Kirk Cameron has lately been traveling to public libraries across the country to counter drag queen story hours by reading kids his Christian books. In that journey, he says, he has realized there is more work to be done.
According to the former TV star, Scholastic, the company that has been providing books to kids since the '40s and holding book fairs since the early '80s, is responsible for many of the controversial and pornographic books that can now be found in many U.S. school libraries.
It has adopted a recurring pattern of sexualized content in recent years and last month pledged to "redouble" its efforts to "combat the laws restricting children's access" to pornographic books.
"You really can't get away from them if your kids are going to school," he laments. "This stuff is pervasive. They're not just a thousand-pound gorilla in the space of children's books; they are children's books."
He believes the reason schools have degenerated into pushing pornography and sexual deviancy is because they have left God.
"Think of it like our solar system: All the planets stay in orbit around the sun because of its gravitational pull. If you get rid of the sun, the planets will drift into space and get sucked into any black hole that pulls them," Cameron poses. "Morality, spirituality, economy, politics, church, family -- everything has been untethered from the center, the gravitational force of God and his Word that has held us together for 250 years."
As an alternative to Scholastic, Cameron recommends SkyTree Book Fairs, a nonprofit organization committed to providing wholesome book fairs that schools and parents can trust.
"They're going to put good books into your kids' hands," he asserts.
Progress in Plano
Meanwhile, some parents in Texas took the bull by the horns and successfully pressured a school district to remove dozens of sexually explicit books from school libraries. For approximately two years, those parents have diligently pressured officials with Plano Independent School District to remove sexually explicit books.
Mary Elizabeth Castle of Texas Values emphasizes this isn't about banning books.
"We're very happy that [because] there's been a lot of attention around this issue, some school districts are taking the matter into their own hands to make sure that inappropriate books are taken off library books," she tells AFN.
Castle notes the Texas House passed House Bill 900 this spring aimed at removing sexually explicit materials from schools. That legislation, however, is currently being challenged in court.
"We really want to make sure that we can win the court battle on HB 900 that would make it law in Texas to have these books be removed from school libraries," she adds, "and, if not, to have stronger policy in the future at the state level."
The Texas Tribune reports that legal experts, librarians, and some parents are concerned the bill's language is so vague and broad that it could ensnare books that are appropriate.
Comments from Texas Values added after story was originally posted.
