A shocking new study finds that library collections are leaving out Christianity in US history

A new report alleges that public libraries and publishers are testing faith in the American story while actively pushing progressive, revisionist history to young readers.

A study by conservative publishers Brave Books, titled “The America 250 Faith Gap,” analyzed more than 300 books on 25 reading lists selected by children’s publishers, public libraries and other institutional sources for the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary.

The study reportedly found zero articles specifically addressing faith, religious freedom or the role of Christianity in the founding of the United States, despite religious freedom being enshrined in the First Amendment.

While books about the Great Awakening, the faith lives of the founders and the role of the Black church 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 associated with the controversial 1619 Project, instead.

Several recommended titles focus on transgender activism during the 1969 Stonewall Riots, including a picture book for young children. The list also heavily promoted Kate Messner’s History Smashers series, which it says exposes “myths, lies, and secrets” in American history, as well as biographies sympathetic to former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, who do not have similar histories of Republican leaders.

According to Brave Books, the most common themes across the list were the American Revolution, minority views, Black history, civil rights and women’s history. Books focusing on American symbols, classics, Founders and civics form a few recommendations.

Lists often use words like “complicated,” “hidden” and “unexplained” to describe American history, in what Brave Books says is an attempt to reinvent the American story rather than celebrate it.

Brave Books noted that while many of these articles have literary merit and share important historical insights, being left out of faith leaves the next generation with a distorted view of US history.

The findings of this report were criticized by HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson and OutKick host Riley Gaines, both authors of Brave Books.

“The Declaration of Independence says that our rights come from our Creator,” he continued. “Benjamin Franklin called the Constitutional Convention to a prayer before issuing a letter that has been stalled for 250 years. George Washington survived war after war in ways that defy all human description. These men know where their strength comes from.”

Carson said it is important for young people to understand the role faith and religious freedom played in US history in order to truly appreciate their freedom.

“A generation that does not know where its freedom comes from will not know why this freedom should be fought for,” he continued. “Ronald Reagan said that freedom will never be more than one generation away from destruction. He was not exaggerating. He was right. If you raise children with a version of history that calls America complex and unfinished and never tell them that this country was founded by people of incredible faith and courage who believed they would be accountable to God for what they built, you are not teaching them.

Gaines added that teaching children to love their country doesn’t mean ignoring its faults, but it also doesn’t mean embellishing them.

“The problem is that many institutions have become so focused on a broken, incomplete or flawed emphasis that they have stopped teaching children what makes America the greatest, freest, most successful nation in the world,” Gaines said. “That’s why so many people around the world try to live, work, and start a family here by any means necessary.”

“As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, children deserve more than just 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 tells the whole story.”

Brave Books CEO Trent Talbot said the report exposed a systemic problem in education where he said there was a deliberate push to erase the influence of Christianity on the nation’s past.

“When reading lists for 250 years of America don’t include a single book that acknowledges the role of Christianity, it’s not cautionary. It’s selective,” Talbot told Fox News Digital. “What this report confirms is something that parents have suspected but couldn’t explain: bias is not local, it’s institutional. Red status, blue status … it doesn’t matter when the gatekeepers are all ideologically aligned and think alike.”

In response to these findings, the conservative publisher launched its America’s 250th book campaign focused on providing a positive view of US history.

Carson’s new book, “Built in Faith,” and 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 the series to be for families looking for other books that celebrate America’s history of “faith, courage 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 pride have had no effect.”