Hollywood star Jim Caviezel recently took the time to speak out about what he believes is an attack on the Christian faith in the movie industry. That came during an interview in which Caviezel talked about the debut of his most recent film, “Sound of Freedom,” the star gave his thoughts on the problems that plague Christianity in today’s world.
In the interview, which Fox News Digital shared, Caviezel noted that Christianity has changed and become weak in the modern day, saying, “The problem is that modern-day Christianity has become so weak and useless,” Caviezel said. “I mean, modern-day Christians are more afraid of the devil than they are of God. God could destroy the devil without a glance, but he looks to us to make a decision.”
This distinction between fear of the devil and a healthy fear of God is one that Caviezel sees as a growing issue in the modern church. Even though rules are laid out in the Bible, Caviezel says that Christians no longer are as enticed to follow them since God has been portrayed as always loving and forgiving. To many, there is no need to avoid sin if their transgressions will be freely absolved later.
Caviezel continued on with this train of thought, saying that the collapse of Christianity’s willingness to stand up for its values and fight back against evil means that moral decay is rotting the nation and things are falling apart.
As he put it, “So, you have moral depravity. I mean, moral decay everywhere, falling apart. Laws don’t mean anything anymore. We don’t have a First Amendment…There’s no such thing as free speech anymore. You’re absolutely destroyed everywhere, and the media throws out everybody’s a racist.”
This carries a lot of weight coming from a prominent Hollywood star who no doubt should have reservations about speaking his mind on the subject of faith. As many other actors and actresses have said, a strong public faith in Christianity is not an asset in Hollywood. In fact, many say that it can be a hindrance when looking for work.
His faith has also seeped into the decision-making process for which movies Caviezel will choose to act in. He notes that in every film, the character that he portrays must, at the very least, have a strong redemption arc.
He said, when speaking on that, “The purpose God gave me in this business, I wanted to bring his light. And it doesn’t mean I’m always his light into an industry. And I wanted to do that, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not going to play the devil in movies. Just there’s got to be some sort of moral redemption.”
Actors like this have seen their audiences and fanbases grow over recent years, as moviegoers have once again begun to swarm to Christian films like “Jesus Revolution” and “His Only Son.” Money talks in Hollywood, so rest assured that big-time studio executives are looking at that trend and considering producing more family-friendly and religious films in the near future.
As Caviezel explained, a movie doesn’t have to be like sitting in church to be a good Christian film. A simple redemption arc can be all that it takes to transform a powerful motion picture into a good lesson for the entire family.
Featured image: Genevieve, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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