By Movieguide® Contributor
While discussing the Christian faith used to be taboo in the tech world, more industry leaders have embraced Christ and His teachings.
This major shift in culture has largely come about because of the bold faith of multiple tech billionaires emboldening other to embrace and openly discuss Christianity. Dr. Francis S. Collins, the former director of the National Institute of Health and the leader of the Human Genome Project, is one of these leaders hosting events for Christians in San Francisco.
“What is the real basis of morality? Why am I here? What happens after I die?” Collins asked the audience while speaking at the Code and Cosmos event, a place where tech leaders could discuss why their faith is important to their work. “Science can’t really give you an answer…[but] I’ve never really hit a situation where what I know as a rigorous scientist and what I believe as a Christ-centered Christian are in conflict.”
As this bold evangelism has become more common in the tech industry, it has also changed the landscape of who find success. The traditional Silicon Valley CEO often looked like a genius college dropout who found financial backing after releasing a revolutionary new piece of tech. Now, however, many who find success are everyday people, who work hard to bring their ideas to life.
“No one wants the Palantir guy to be high on acid for two weeks at Burning Man,” explained Katherine Boyle, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, per Vanity Fair. “[Investors] want hard workers. People who are like, ‘Learned that at West Point.’ We have Israelis who served in the IDF and are religious and conservative and super libertarian. And we’re like, ‘Yeah, that seems focused. We’ll take that.’”
While faith is becoming more acceptable in the tech industry as more and more leaders are open about their faith, some believe the pandemic is also responsible for getting people to think about more than what is just directly in front of them. Pastor Ben Pilgreen, for example, runs a church in the heart of San Francisco and has seen his congregation more than double since 2020.
“I think COVID did something to us,” he told Vanity Fair. “I’m not sure about everything it did to us as a society or individuals. But it called people to think about what matters.”
This could help explain why Silicon Valley isn’t the only place traditionally hostile to faith where Christianity has seen a major boost in recent years. Hollywood has also seen an explosion of faith since the pandemic, with multiple studios opening faith-based legs and an incredible number of faith-based content getting green lit.
Similar to the Christian tech leaders who have encouraged others in the industry to explore their faith, multiple Hollywood executives have been open about their Christian beliefs, opening up space for others in the industry to do the same.
Related: Why Kevin Sorbo Stands for Faith in Hollywood: ‘Changing People’s Lives’
“I think Christianity and values are just making their comeback [in Hollywood],” said director Jon Erwin. “There’s a lot of executives in the entertainment industry that are just titans…that for a long they they were content…sort of keeping at day some of the more damaging trends in the industry, but I think there’s been a shift in content in the industry where it’s like, enough is enough. I have to align my values with my career.”
Erwin’s Wonder Studios now has a major partnership deal with Amazon, and their first show HOUSE OF DAVID has been a top 10 show on Prime Video throughout its release. Meanwhile, THE CHOSEN’s creator and director Dallas Jenkins has been recognized as a powerhouse in the industry and was named among Hollywood’s most powerful showrunners in 2023.
As the leaders of the most influential industries turn back towards their faith, it seems that culture is shifting as well, as even the younger generation has shown in increased interest in faith and people can talk about Christ again without experiencing great pushback.
Read Next: Dallas Jenkins Among Hollywood’s Top 50 Most Influential Showrunners
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