Yes, I am an artist and yes, I believe in God.
For some reason that I don’t fully understand yet, many artists resent religion. Growing up in theatre, I felt a lot of animosity toward my faith and the church. I have heard my peers as well as older, seasoned actors whom I look up to bash God and bash religion as a whole.
But I first discovered theatre in church. I fell in love with the arts because of my faith. Without the warmth of the directors and worship leaders at my church, I may have never discovered performing as my true passion. I can’t say a whole lot about every art discipline, but the various artists I have known often struggle with accepting religion, regardless of their discipline.
I often wonder if those in the arts who hate on religion only hate on it because of one or two people of faith who give everyone a bad rep. I wonder if they assume people of my faith hate them for their choices. I truly don’t know because I have never been on the other side of the table.
What I do know is that most Christians are incredibly welcoming. The biggest thing I have learned because of my faith is to love everyone regardless of race, gender, sexuality and lifestyle. Many people in the arts live their lives similarly. We are taught as artists to be accepting and learn as much as we can about the people around us. Why, then, have I grown up working on shows with people who outwardly bash my faith?
Intolerance works both ways. I think people often think of the Church as intolerant and resent it, but people are often too quick to judge Christians.
I understand that people often have a bad taste in their mouth from one person they have known, but to openly hate on religion is ridiculous to me. Let me get one thing straight: I am not hating on people for not believing the same things I do; I am talking about the ones who make me feel dumb for believing in what I believe in. We should all be accepting of different opinions and beliefs, not put each other down because of our differences in belief.
Open discussions are one thing, but bashing one side does not align with what I have learned in theatre and in church. As a Christian, I believe that whatever I do in theatre, I also do for God. What is the shame in that?
I try to live my life in such a way that people are not surprised when I say something about my faith (so far, no one has been surprised). I stumble and fall all the time, but I believe in a forgiving God. I turn to both my faith and my art to get me through rough patches, so please, if you’re in the arts, don’t put down those who believe in a higher being.
