Kirk Cameron: Celebrities Should Be Held to a Higher Standard
Filmmaker Kirk Cameron spoke to Fox News explaining how he found God while playing his role as Mike Seaver on the television situation comedy "Growing Pains" when he was 18 years old. He also noted that those in the spotlight are, and should be, held to a higher standard.
"I think, eventually, if people are thoughtful, you start asking grown up questions like, 'How did the world get started? Where did we come from? Where are we going? Why are we here?'" the 43-year-old American actor and evangelical Christian said.
"I guess when I, as a child, I just sort of had blind faith in the fairy-tale that the way we got here was from goo to the zoo to you, I finally said that doesn't sound right," he added. "Someone took me to church and kind of opened my eyes to what I believe is the truth about who we are and why we're here, and so when I was about 18 years old, I wanted to start living my life in a way that said thank you to the way God made me."
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Cameron said he loves God and is a Christian, "but the films that I make...are really about themes that I think resonate in people's heart, at least they do in my own family.
"So I'm always going to make movies that I believe in, that I can give 100 percent to, that I think are going to be offering people something good."
In 2012, Cameron stirred debate when he defended traditional Christian views on homosexuality on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight."
"Marriage was defined by God a long time ago," Cameron said. "[It's] almost as old as dirt, and it was defined in the garden between Adam and Eve – one man, one woman for life till death do you part. So I would never attempt to try to redefine marriage."
Last June, Cameron told Naperville Sun that he is excited about the opportunities he has in Hollywood "to spread some light and some life in a place that is notorious for exporting so much moral filth and darkness."
"I pray for everybody that I know. I pray for people that I don't know. I pray not just for my family but for my TV family. Who couldn't use blessings from heaven?" he said.
In his interview this week, Cameron told Fox News that those in the spotlight are always going to be held to a higher standard. "And we should be held to a higher standard because we're influencing more people than others might be," he explained. "With the privilege of a platform comes great responsibility ... [We've] got to be careful with what we say and how we say it and everything should be seasoned with grace and while I certainly I don't do that perfectly, I strive to do it increasingly."
Cameron said he and his wife, actress Chelsea Noble, are always looking for a great new movie to watch on movie night but "it's hard to find films that are fun and inspiring and that are going to build up our faith in God and our strength as a family."
"So we decided we would make one and we made it right here in our own backyard with a local little league team and it's a movie where family learn the lessons of mercy, patience, sacrifice and trusting God," he added.
Last February, Cameron spoke to film students at Liberty University, a small, private college located in Lynchburg, Va., answering questions on how to navigate their careers as Christian filmmakers. "I encourage you: have convictions, have standards, don't let others set them for you. They will set the bar too low," he said.
Cameron added, "Set the bar high and perform for an audience of One [God] – and you'll get the applause of Heaven; you can just trust God to take care of everybody else. That's the motto I go by."
