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

By Mike Bessler

From the archive: published Apr 30, 2016, 10 years ago. Details may have changed since.

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.

Kirk Cameron and wife actress Chelsea Noble speak onstage during the 3rd Annual KLOVE Fan Awards at the Grand Ole Opry House on May 31, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee.
“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.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Kirk Cameron host the 3rd Annual KLOVE Fan Awards onstage at the Grand Ole Opry House on May 31, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. It is not known whether or not Hasselbeck was required to follow Cameron’s lead at this show, as each celebrity is married to someone else. (
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! Newscompiled a list of some of Cameron’s most controversial public statements, including a 2012 remark to CNN’s Piers Morgan in which he blamed homosexualityas 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.

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