Clemente and initially anchored by ex-Fox correspondent Doug McKelway. According to Axios, the network :{claimed:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: the “programming isn't meant to be politically biased, but will lean into Christian values.” The anchor lineup has shifted multiple times featuring various Christian voices such as Pastor Allen Jackson and former politician Rob Astorino, but recently TBN successfully poached yet another Newsmax expat, :{Lyndsay Keith:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:.

Keith :{joined:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on the May 20 edition of his TBN program, Huckabee, where she said, “You know, a lot of times news comes to you through a lens, a liberal lens or a conservative lens, and we have opportunities to show through a biblical lens.”

This line between a “biblical lens” and outright Christian nationalism — the belief that America is a fundamentally Christian nation that should be governed by right-wing Christian beliefs — is often muddy on Centerpoint. The growing trend of Christian nationalism poses a real threat to a multicultural democracy. From the think tank, the :{Center for American Progress:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}::

At its core, this idea threatens the principle of the separation of church and state and undermines the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. It also leads to discrimination, and at times violence, against religious minorities and the nonreligious. Christian nationalism is also a contributing ideology in the religious right’s misuse of religious liberty as a rationale for circumventing laws and regulations aimed at protecting a pluralistic democracy, such as nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQI+ people, women, and religious minorities.

Different forms of Christian nationalist rhetoric are regularly spread on TBN's supposedly apolitical evening news show by both guests and network personalities.

Christian nationalism is apparent in TBN’s nightly news show

Anchor Doug McKelway questioned if God would “allow for revolution” to get the United States “back in order.” :{McKelway asked his guest, “If we are unable to get our house back in order according to God's tenets, Jesus’ tenets, … is he willing to allow for revolution?” TBN, :(style="background-color:#ffffff;;box-sizing:border-box"):}:*Centerpoint*:{, :(style="background-color:#ffffff;;box-sizing:border-box"):}:[:{4/10/23:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}::{]}:
TBN host and former actor Kirk Cameron pushed the Christian nationalist claim that America was built on “biblical principles” and advocated for Christians to assume postions of power.:{ He further claimed that Christianity “is in our DNA as Americans. This is a nation that was built with the idea of biblical principles and a free constitutional republic as our framework.” Cameron concluded, “If we don’t assume positions of leadership in the country, it will be given to those with lesser values.” TBN, :(style="background-color:#ffffff;;box-sizing:border-box"):}:*Centerpoint*:{, :(style="background-color:#ffffff;;box-sizing:border-box"):}:[:{3/30/23:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}::{]}:
Pastor Jentezen Franklin warned of a godless society and promoted the pro-Trump America First Policy Institutes' new Biblical Foundations project that aims to instill God “back into every aspect” of daily life, calling for the “merging of faith and politics.” :{“America was founded by our founders that had faith,” Franklin said. “What we believe is that Christianity will survive without America. But America will not survive without Christianity and without the foundations of the word of God.” Franklin went on to claim that foundations of Christianity are vital to American life, further tying the country to a single religion. TBN, :(style="background-color:#ffffff;;box-sizing:border-box"):}:*Centerpoint*:{, :(style="background-color:#ffffff;;box-sizing:border-box"):}:[:{3/27/23:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}::{]}:
Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA) said during an appearance on Centerpoint “God wants us to make America great again” and encouraged viewers to “vote for candidates that represent biblical values.” :{According to Allen, God is personally invested in the U.S and Trump’s success, saying, “God wants us to make America great again, for crying out loud. Who would be against that?” TBN, :(style="background-color:#ffffff;;box-sizing:border-box"):}:*Centerpoint*:{, :(style="background-color:#ffffff;;box-sizing:border-box"):}:[:{3/22/23:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}::{]}:
Anchor Lyndsay Keith used the Uvalde shooting mourning to call for displaying the Christian Ten Commandments in public schools. :{Over footage of grieving families on the one-year anniversary of the school shooting, Keith said, “It was quite clear that they were honoring their loved ones in prayer. So we raise the question, why would anyone think that a dose of faith, religion, or a poster of the Ten Commandments be such a bad thing in our classrooms?” TBN, :(style="background-color:#ffffff;;box-sizing:border-box"):}:*Centerpoint*:{, :(style="background-color:#ffffff;;box-sizing:border-box"):}:[:{5/24/23:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}::{] }:
Centerpoint guest and Former NFL player Jack Brewer advocated for the Ten Commandments to be taught in public schools, and blamed teen violence on the lack of prayer in these institutions.:{According to Brewer, “It goes back to morality and not having that fear of God, you know, being in the school system that doesn't teach God, that removes prayer, that doesn't even teach the basic Ten Commandments to set some type of morality in these children.” He concluded, “We’re not going to be able to play the secular route like we have in the past because there really is a line in the sand, and which side are you going to be on? ” TBN, :(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:*Centerpoint*:{, :(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:[:{4/14/23:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}::{]}:
TBN host Shawn Bolz praised Trump and said he also advocated for Jesus and prayer to be taught in public schools. :{Despite constitutional issues, Bolz claimed Trump said, “We need religion like we never needed it before. We need Jesus back in schools and prayer back in schools, and he really stood with the faith community and said part of the reason why this is happening is because we have gone so far from religious core values in America and for morality.” TBN, :(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:*Centerpoint*:{, :(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:[:{4/5/23:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}::{]}:
Centerpointguest and Former Trump Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson argued for more federally sanctioned prayer and claimed that Christianity is a key component of America's identity because of the message “in God we trust” on U.S. currency. :{According to Carson, “When you think about the fact that our pledge of allegiance says we're one nation under God. All of our coins, all of our bills say, “In God we trust,” so it should be an essential part of our identity and who we are and how we act.” TBN, :(style="background-color:#ffffff;;box-sizing:border-box"):}:*Centerpoint*:{, :(style="background-color:#ffffff;;box-sizing:border-box"):}:[:{1/30/23:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}::{]}:

Christian nationalism on TBN goes beyond Centerpoint

TBN has a large range of shows that blend Christian lifestyle and talk show-style programming with politics, news, and religion. Takeaways with Kirk Cameron is one such show that sometimes crosses the threshold of Christian media into Christian nationalist propaganda.

In one episode, Cameron incorrectly :{claimed:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: U.S. culture was rooted in the Bible: “We’ve got an incredible legacy and an incredible culture here, and it's rooted in the Bible. And if we turn back to thinking biblically, I think that we can again see the fruit of liberty and justice and the fruit of the spirit characterizing the country."

In another, Cameron :{gushed:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: over the National Monument to the Forefathers, a relatively unknown monument in Plymouth, Massachusetts, celebrating the Mayflower Pilgrims. Cameron praised the monument for supposedly representing that “man's laws must always line up under God's laws or they're not good laws.” (Cameron appears to have fixated on this monument, creating a full :{movie:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: about it and :{selling replicas:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: from his online store.

March 13, 2023, edition of Trinity Broadcasting Network's Takeaways with Kirk Cameron

Cameron has a :{history:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: of promoting Christian nationalism both on and :{off:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: TBN. He is currently pushing a :{campaign against local libraries:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: that involves reading conservative children’s books to “win back Story Hour and stand up for truth and Biblical values.” The :{books:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: are intended to instill “pro-God, Pro-America” values, and Cameron has threatened to :{sue:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: “woke libraries” if he is unable to read them.

March 16, 2023

Eric Hananoki @ Media Matters: A guide to Stew Peters: Violent rhetoric, white nationalism, anti-LGBTQ bigotry, and conspiracy theories.
Kaila Philo @ Talking Points Memo: MyPillow CEO Says His Company Is Going Broke Defending The Big Lie…Then Takes It Back.
Greg Owen @ LGBTQ Nation: MAGA’s resident drag queen will now be known as a “costume artist.”
Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley @ Rolling Stone: A Pro-Trump Social Network Wants to Corner the Anti-Vax ‘Jizz Market.’
Joe Jervis: Kirk Cameron Gets Tennessee Librarian Fired, Library Staff Deluged With Harassment, Bomb Threat.
Jason Wilson @ Hatewatch: Idaho Lawmaker Tammy Nichols Pals With Extremists.

Tags: Kirk Cameron Mike Lindell Stew Peters Tammy Nichols Round-Up Gettr