opinion
Former “Growing Pains” star Kirk Cameron, long known as one of Hollywood's only conservative Christian stars, is speaking out to say that the biblical command to “turn the other cheek” does not mean Christians should “tolerate tyranny.”
Cameron seems down
During an appearance on “Timcast IRL” with Tim Paul last week, Cameron discussed his fight against “religious discrimination” in public libraries across the country. During their conversation, Paul suggested that Christians may bear some responsibility for America's decline because they have become too tolerant and accepting.
“Christians in this country are good people who keep saying good to these people, and they are tolerant, and they let them live the way they want to live,” Paul said. “But what happens is that they put more pressure on institutions, they introduce dangerous and bad ideas, they start targeting children, and now we are where we are today.”
Cameron was quick to agree, saying that the biblical commandments to “turn the other cheek” and “love thy neighbour” were never intended to apply to tolerance of tyranny.
“I see a lot of people who just tolerate evil, and that doesn't mean loving your neighbor,” lamented Cameron, 53. “Ultimately, the two great commandments in Christianity are to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and strength, and the second is like it: to love your neighbor as yourself.”
“If you tolerate the kinds of things that bring misery to your neighbors and ultimately strip them of their freedoms, then you don't love them,” he added.
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Cameron doubles down
Cameron did not stop there, but went on to cite the United States Constitution as another means through which Americans can protect themselves from tyranny.
He explained: “We do not tolerate tyranny, whether from without or from within, and this is a very basic Christian virtue, which is not to tolerate this kind of thing.” “If you're going to curse me and steal my coat, I might love you anyway and give you my shirt.”
“And in doing so, people go – their conscience condemns them, and they come back and say: ‘Why do you do that?’ Why do you live this way?” He completed. “But you go after my children, or start taking away my freedoms, or make my neighbors live in poverty and squalor so you can live on Epstein’s island? No, I don’t think we should tolerate that.”
Check out Cameron's full comments on this in the video below.
RELATED: Kirk Cameron challenges the Hollywood left to expose how Christian values have shaped America
Cameron's love of American history
Elsewhere in this interview, Cameron spoke about his love of American history.
“I love the history of this country,” he said. “I like to understand the Bill of Rights. I like to understand why the Founding Fathers decided to enshrine the things that they did and why, and… that's a historical fact, they were concepts that were taught in the Bible.”
“The Founding Fathers didn't read the Bible and say, 'Let's do what the Bible says,'” Cameron concluded. “They actually thought about what it would mean to form a government that opposes those teachings.”
Cameron is one of the only stars in Hollywood today who uses his platform to promote conservative Christian values. His recent comments are currently something all American Christians should consider at a time when our country is more divided than ever.
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