Question One - What
Hollywood Believes is an amazing collection of personal
spiritual beliefs of the stars, past and present, in Hollywood.
Why did you write this book and how did you collect and verify
the information?
Ray Comfort
-
Late in 2002, I began researching for a book on
what Hollywood believed, and gave up. It was almost impossible
to find anything on any celebrity's spirituality. I
came to the conclusion that, for some reason, the majority of
Hollywood's elite were spiritually bankrupt. But after Mel Gibson's
movie was so successful, I had a strong suspicion that I was
wrong--because a few celebrities started coming out of the spiritual
closet. So I began to research once again, and this time with
even more diligence. I explored all sorts of literature--magazines,
books, libraries, personal contacts, television, and I searched
the Internet. Each time I found a quote it was like finding
a golden needle in a haystack of information. It almost became
addictive. I ended up with the beliefs of over one hundred big
name stars, and each time I found one I took the utmost care
to give all sources of information, in the belief that each
of the sources is accurate.
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This picture was taken
during interviews for the proposed What Hollywood
Believes T.V. show. - For more information
on using this photo, email sgscott@verizon.net. |
Question Two - After
completing all the research required to write, What Hollywood
Believes, was there one celebrity that stood out above
the others, and particularly touched your heart with his/her
search for the truth?
Ray Comfort
-
John Wayne seemed to epitomize Hollywood’s
way of thinking. There’s a language that the world uses
when it refers to God. He said, “When the road looks rough
ahead, remember the Man Upstairs and the word ‘hope.’
Hang onto both and tough it out.” (1)
Shortly before cancer took his life, John Wayne
said, “I’ve always had deep faith that there is
a Supreme Being; there has to be. To me that’s just a
normal thing to have that kind of faith. The fact that He’s
let me stick around a little longer, or She’s let me stick
around a little longer, certainly goes great with me—and
I want to hang around as long as I’m healthy and not in
anybody’s way.” (2)
I heard that when he was on his deathbed, he called
for Billy Graham to pray with him, but I haven’t been
able to verify that. Sadly, it often takes a tragedy to stop
us in our tracks and make us look to God. I was reading where
Rodney Dangerfield (at the age of 82) said, “You feel
different when you’re getting old. You know your going
to die. You just don’t know how. So what I’m doing
now is hanging around, waiting--waiting to see when and how
I’m going to die.” (3)
It amazes me that it take some people a lifetime to come to
that conclusion. I had that revelation when I was 20 years old,
and found the answer to death when I was converted two years
later.
Question Three -
What is the most surprising fact you discovered
through your research?
Ray Comfort
-
What surprised me was who believed what. I had
no idea that Jim Carrey, Kevin Costner, Michael J. Fox, Gregory
Peck, Christopher Reeve, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Frank Sinatra,
and Jimmy Stewart and so many others had spiritual beliefs.
It confirmed something I already knew. Hollywood has discouraged
any publicity about the beliefs of stars because they maintained
that it would be detrimental to their careers. I was in a meeting
in Hollywood where a well-known actor was told that if he continued
to publicly have anything to do with spirituality, it would
be the end of his career. The Passion of the Christ
proved them wrong by bursting out of the box office into the
bank--grossing millions of dollars in its opening weeks. That
showed that America is not antagonistic toward the things of
God. According to a March 2004 Associated Press poll, an incredible
87 percent of respondents wanted “under God” kept
in the Pledge of Allegiance. (4) A
Gallup poll shortly after the film’s release found that
three in four Americans have seen it or expect to see it. (5)
 |
This picture was taken
during interviews for the proposed What Hollywood
Believes T.V. show. - For more information
on using this photo, email sgscott@verizon.net. |
Question Four - You
have said that Hollywood lives in a world of its own. Tell us
what you mean by that statement.
Ray Comfort
-
The New York Times reported, “As
the overwhelming success of The Passion of the Christ
reverberates through Hollywood, producers and studio executives
are asking whether the movie industry has been neglecting large
segments of the American audience eager for more openly religious
fare.” (6) This is because for
years Hollywood has come to bear little resemblance to middle
America. For example, a survey conducted among the 104 top television
writers and executives found only 49 percent consider adultery
to be wrong—which means 51 percent believe adultery is
morally right. Meanwhile 85 percent of the rest of America believes
adultery is wrong. (7)
When asked about their religious affiliations,
45 percent of Hollywood executives said they had none, while
the number of Americans who had no religious affiliation was
a mere 4 percent. Gallup polls reveal that over 90 percent of
Americans believe in God, with as many as 40 percent attending
worship services regularly, (8) yet
America’s true spirituality hasn’t been reflected
in television shows or movies.
Question Five - Hollywood
has an interesting heritage of which many may not be aware.
Could you tell us about it?
Ray Comfort
-
When legendary filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille (director
of the epic movie The Ten Commandments) first came
to California in the early 1900s, he settled in a small town
that was giving away free land to anyone willing to build a
place of worship. The town, said to be a “Christian”
settlement, had a picturesque name—Hollywood. (9)
Question Six - What
effect do you think the success of The Passion of the Christ
will have on Hollywood executives and actors?
Ray Comfort
-
I think 9-11 stopped many of us in our tracks
and made us rethink our values as a nation. I think this is
reflected in the incredible success of the Left Behind book
series. More than 60 million copies have been sold. A couple
of years ago, Newsweek ran a fourteen page feature story on
mega-churches springing up around the country, and the phenomenal
success of the book series. So I am hoping that Hollywood will
produce movies and television that address the desires of the
general public, movies with spiritual content. But I’m
not holding my breath. I’ve got a feeling, that despite
the financial success of The Passion movie, much of Hollywood
hate the things of God more than they love the money they could
make. In spite of this, my hope is that actors will no longer
be intimidated about publicizing their faith, and that they
will choose only roles that reflect their beliefs.
So I am hoping that Hollywood will produce movies
and television that address the desires of the general public,
movies with spiritual content. But I'm not holding my breath
(although I'm pleased to say that ABC is reportedly planning
a TV miniseries called the "The Ten Commandments,"
that will air late this year or early next. The project will
cost $20 million). My hope is that actors will no longer be
intimidated about publicizing their faith, and that they will
choose only roles that reflect their beliefs.
Question Seven -
You say in your book that people are really
much more interested in God and in spiritual things than Hollywood
or the press lead us to believe. How do you think this knowledge
should affect the average person in talking about spiritual
things?
Ray Comfort
-
The knowledge that people are interested in the
things of God should be a tremendous encouragement to each of
us to be more open about our faith. I know that it has helped
me. I continually battle with a fear of rejection, but knowing
that 87% of Americans want “Under God” in the Pledge
of Allegiance, and that so many went to see The Passion,
helps me to overcome my fears.
Question Eight -
Can you give us some celebrity quotes
mentioned in What Hollywood Believes?
Ray Comfort
-
George Lucas said, “I put the Force into
[Star Wars] in order to try to awaken a certain kind
of spirituality in young people—more a belief in God than
a belief in any particular religious system. I wanted to make
it so that young people would begin to ask questions about the
mystery. Not having enough interest in the mysteries of life
to ask the question, ‘Is there a God or is there not a
God?’—that is for me the worst thing that can happen.
I think you should have an opinion about that. Or you should
be saying, ‘I’m looking. I’m very curious
about this, and I am going to continue to look until I can find
an answer, and if I can’t find an answer, then I’ll
die trying.’ I think it’s important to have a belief
system and to have faith.” (10)
Jim Carrey said, “We’ve always tried
to humanize [God] in some way. He’s probably just a shaft
of light in a doorway or something like that …We’re
spiritual in a sense and I’ve always been big about faith…I’ve
gone multi-denominational. I’ve studied a lot of different
things and basically I don’t know what God is but I know
that He’s at least an energy that rules all that walks
the earth and I really think there are laws.”
What is interesting was that most of these stars
are just like the rest of us. They have fears, doubts, and aspirations.
They are concerned about their mortality. They don’t
want to die. Some are atheists--but not as many as you
would think. Others believe the Bible and regularly go to church
with their families. I had no idea that Jim Carrey believed
in God. Or that Britney Spears prayed daily, or that George
Lucus produced Star Wars so that young people would
seek after God, or that Frank Sinatra believed in God and in
the Sermon on the Mount.
Question Nine - Even
though some of the ideas and beliefs held by celebrities may
seem strange, most readers will connect in some way with the
doubts and questions that the stars ask themselves. Did you
address these doubts and questions in the book?
Ray Comfort
-
I have attempted
to address some of the difficulties and objections raised —such
as the issue of suffering, proof that God exists, why we should
believe a Book that is full of strange stories, who made God,
etc. Most people have asked the same questions that they ask,
and so I’m hopeful that the reader will find the answers
in the book to be helpful. Carrie Fisher said, “I love
the idea of God, but it’s not stylistically in keeping
with the way I function. I would describe myself as an enthusiastic
agnostic who would be happy to be shown that there is a God.”
I hope that she’s sincere about that, because I know how
to prove God’s existence—without mentioning “faith,”
or even the Bible. I’ve done so in this book, and I have
a number of times seen atheists “backslide” when
I have given them this proof. We even have an atheist on camera
(on our TV show) changing his mind he heard these principles.
I would be more than happy to send Carrie a complimentary copy
of, What Hollywood Believes, if I could locate her
address.
Question Ten - What
Hollywood Believes provides much more than entertainment
and information. What effect do you hope the book will have
on its readers?
Ray Comfort
-
I hope people will find it more than titillating.
I trust it will help them to see that many of those celebrities
to whom we look up are also looking up...toward the heavens.
Although they are rich, famous, successful, and seemingly self-sufficient--they
have the same fears, doubts, and aspirations as the rest of
us.
