On “The Today Show” this morning, actor Kirk Cameron told host Ann Curry that he stands by his past controversial comments about homosexuality. Earlier this month, on “Piers Morgan Tonight,” Cameron said he does not support gay marriage and thinks that homosexuality is “destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization.”

In his conversation with Curry today, Cameron said it would have been more newsworthy if he had said otherwise — and he has a very valid point:

“I was surprised, frankly, that people were surprised by the things that I’ve said,” he told host Ann Curry. “I have been consistent for 15 years as a Christian. I’m a Bible-believing Christian. What I would have thought was more newsworthy is if I had said something that contradicted the word of God, if I had contradicted my faith.”

Curry asked the actor if he hated homosexuals.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “I love all people, I hate no one…When you take a subject and reduce it to something like a four-second soundbite and a check mark on a ballot, I think that that’s inappropriate and insensitive. To edit it down to that, it certainly didn’t reflect my full heart on the matter.”

When you think about his comments in that light, any outrage over them does seem hyper-sensitive and strange. “Noted Christian believes what Christianity teaches.” How shocking!

What’s sad, though, is that it is a surprise to many non-Christians when they hear a Christian stand up for controversial Christian doctrines because so few famous Christians do. When actress and Christian Kristen Chenoweth, for example, appeared on “Piers Morgan Tonight” in the fall, she presented quite a contrast to Kirk Cameron — and, as I recall, created no stir whatsoever by voicing her support for gay marriage.

It’s also interesting that so few people seem to remember a couple important people who theoretically still don’t support gay marriage.

A quick note on Cameron’s comment that homosexuality is “destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization”: If you take that very literally, it’s actually pretty indisputable. The very first foundation of any civilization is existence itself. Human reproduction is necessary for human civilization. If our twenty-first century civilization consisted entirely of homosexuals who engaged only in homosexual behavior, civilization would rapidly cease to exist. From this literal perspective, homosexuality is no more destructive to civilization than contraception or abortion — but it is destructive. It serves no point to deny that.

Nor does it serve any point to deny what we all know from personal experience: Every single human being has certain destructive tendencies inside of him — the tendency to meanness, maybe, or to unkindness, to sloth, to gluttony, to thievery, to murder. What Christianity claims to offer or, more specifically, what Christ claimed to offer — and what many Christians joyfully attest to experiencing — is a grace-sustained way of overcoming those tendencies. In that offer is not condemnation, but an invitation to true freedom.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy