WEBVTT - Pride Comes Before the Fall 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:02.440 Many of you know Kirk Cameron from his days of 0:00:02.480 --> 0:00:06.360 playing Mike sever on the ABC sitcom Growing Pains. He's 0:00:06.400 --> 0:00:10.480 also starred in films and television roles since then. But 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:13.440 he has made a name for himself for being bold 0:00:13.440 --> 0:00:16.200 in his faith, for being a devout Christian, for not 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:19.080 being afraid to speak up and speak out about his faith. 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:22.200 His first Christian children's book was with Brave Books. It 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:24.720 was called You Grow, and he's out with another one. 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:27.760 It's called Pride Comes Before the Fall. It's part of 0:00:27.800 --> 0:00:31.000 a broader series he's doing on the Seven Deadly Sins. 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:32.879 So we're going to talk to him about that, talk 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:34.960 to him about his walk in faith. Talk to him 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:38.360 about when he struggled with Pride on Growing Pains when 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:41.320 he was seventeen and eighteen years old working in Hollywood, 0:00:41.360 --> 0:00:44.120 you know, a Hollywood television program, being exposed to so 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:47.479 much so, how did he find humility? He gets candid 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:49.840 about that and so much more. Talk about the state 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:51.400 of the country as well, what they're trying to do 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:54.280 to kids, all that and more with Kirk Cameron. 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:59.960 Stay with us. 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:02.680 Kurt cameraon It's such an honor to have you on 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:05.280 the show. I really appreciate you making the time. 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:06.920 Oh my pleasure, Thanks for having me. 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:09.880 You're out with a new book called Pride Comes Before 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:12.280 the Fall. It's with Brave Books. I know that you've 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:14.760 written a book previously with them. Talk a little bit 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:16.959 about what's the message of the book, why'd you decide 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:17.400 to write it. 0:01:17.640 --> 0:01:20.920 I've been criss crossing the country since about December of 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:25.839 last year reading children's stories about wisdom and virtue, and 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:28.800 I found that people are coming out of the woodwork, parents, grandparents, 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:32.800 and children to hear stories that are not just fun 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:35.199 for the family, but actually teach the values that lead 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:38.600 to a healthy future and blessing for kids. And my 0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:42.480 newest one, Pride Comes Before the Fall, is all about humility, 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:45.360 and I think that it couldn't come out at a 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:50.639 better time. We're about to launch into Pride Month, where 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:54.200 pride is now being celebrated as a virtue when it's not. 0:01:55.040 --> 0:01:59.240 In fact, of the seven Deadly sins, it's the deadliest 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:04.560 because because pride ultimately makes you self centered, it just 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:07.880 you know, just drop it into any relationship and think 0:02:07.880 --> 0:02:10.640 of how a prideful person makes you feel. They're all 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:12.880 about themselves. You don't want a husband like that. You 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:15.160 don't want a spouse like that. You don't want to 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:17.359 teach that do. You want them to be humble and kind, 0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:20.120 thinking of others first. So that's what this story is 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:24.280 all about. And it's it's kind of like a it's 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:27.040 a little annoying, a little disturbing to some people who 0:02:27.080 --> 0:02:29.519 really want to lean into pride. But I want to 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:33.920 lean into the virtues that bring blessing to our country 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:36.840 into the next generation. And that's why I'm reading it 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:38.280 in public libraries all over the country. 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:41.960 Kirk, you realize that you were talking about humility and 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:44.440 to encourage people to not be self centered in the 0:02:44.480 --> 0:02:49.040 age of TikTok and the and the age of influencing, 0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:51.720 in the age of posting pictures for likes? 0:02:51.919 --> 0:02:54.320 What do you think that does to young people? This 0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:55.560 society that we live in. 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:58.160 We're you know, we're living for likes and we're living 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:00.640 for the fake accepted of others. 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:03.239 I had a pride problem when I was seventeen, eighteen, 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.880 nineteen years old on growing Pains. Think of it here. 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:10.560 I am a teenage kid who's now famous, who's on 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:14.480 a television show making money. It is so easy to 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:17.200 think that the world revolves around you. In fact, that 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:21.880 that's the stereotype of celebrities. And I think that's what 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:24.560 social media has done, is turn everyone into a celebrity 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:27.840 in their own everyone's a star in the movie about themselves, 0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:31.040 on their own TikTok or on their own Instagram. And 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:37.560 pride is something that is so dangerous that it destroys marriages, 0:03:37.600 --> 0:03:42.480 it destroys families, and it destroys countries. And that's not hyperbole. 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:47.240 When a country rips prayer out of schools, makes the 0:03:47.280 --> 0:03:52.440 Ten Commandments illegal in courtrooms, and replaces the morality that 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:58.200 made this the freest, strongest, most generous nation in the world. 0:03:58.720 --> 0:04:01.960 With a morality that says it's okay for men to 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:06.280 pretend to be women and dance sexually in lingerie in 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:10.360 front of toddlers, We've got a big problem. And the 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:15.800 cure for that is humility. The Bible, in fact, devotes 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:19.800 an entire book called Proverbs to warning about the dangers 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:25.080 of pride and encouraging the value of humility. And I 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:26.840 think kids deserve to know the truth about it. 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:30.680 Why do you think we have become so inward facing 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:32.919 or we have you know, you talked about some of 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:36.040 these things that's happening to children. Why are we like this? 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:40.040 It seems to be a quick acceleration as well. Why 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:41.600 is it accelerating so quickly. 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:44.159 I actually don't think it's accelerating quickly. I think it's 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:48.039 happened over a long time of neglect. In fact, if 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:51.240 you read the writings of our founders and our forefathers 0:04:51.240 --> 0:04:55.360 and four Mothers, they would tell you that the only 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:59.839 kind of people who can handle freedom are people who 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:04.160 love God and have moral integrity. And those two things 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:07.159 go hand in hand. If you don't continue to nourish 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:12.000 that in succeeding generations, you wind up with immoral people 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:16.400 who think that they can play God themselves. And so 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:22.080 you wind up over time with that monster of pride 0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:26.520 that rejects God and tries to assert itself as the 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:30.400 as the standard maker. And we get to a place 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:35.120 where we mutilate children's bodies in the name of gender 0:05:35.160 --> 0:05:40.280 affirming care. We do all sorts of things that you 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:42.200 and I look at and say, this is abhorrent, this 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:45.760 is lewd, this is crazy. How did we get here? Well, 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:50.240 I think it's been a slow grow over time, and 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:54.160 it's been under the radar and it's been convenient because 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:59.120 public schools are a really nice babysitter, and when we're 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:03.600 not watching what's happening, our children can be led astray, 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:07.040 and the whole culture can go down the tubes as 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:13.080 long as we are comfortable with entertainment and distractions. So 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:16.400 I think that's exactly what's happened, and now we're reaping 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:23.520 the benefit. I'm sorry, the results of not carefully caring 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:26.960 for the values and the faith in this country. 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:29.880 Let's take a quick commercial break more with Kirk Cameron. 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:37.480 Isn't the transgender stuff a mocking of God? To say 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:40.240 that you're to mock God's creation? 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:44.200 I think that it's finally dawning on people. It's like 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:48.640 more and more people are being red pilled and they're 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:52.080 recognizing that they have been living in a woke matrix. 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:55.760 And now they're saying, wait a minute. We have men 0:06:56.400 --> 0:06:59.440 who are pretending to be women and saying that they're 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:05.920 real women, And how is that not erasing womanhood altogether? 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:12.600 How is that not mocking women? And how are people 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:16.280 not waking up to this universally? I mean, we wouldn't 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:21.000 let women strippers and poll dancers gyrate in front of children. 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:25.320 In public libraries, but will let men who pretend to 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:30.680 be women and dress up in exaggerations of femininity gyrate 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:34.840 and touch children. And we call that diversity and inclusion 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:39.960 and tolerance. So it gets weirder and weirder. It's like 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:45.320 the freak show at the circus. And my hope and 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:48.000 my prayer is that when more and more people speak 0:07:48.080 --> 0:07:54.160 the truth and get us back to the plumb line 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:59.600 for morality and politics and faith, that we can course 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:02.280 correct before this country goes over the falls. 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:03.560 It's being celebrated. 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:05.920 I mean, you look at what the LA Dodgers are 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:11.120 doing with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, this LGBTQ transgender group. 0:08:11.200 --> 0:08:14.680 They pull dance on a cross depicting Jesus. You know, 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:17.800 they push views in favor of abortion rights, you know, 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:20.320 a mocking of faith. But they're doing it in plain sight. 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:22.600 I mean, they're they're going to be doing this in 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:23.440 Pride month. 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:25.560 That's right. So what I'm trying to do is be 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:29.080 the kind of person that doesn't just complain about what's wrong, 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:32.520 but actually creates the culture we want for our kids. 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:34.880 As I travel the country, I've found there two different 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:38.679 kinds of people reporters and reformers, and they're not the same. 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:43.199 Reporters talk about the hypocrisy that they see, they're saying, 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:46.439 this is crazy. Wake up, Wake up. But it takes 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:49.360 a certain kind of person to actually come up with 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:52.839 a solution and have the moral grip to stand against 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:57.160 the opposition and then have a real ground game to 0:08:57.240 --> 0:09:01.079 make a change. And when I go back through history, 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:05.960 the heroes that made all the difference, that abolished slavery, 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:10.400 or established women's rights, or resisted tyranny and set up 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:16.079 a free, constitutional republic like ours, these were reformers. They 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:20.160 weren't just armchair quarterbacks, you know, typing away in their 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:23.720 basement to get likes and clicks. These are people who 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:26.600 are actually making changes. And the truth is we see 0:09:26.600 --> 0:09:31.520 people on the left, progressives who are doing lots of reforming. 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:36.520 They're reforming morality, they're reforming politics. They're reforming the economy, 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:39.800 not in a good way. In fact, that kind of 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:47.240 of reformation is really deformation. They're deforming families. They're deforming government, 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:51.040 which was designed to protect property, now it's plundering property. 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:55.480 They're deforming children, and even the very concept of what 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:59.240 it means to be a man or a woman or human, 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:02.080 and all this is happening on the watch of good 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:05.880 people who are sitting back and maybe thinking this will pass. 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:09.600 It's really not that bad. Let's not overreact. It's just 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:13.240 conspiracy theory. But I've found that the difference between a 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:16.800 conspiracy theory and the truth has been about six months 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:20.520 and ever since COVID. I think the curtain is being 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:23.079 pulled back and people are now starting to realize what's 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:29.680 going on. There is an coordinated effort to fundamentally destabilize 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:34.560 America and reorganizer according to an entirely different system. 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:37.480 A lot of people live in fear, and to some degree, you'll, 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:39.679 rightfully so when you look at it. I know that 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:43.240 on one of your engagements and speaking at Seattle Public Library, 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:46.040 you brought along Joe Kennedy, the high school football coach 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:49.760 who has fired for praying with students at games. You know, 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:52.520 Fortunately he's been reinstated as a result of the Supreme 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:55.760 Court case ruling in favor of him. But people see that, 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:57.760 you know, and I think the intention is for people 0:10:57.800 --> 0:10:59.920 to live in fear, to speak out about their faith, 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:01.079 to live out their faith. 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:02.800 I mean, the point is the fear. 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:06.760 Yeah, Fear is a great motivator, and so we should 0:11:06.760 --> 0:11:10.559 all have our spidy senses, making the hair on our 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:14.360 arms and backs stand up when we hear a government 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:17.880 that is becoming more and more authoritarian say things like 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:22.080 you must do this for your safety. We are here 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:28.040 to help keep you safe, and we see this everywhere. 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:31.239 We're going to educate your children because we're the professionals. 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:35.480 Don't worry about the drag queens grooming your children. Don't 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:41.000 worry about vaccines that are clearly causing problems. We're the 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:43.680 government and we're here to keep you safe. And while 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:48.200 people are stuck in their houses because they've been infected 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:50.920 with the fear virus, which is far worse than any 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:57.240 COVID virus, the fear virus, it actually causes people to 0:11:57.320 --> 0:12:00.000 give up the most precious thing, and that is their 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:04.160 common sense and their liberties. And I believe it was 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:09.040 perhaps it was John Adams, one of our founding fathers, 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:13.600 who said that anyone who is willing to give up 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:19.520 their liberties for a little safety deserves neither. And that's 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:24.640 what we see happening. What I say is faith is 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:30.560 greater than fear. Don't fear the government or those who 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:33.320 try to pressure you, because there's many more of us 0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:35.840 than there are of them. And if we stand together 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:42.040 and we're humble and sincere in the cause of what's 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:45.680 just and true, I think God will come to our aid. 0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:48.960 And in the past, that's when seeing great awakenings and 0:12:49.000 --> 0:12:53.400 great great revivals. We can have a bloodless revolution where 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:59.199 nobody gets hurt. We don't need a civil war. What 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:04.920 we need is a revolution of the heart and people 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:09.720 get back to humility and gratitude. If we do that, man, 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:11.040 miracles happen. 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:15.600 You've been touring the United States, reading your book at 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:19.760 various libraries and talking to people and seeing crowds, and 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:23.360 what has your experience been like in doing that? 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:24.640 You know, what are you seeing? 0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:28.160 What does it tell you about America with this journey 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:28.760 that you've been on. 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:32.240 Well since I've been reading these children's books, which are 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:34.680 part of a whole series of books at Brave Books. 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:37.080 And I love this company because they're on a mission 0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:40.520 to take back not just story hour in public libraries, 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:45.199 but every minute of every day for parents to stay 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:47.480 in charge and be in the lead with what their 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:50.200 kids are learning. So they have all sorts of books 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:53.320 and my experience has been that parents and grandparents are 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:57.520 coming out of the woodwork. Perception is not reality. The 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:01.199 perception is that the whole world is moving away from 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:05.080 pro god, pro America values, and that's just not true. 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:08.679 I'm actually on the ground in thousands of schools and 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:13.520 churches and conferences all over the country, and what I 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:20.320 find is that it's an elite minority that is shoving 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:24.440 an agenda and a perception through the media that does 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:28.480 not reflect the values of the people, but it is 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:33.920 influencing their values, especially the young people. And what we 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:35.680 need to do is speak the truth, and we need 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:38.480 to be bold about it, and we need to get involved, 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:41.120 not stay out of the messy places like Hollywood and 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:44.200 entertainment and media. Good people need to go into those 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:48.720 places and assume leadership roles. That's how we turn the 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:52.560 ship around before it goes over the falls. And that's 0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:55.560 what I'm trying to do in my humble little way 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:57.760 of reading children's books at public libraries. 0:14:57.880 --> 0:15:01.760 And it's really children who have been under attack. You know, 0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:04.280 it's children who've been under attack, whether it's an adult 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:06.320 in the name of you know, being a drag queen 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:08.640 or whatever it is you know, twerking in front of 0:15:08.640 --> 0:15:12.480 a children, or you know, sexualizing children. It's children that 0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:15.400 are the brunt of the attack of this transgender movement 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:19.120 and trying to transition young people, telling them that who 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:21.400 they are, how God made them is not good enough. 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:24.800 You know, it's children who are being aborted and massed 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:25.840 in the United States. 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:27.960 You know it's children who are under attack. Why do 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:30.680 you think there is a targeting of children happening. 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:33.440 Playing the long game is always more effective than the 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:38.080 short game. Right. Quick results are often exciting to see 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:40.960 in your lifetime, but if you're willing to invest in 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:44.960 the next generation, the change can be much more long lasting. 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:49.720 And that's what everyone who's really interested in building culture 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:52.920 knows is that you've got to start with the children. 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:56.920 And frankly, that's why God gave boys and girls to 0:15:57.080 --> 0:16:00.520 moms and dads, not to governments, because moms and dads 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:03.360 really love their children. There's something about a mom and 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:06.120 a dad that is willing to be self sacrificing for 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:10.480 their children and take less in order to give more 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:18.200 to their kids. But governments, particularly authoritative governments, see children 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:21.040 as simply a means to an end, and they're the 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:25.760 most easily deceived and the most easily impressionable. Their sweet 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:31.680 little young minds get brainwashed with this leftist propaganda, and 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:38.120 in forty years that's the new normal. They've created the 0:16:38.240 --> 0:16:41.800 new community, and they've never known anything else because they 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:45.720 were on their tablet, watching TikTok and Instagram and spending 0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:49.400 seven hours a day in public schools, five days a 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:53.240 week for twelve years. And then you can finish them 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:56.880 off and really make them into little statist lemmings if 0:16:56.920 --> 0:17:00.800 you send them to college and graduate school. This kind 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:04.919 of worldview is baked into math, science, English history and 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:12.040 everything else. So it's smart to target children. That's why 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:17.600 people like Hitler did it. That's why we see destroyers 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:21.160 of liberty doing it in our public libraries. And that's 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:25.199 why parents need to take back their role as the 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:28.600 chief influencer in their children's lives so that they can 0:17:28.640 --> 0:17:29.520 preserve their future. 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:31.879 You know, there's been some Democrats that have outright, you know, 0:17:31.920 --> 0:17:33.960 said it, but I really do believe there's an effort 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:36.840 under the way to have the government to intervene between 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:40.160 children and their parents and to turn the Yeah. 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:42.439 Yes, oh, they already are. I mean, we've already got 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:44.720 that I talked to a mom the other day in 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:49.080 Minneapolis at a homeschool convention, and these are out of 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:53.640 the box thinkers, brave trailblazers who say enough with all 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:56.879 this garbage in the public school. And she was just 0:17:56.920 --> 0:17:59.639 talking about a bill that was just approved, I believe, 0:17:59.640 --> 0:18:03.600 by their governor that said if a child comes to 0:18:04.280 --> 0:18:07.960 their teacher and says, my parents would not allow me 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:15.200 to have a gender change operation, that the state will 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:18.280 come in and remove that child from the parents and 0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:22.439 keep them in a government housing facility until all the 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:26.679 work is done in order to quote unquote protect the 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:30.600 children from the negative influences of their parents. So this 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:31.960 is already happening. 0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:34.199 To children, I know, and as adults we have an 0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:36.720 obligation to stand up and to protect them. 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:38.560 I mean, you know, they're they're innocent. You know, we 0:18:38.600 --> 0:18:39.280 need to keep them. 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:41.760 And that's what's really sad in all this is there's 0:18:41.800 --> 0:18:44.480 a loss of innocence with young people, and it's you know, 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:47.040 they're told that the world's going to end in ten years. 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:49.240 They're told they're not good enough the way God made them. 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:51.760 They're told that they should hate themselves based off of 0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:53.560 the color of their skin. And I just I feel 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:56.199 like we're or even just parents taking their kids to 0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:58.480 be exposed to some you know, to drag queens. And 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:01.679 it's just we're taking the innoc sense from young people 0:19:01.800 --> 0:19:03.440 and that it makes me so sad. 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:05.480 It is sad. But I think what we need to 0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:08.160 do is we need to channel all of that sadness 0:19:08.160 --> 0:19:13.800 and grief, all of that outrage and embarrassment, and recognize 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:17.280 one thing. All this happened on our watch and on 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:21.119 our parents watched, so grandparents and parents ought to be 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:25.840 the most motivated to turn things around. I don't think 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:29.120 it's inevitable that America is going to decline and all 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:32.560 of our children are going to you know, turn into 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:38.199 these you know, half man, half woman, or you know, 0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:42.280 half human half animal creatures. It doesn't have to happen. 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:45.479 What we need to do is reassert the truth. We 0:19:45.560 --> 0:19:48.080 need to do it in love, and we need to 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:50.719 lead by example. I don't think our hope comes from 0:19:50.760 --> 0:19:53.680 the White House. I think it comes from your house, 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:57.720 at the dinner table, in the living room, when you're 0:19:57.720 --> 0:20:02.719 with your kids, leading by example. And when we do that, 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:05.919 I think that there is lots of hope for the 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:08.160 future and that's not just pie in the sky. Hope. 0:20:08.160 --> 0:20:11.600 When we die, we go to heaven. I think there 0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:13.480 have been times, not only in America, but in the 0:20:13.480 --> 0:20:15.359 rest of the world where things were far worse than this. 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:18.800 People of faith were thrown to lions, impaled on polls, 0:20:18.800 --> 0:20:22.159 and lit on fire to be human torches for gladiatorial games. 0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:25.479 These were good people who were called criminals because of 0:20:25.520 --> 0:20:28.000 their faith and their love for their family, and they 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:31.040 tried to resist a tyrannical government. We haven't seen anything 0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:34.000 yet in America, but it will get there if we 0:20:34.200 --> 0:20:37.239 let the problem fester. But it can turn around, just 0:20:37.280 --> 0:20:40.560 like it has in the past. That's called revival, that's 0:20:40.600 --> 0:20:43.560 called a great awakening. It's happened twice in America. Why 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:44.040 not now? 0:20:44.280 --> 0:20:46.679 Is that what led you to speak up for liberty 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:51.240 during COVID Because I know you've received some criticism throughout 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:53.480 you know, speaking out and all. You know, anytime you're bold, 0:20:53.640 --> 0:20:56.159 you're on the receiving end of criticism. But I know 0:20:56.200 --> 0:21:00.680 that you hosted Christmas caroling gatherings in two thousand, getting 0:21:00.680 --> 0:21:04.280 people together, which you're criticized for. Why did you decide 0:21:04.359 --> 0:21:07.040 to do that, to speak out, to stand up during 0:21:07.080 --> 0:21:08.760 that time during COVID. 0:21:08.680 --> 0:21:11.680 Because I'm afraid of what happens if we don't speak up. 0:21:13.000 --> 0:21:16.560 You look at I keep, I keep mentioning these these 0:21:16.600 --> 0:21:18.600 eras in history. But you know, I've got I've got 0:21:18.600 --> 0:21:22.800 some Taiwanese neighbors. I've got some some Russian Jewish neighbors 0:21:22.880 --> 0:21:25.840 up the street. I've got some Cuban friends at church, 0:21:25.880 --> 0:21:28.120 and all of them tell me the same story. They say, 0:21:28.119 --> 0:21:32.960 we fled our countries because there's no liberty there. There's 0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:36.159 no freedom there. We fled these places and came to 0:21:36.200 --> 0:21:39.400 the heaven of America. And now we feel like we're 0:21:39.440 --> 0:21:45.520 watching a horror movie that we have seen before. And 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:48.879 what's happening in America. Americans don't recognize what's going on 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:52.840 because they're they're sort of oblivious, and they just think 0:21:52.880 --> 0:21:55.320 they live in this happy land, this Disneyland kind of 0:21:55.359 --> 0:22:01.440 place where nothing could possibly go wrong. But I recognize 0:22:01.480 --> 0:22:06.760 that when when we when we see evil on the horizon, 0:22:07.040 --> 0:22:09.800 you must talk about it. You must say that it's 0:22:09.880 --> 0:22:13.639 that it's there. And that's why I'm speaking up. You know, 0:22:13.680 --> 0:22:15.600 when they when they say you need to be stuck 0:22:15.640 --> 0:22:18.520 inside of your house after they let strip clubs weed 0:22:18.520 --> 0:22:23.000 shops and abortion clinics open their doors during COVID. I say, bull, 0:22:23.320 --> 0:22:25.520 this is not right. There's something else going on here. 0:22:26.040 --> 0:22:29.280 And so I met at the beach and in parking 0:22:29.320 --> 0:22:34.080 lots during Christmas so that people suffering with depression, anxiety 0:22:34.119 --> 0:22:37.360 and loneliness can come out and sing silent night. They 0:22:37.359 --> 0:22:40.639 can sing God bless America. They can be together with 0:22:40.720 --> 0:22:46.880 people and find some companionship. That's not that's not that's 0:22:46.920 --> 0:22:49.800 not being a super spreader unless you mean a super 0:22:49.800 --> 0:22:53.400 spreader of hope and a spreader of community. I think 0:22:53.400 --> 0:22:57.159 that there is. I think that there's great. 0:22:57.280 --> 0:23:04.119 Immunity in community, and we need to continue changing our 0:23:04.160 --> 0:23:08.080 country by joining forces, get together with people of like 0:23:08.160 --> 0:23:12.240 mind and value and move forward, don't retreat well. 0:23:12.240 --> 0:23:14.359 And I also think that when people step up like 0:23:14.440 --> 0:23:17.199 you and are brave, it does encourage other people to 0:23:17.280 --> 0:23:19.399 do the same. And to your point, you know, with 0:23:19.520 --> 0:23:22.639 building that community, it starts to breed and other people, 0:23:22.760 --> 0:23:24.679 joe In and other people, it leads to more and 0:23:24.720 --> 0:23:27.840 more people speaking up and being bold themselves. You had 0:23:27.880 --> 0:23:30.600 mentioned when you're on growing pains and being so young, 0:23:30.680 --> 0:23:34.159 you know, seventeen to eighteen years old and struggling with pridefulness? 0:23:34.200 --> 0:23:35.639 How did you find humility? 0:23:36.119 --> 0:23:41.000 I grew up with so many young actors, and it's 0:23:41.119 --> 0:23:44.560 rare when an actor on television as a kid grows 0:23:44.680 --> 0:23:49.560