Kirk Cameron Says Wives Should Submit To Husbands, Twitterverse Reacts With Contempt, Shock, And Sarcasm

It’s probably a good thing that actor Kirk Cameron looks to a higher authority for approval, because the opinionated Evangelical Christian is not getting a lot of support from folks on Twitter. As previously reported by Inquisitr, the former Growing Pains star ruffled a few feathers earlier this week by articulating his rather traditional views on gender roles in marriage.

In an interview with the Christian Post, Kirk Cameron suggested that the submission of wives to their husbands is a cornerstone of a successful marriage. Cameron has been married to Chelsea Noble since 1991.

“Wives are to honor and respect and follow their husband’s lead, not to tell their husband how he ought to be a better husband,” said Cameron, ostensibly referring to Colossians 3:18-19. “When each person gets their part right, regardless of how their spouse is treating them, there is hope for real change in the marriage,” he added

Cameron’s comments sparked a good deal of discussion via social media, with many individuals objecting to his assertion that women do not have equal influence or authority in the marital relationship. Of further concern to many was the phrase “regardless of how their spouse is treating them,” which appears to imply that women should remain submissive even when subjected to emotional and physical abuse.

I’ll take marriage advice from a fundie Christian like Kirk Cameron the same day I take financial advice from Nicholas Cage.

— Emily Timbol (@EmilyTimbol) April 29, 2016

Kirk Cameron leads conferences on marriage/parenting: People, I will pay you NOT to attend these meetings. Ok, maybe not. You get the point

— Logan Levkoff, Ph.D. (@LoganLevkoff) April 29, 2016

Dear #KirkCameron – when a wife or husband is being abused, they shouldn’t honor or submit to their spouse – they should get out.

— The Unchurch (@theunchurchva) April 29, 2016

On his new tour Kirk Cameron urges women to submit to their husbands and “follow their lead,” giving renewed hope to insecure men everywhere

— Manda LikeCatsOK? (@Manda_like_wine) April 30, 2016

Kirk Cameron was on a sitcom in the 80s. We don’t really need to keep asking him stuff.

— Susie Ostrowski (@susie_oh) April 30, 2016

I’m guessing Kirk Cameron isn’t in the news because he got raptured.

— Evan J’daté Kessler (@EvanJKessler) April 30, 2016

The backlash surrounding Kirk Cameron’s stance on marriage is not the first uproar that the celebrity has stirred over the course of recent years. E! News compiled a list of some of Cameron’s most controversial public statements, including a 2012 remark to CNN’s Piers Morgan in which he blamed homosexuality as the cause of the downfall of a number of major civilizations.

The same year, Cameron publicly defended Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin for Akin’s infamous assertion that women ‘s bodies had innate defenses against what he referred to as “legitimate rape.” Cameron praised Akin as a “pro life advocate” and urged people to resist judging him on the inarticulate comments. Akin lost the election despite receiving support from Kirk Cameron.

Kirk Cameron’s conversion to Evangelical Christianity reportedly created a good deal of tension during the later years of his stint on Growing Pains and ultimately steered him towards more spiritually oriented acting roles after moving on from the 1980s sitcom.

One of Cameron’s most ambitious projects to date was the film adaptation of Timothy LaHaye’s Left Behind series of books, although the movies were largely panned by critics and viewers. The first Left Behind has since been remade with Nicholas Cage in the lead role.

Cameron’s above-noted remarks urging women to be submissive to their husbands came in the midst of promotional work for his ongoing “Love Worth Fighting For” campaign, a national tour that promotes marriage and traditional Christian values. The Christian Post noted that Kirk Cameron has already held 12 events on the tour, with 11 more scheduled.

[Photo by Stephen Shugerman for Samuel Goldwyn Films/Getty Images]