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A new report alleges that public libraries and publishers are censoring faith from the American story while actively pushing progressive, revisionist history to young readers.
The study by conservative publisher Brave Books, titled “The America 250 Faith Gap,” analyzed more than 300 books across 25 reading lists curated by children’s publishers, public libraries and other institutional sources for the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary.
The study reportedly found zero titles directly addressing faith, religious liberty or Christianity’s role in the founding of the United States, despite religious liberty being enshrined in the First Amendment.
While books on the Great Awakening, the faith lives of the Founders and the Black church’s role in American history were completely absent, according to the report, the lists included Ibram X. Kendi’s “Stamped for Kids” and Nikole Hannah-Jones’s “Born on the Water,” a picture book tied to the controversial 1619 Project, instead.
Several recommended titles focused heavily on transgender activism during the 1969 Stonewall Riots, including a picture book for young children. Lists also heavily promoted Kate Messner’s History Smashers series, which claims to expose “myths, lies, and secrets” in American history, as well as sympathetic biographies of former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, with no equivalent biographies of Republican leaders.
According to Brave Books, the most common themes across the lists were the American Revolution, minority perspectives, Black history, civil rights and women’s history. Books focused on American symbols, the classics, the Founders and civics made up the minority of the recommendations.
The lists frequently use words like “complicated,” “hidden” and “untold” to describe American history, in what Brave Books says is an effort to reframe the American story rather than celebrate it.
Brave Books noted that while many of these titles have literary merit and share important historical perspectives, the exclusion of faith leaves the next generation with a skewed view of U.S. history.
The report’s findings drew sharp criticism from former HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson and OutKick host Riley Gaines, who are both Brave Books authors.
“The Declaration of Independence says our rights come from our Creator,” he continued. “Benjamin Franklin called the Constitutional Convention to prayer before they produced a document that has stood for 250 years. George Washington survived battle after battle in ways that defied all human explanation. These men knew where their strength came from.”
Carson argued it is essential for young people to understand the role faith and religious liberty played in U.S. history to truly appreciate their freedoms.
“A generation that does not know where their freedoms come from will not know why those freedoms are worth fighting for,” he continued. “Ronald Reagan said freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. He was not exaggerating. He was being precise. 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.”
Gaines added that teaching children to love their country does not mean ignoring its flaws, but it also does not mean embellishing them.
“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,” Gaines said. “That’s why so many people from all across the world try to live, work, and start a family here through whatever means necessary.”
“As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, kids deserve more than a story about what’s wrong with America. They deserve to know why generations of people around the world have looked to America as a beacon of hope, opportunity, and freedom. That’s not indoctrination. That’s telling the whole story.”
Brave Books CEO Trent Talbot said the report exposes a systemic problem in education where he says there is an intentional push to erase Christianity’s influence from the nation’s past.
“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,” Talbot told Fox News Digital. “What this report confirms is something parents have suspected but couldn’t quantify: the bias isn’t geographic, it’s institutional. Red state, blue state… it doesn’t matter when the gatekeepers are all aligned ideologically and share the same assumptions.”
In response to these findings, the conservative publisher has launched its own book campaign for America’s 250th focused on providing a more positive view of U.S. history.
Carson’s new book, “Built on Faith,” along with Riley Gaines’ picture book, “One Two Three We Are Free,” and Kirk Cameron’s “Built by the Brave,” are new releases from the publisher. The company intends for the series to be for families looking for alternative books that celebrate America’s history of “faith, bravery and achievement.”
“We started Brave Books because we saw this coming,” Talbot said. “The library system, among other institutions, doesn’t have a diversity problem. It has a uniformity problem. Every major institution has quietly agreed on what children should think about America, and faith, patriotism, and earned pride didn’t make the cut.”
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