Two weeks ago, when the Academy Award nominees were announced, there was a surprise inclusion in the category for Best Original Song: “Alone, Yet Not Alone” from a little-known Christian movie of the same name, written by Bruce Broughton and Dennis Spiegel and sung by Joni Eareckson Tada.

The song was in a lineup that included “Happy” by Pharrell Williams and “Ordinary Love” by U2. Even Tada, a quadriplegic, was pleasantly shocked that the song made it in:

Tada hopes the song will further God’s work, especially for other people living with disability. “Can you imagine how this might encourage other people with disabilities? It’s all about ‘God’s power in our weakness,’ and I love the chance to advance that message,” she said.

Well, God put a damper on those plans yesterday after it was discovered that one of the song’s writers illegally campaigned for the song’s inclusion in the category:

The Academy said on Wednesday that Broughton had used his position within the organization to contact voters about his own submission of the song, which was “inconsistent” with the Academy’s rules on Oscar nominations campaigning. “No matter how well-intentioned the communication, using one’s position as a former governor and current executive committee member to personally promote one’s own Oscar submission creates the appearance of an unfair advantage,” Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Academy president, said in a statement.

It’s a rare move for the Academy to take away a nomination once it’s been given, but it sounds like the committee making the decision didn’t have much of a choice.

Still, it’ll just provide fodder for conservative Christians’ paranoia about how Hollywood is against them.

When that happens, someone should remind them that Hollywood has no problem with God, as long as they’re making money from the movie, whether it’s Passion of the Christ, The Apostle, The Ten Commandments, or whatever the hell Nicolas Cage thinks he’s starring in these days.

(Thanks to Holly for the link)



