Curt Flewelling, FISM News
[elfsight_social_share_buttons id=”1″]
A Tennessee library director has been fired for presumably attempting to undermine one of Kirk Cameron’s story hours in Hendersonville, TN. The popular Christian actor has been drawing huge crowds for his events ever since it was learned that many libraries nationwide were aggressively trying to silence his message of faith, freedom, family, and love of country.
After initially denying or ignoring Mr. Cameron’s request to host a story hour at their sites, many libraries nationwide had to begrudgingly allow the author to hold events at their facilities amidst a vocal public backlash.
Although libraries across the nation are hosting the events, there seems to be lingering animus on the part of disgruntled library staff who have been less than accommodating to the actor and his associates.
The event at the Hendersonville Public Library (HPL) featured such stars as Duck Dynasty’s Missy Robertson and former University of Kentucky swimming standout, Riley Gaines. Both women have reported rude and unkind pushback on the part of Morales and his staff during the production of a film promoting the February 25 event.
Gaines and Robertson recall library employees intentionally making loud noises, blaring music, banging books, and kicking cabinets, to disrupt the session. They assert that the noises were clearly “excessive and intentional.”
Robertson went as far as suggesting HPL Director Allan Morales had been purposefully trying to sabotage the event once he realized the extent of Cameron’s Christian conservative beliefs. On the Unashamed with Phil & Jase Robertson podcast, Robertson said, “He started a campaign in the community to shut the event down without officially canceling it because then he knew that it wouldn’t be good for their library.”
Cameron himself felt that Morales was speaking far too loudly at promotional filming sessions as well. In the midst of rising tensions (including bomb threats) leading up to the event, the Sumner County Library board voted 4-3 to fire the director. Mayor John Isbell acknowledged that the dismissal was related to the Kirk Cameron event.
Despite Brave Books and their associates’ assertion that Mr. Morales and his staff had an ax to grind, the director claims he did not. He is on record as telling a Brave Books representative, “We work hard at not promoting any agendas, left or right.”
In response to his termination, the former director told the Tennessean newspaper, “I don’t want to add to all this. I am hoping now that they have fired me that the community can move on. There’s not much of a point to giving my side. At the end of the day, I don’t hate anybody.”