Kirk Cameron Family Values: Gay Controversy & ‘Monumental’ Pilgrims’ Movie

“It seemed that perhaps the Lord was in this,” actor Kirk Cameron (not Kurt Cameron, as he’s frequently called) told Baptist Press. The Lord was in on what? From the beginning:

A couple of weeks ago, Cameron landed in ungodly hot waters after making several anti-gay remarks on Piers Morgan’s CNN talk show. While chatting with Morgan, he referred to homosexuality as “unnatural” and affirmed that it is “ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization.”

Following his comments, Cameron was taken to task by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and several of his fellow show-businessmen and women, including former Growing Pains co-stars Alan Thicke (“I’m getting him some new books. The Old Testament simply can’t be expected to explain everything.”) and Tracy Gold (“I am a strong supporter of the #LGBT Community, and I believe in equal rights for all. #NOH8 #LOVE.”)

Though not thrilled that he is now widely perceived as a bigot, Cameron realizes that controversy breeds awareness. The star of the 1980s comedy Like Father, Like Son and of several Christian movies – e.g., the Armageddon/Rapture Left Behind flicks and the family drama Fireproof – has a new film coming out later this month: the Christian documentary Monumental: In Search of America’s National Treasure.

When asked by the Baptist Press if the Piers Morgan interview helped to draw attention to Monumental, Cameron responded:

“Absolutely it did. I was actually very careful not to bring up any politically explosive questions or topics in Monumental. But it seemed the Lord had other plans. Piers was disingenuous with me and told me that we would speak of the movie, and in fact he refused to talk about it,” proceeding to ask inflammatory questions instead.

But in Cameron’s view, “what some people mean for evil, God means for good. My hope is that this will embolden Christians to stand for truth in the context of loving people, like Christ did. … We need to stand together in the body of Christ and say, ‘We don’t hate anybody. We love everybody, even our enemies. We will love you, but we won’t allow you to bully us into silence.'”

Co-produced by Cameron, Monumental features the former Growing Pains actor in Washington, D.C., where he comes to the realization that “something is sick in the soul of our country. And history tells me that we’re headed for disaster if we don’t change our course now.” As per Monumental, which apparently follows a The Da Vinci Code-like mystery trail, the pilgrims will lead the way to the righteous path.

Directed by Duane Barnhart and written by Kevin Miller, Monumental is scheduled to open March 30 in limited release. On Tuesday, March 27, there’ll be a special evening screening of the film at about 450 movie theaters in the United States.

As mentioned in a previous post on the subject, I highly recommend James Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, which has a fascinating chapter on the pilgrims. While I’m at it, I’d also like to suggest the Sept. 2008 q&a I did with director Robert Cary, whose Save Me is set in a Christian camp where gay men undergo “conversion therapy.” Robert Gant, Chad Allen, and Judith Light star.

Kirk Cameron Family of Pilgrims: ‘Monumental: In Search of America’s National Treasure’

The anti-gay rhetoric of former television actor Kirk Cameron (for some strange reason, frequently mislabeled “Kurt Cameron”) may have angered the Roseanne Barr, Alan Thicke, and the fair-minded everywhere, but many (most? the vast majority?) of his family of Fundamentalist Christians are definitely on his side. And Cameron has a – quite timely – gift for them in the form of the documentary Monumental: In Search of America’s National Treasure. (See trailer further below.)

Co-produced by Cameron, Monumental features the former Growing Pains actor in Washington, D.C., where he realizes that “something is sick in the soul of our country. And history tells me that we’re headed for disaster if we don’t change our course now.” Apparently, the pilgrims – the extremist Christians of the 17th century – will lead the way to the righteous path.

On his website, Cameron explains:

I’ve already completed the first part of my trip, and I’m happy to say, my hunch was right! What I’ve discovered already is amazing! The key to transforming our nation and securing our children’s future is not complicated. Best of all, it’s not hidden away like something out of the Da Vinci Code. It’s been right in front of us all along, and I can’t wait to show it to you in this film.

Directed by Duane Barnhart and written by Kevin Miller, Monumental is scheduled to open March 30 in limited release. On Tuesday, March 27, there’ll be a special screening of the film at about 450 movie theaters in the United States.

And may we suggest James Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, which has a fascinating chapter on the pilgrims.