As America’s 250^th birthday approaches, three conservatives are trying to make sure America’s next generation stays connected with America’s Christian heritage. Dr. Ben Carson, Riley Gaines, and Kirk Cameron have all released books through Brave Books that are meant to fight back against anti-American sentiment being pushed in popular culture, academia, and media. ““Right now, there is a message being drilled into the next generation from every direction: that America is something to be ashamed of. But here is what they are not telling your kids. This is the nation that abolished slavery, toppled tyrannies, liberated millions, and created technology that changed the world,” said Cameron. The three books are part of the America Wins Bundle available through Brave books, with signed copies including: “Built by the Brave” by Kirk Cameron, “Built on Faith” by Dr. Carson and “1, 2, 3, We Are Free!” by Riley Gaines.

Brave Books recently released a report that showed there is a huge gap between positive and negative messaging being pushed by children’s publishing. Of the over 300 books that have been curated to celebrate America’s 250^th, none mentioned America’s Christian heritage. “No books about the Pilgrims as religious refugees. No books about the Great Awakening,” the report noted “No books about religious liberty as a founding principle. No books about the faith lives of the founders. No books about the Black church’s role in American history, even on lists heavy with Black history content. No books about faith-motivated abolitionists, even on lists featuring abolitionist narratives. No titles from any faith-based publisher.”

Dr. Carson responded to the report, stating that ignoring such a vital part of America’s founding would make younger generations “vulnerable.” “A generation that does not know where their freedoms come from will not know why those freedoms are worth fighting for,” he warned, noting that quote from Ronald Reagan that freedom is “never more than one generation away from extinction.” “When you raise children on a version of history that calls America complicated and unfinished and never once tell them that this country was founded by men of extraordinary faith and courage who believed they were accountable to God for what they built, you are not educating them. You are making them vulnerable,” added Dr. Carson.

Gaines agreed. “The problem is that many institutions have become so focused on emphasizing what’s broken, unfinished, or flawed that they’ve stopped teaching kids what makes America the greatest, freest, most prosperous nation in the world. That’s why so many people from all across the world try to live, work, and start a family here through whatever means necessary,” she said.

Brave Books CEO Trent Talbot stated that the inclusion of books like Ibram X Kendi’s Stamped for Kids and Nikole Hannah-Jones’s Born on the Water, books that offer a revisionist view of American history, shows a conscientious effort to bring down America. “When reading lists for America’s 250th anniversary don’t include a single book acknowledging Christianity’s role, that’s not an oversight. That’s a choice. What this report confirms is something parents have suspected but couldn’t quantify: the bias isn’t geographic, it’s institutional,” he said. “Red state, blue state… it doesn’t matter when the gatekeepers are all aligned ideologically and share the same assumptions.” He went after the library systems that promote such books as well. “The library system, among other institutions, doesn’t have a diversity problem. It has a uniformity problem,” he said. “Every major institution has quietly agreed on what children should think about America, and faith, patriotism, and earned pride didn’t make the cut.”