Is There a Conspiracy Against Christian Art?

Is there a conspiracy against Christian art? Do atheistic gatekeepers conspire to suppress the Christian message and keep it from mainstream audiences? Are Christian artists unjustly targeted for censure in ways that others aren't? Is there a double standard in the marketplace when it comes to religious and "secular" (or anti-religious) rhetoric? Is "agenda" just as prevalent in the general market as the religious market?

Or are Christians full of it?

It is not uncommon to hear "horror stories" from Christian artists about what they feel is discrimination. I recently received a comment from someone who referenced two Christian authors, both of whom were asked by general market publishers to remove explicit Christian content from their stories. They refused. Result: Goodbye general market. Do things like this really happen and, if so, what say you about it?

Nevertheless, even if there is a conspiracy against Christian art, it does us little good to complain about it. In fact, the conspiracy may be one of our own making.

Barbara Nicolosi founded Act One, a program to train screenwriters and Hollywood executives to produce quality films that connect with audiences of faith. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, she made these observations:

"Honestly, I didn't start out to fix Hollywood," said Nicolosi, who has a master's degree in film from Northwestern University. "I started out to fix the church in the arts."

After two years of "reading hundreds and hundreds of horrible scripts" at a Catholic movie production company, Nicolosi concluded that Christian screenwriters were their own worst enemies.

"They had nothing but arrogance and ignorance, and self-righteousness to boot," the outspoken Nicolosi said. "They were screaming about how Hollywood was persecuting Christians. I realized Christians were not being martyred in Hollywood; they were committing suicide.

"We were being embarrassed by Christians who were writing works that were substandard and saying the Holy Spirit inspired them to do it."

Christians commonly assume that the secular media is out to silence them. The perception that publishers, celebrities and Hollywood execs are anti-Christian is status-quo in many faith communities. Which makes Ms. Nicolosi's opinion all the more interesting.

I'm not one to cede conspiracies, but I happen to believe that positive religious themes and traditional values do not get a fair shake on prime time. But does this justify our belly-aching? In this way, Nicolosi's observations are helpful. In fact, I wonder that most Christian artists would be better off — even if they believed a conspiracy was alive and well — by acting as if it were NOT true.

Let's face it — it's much easier to pin the lack of "Christian witness" on the presence of atheistic gatekeepers, rather than the absence of a quality product. And Hollyweird is an easy scapegoat. But, according to Nicolosi, the absence of a "Christian presence" in the arts may have less to do with a conspiracy, and more to do with mediocrity.

Could it really be that "Christians [are] not being martyred in Hollywood; they [are] committing suicide"? The same could be asked of Christian artists in any field — music, literature, theater. Have we deceived ourselves into believing we are not at fault? Are we too eager to blame our "bad fortune" on the godless gatekeepers? Are we "writing works that [are] substandard and saying the Holy Spirit inspired [us] to do it"?

How one answers those questions is important. The person who's convinced the system has it out for him, will often spend as much time bitching as working to improve his craft. Perhaps it's time for a tactical adjustment. Instead of fretting over some satanic cabal, we should strive to produce the highest quality art possible.

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Question: Do you think there is a "conspiracy" against Christian art? Do you think there is a double-standard in the media toward religious-themed work? Or do you believe, like Ms. Nicolosi suggests, that we commit "artistic suicide" and worry far too much about conspiracy and not enough about quality?