Kirk Cameron 'Surprised People Were Surprised' by Gay Marriage Comments
By Kimberly Potts
"Growing Pains" star Kirk Cameron, criticized earlier this month for saying gay marriage was "unnatural" and "destructive," said on "Today" Tuesday that he was surprised people would expect him to believe differently, given his Christian beliefs.
"I was surprised, frankly, that people were surprised by the things that I've said," the 41-year-old told Ann Curry. "I have been consistent for 15 years as a Christian. I'm a Bible-believing Christian. What I would have thought was more newsworthy is if I had said something that contradicted the word of God, if I had contradicted my faith."
Cameron, who's promoting his new documentary, "Monumental," also answered Curry's query about whether or not he hates gay people, after his "Piers Morgan" comments drew charges of hate speech.
"Absolutely not, of course not," he said. "I love all people, I hate no one. When you take a subject and reduce it to something like a four-second soundbite and a check mark on a ballot, I think that that's inappropriate and insensitive … it certainly didn't reflect my full heart on the matter."
Cameron also told Curry he doesn't encourage violence or bullying against homosexuals and didn't intend his comments to encourage bullying behavior.
"Nobody should mistreat anybody," he said. "We all have our convictions formed by different things and mine are informed by my faith. They're informed by the word of God, and I found that to be an anchor for me, a compass and a guide for me. When people start bullying one another and calling each other names for those different convictions, then I think you get into problems."
In a March 2 appearance on "Piers Morgan Tonight," Cameron said of gay marriage, "I think that it's unnatural. I think that it's detrimental and ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization."
