Anti-Christian Bigotry Blamed for Ending Song's Oscar Bid

Original Article: NewsmaxBy Greg Richter

Anti-Christian bigotry may be to blame for the pulling of an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song, says Academy Award-winning producer Gerald Molen.

The song "Alone Yet Not Alone," from the film of the same name, was removed from consideration last week after it was learned that its composer, Bruce Broughton, had lobbied fellow academy members to consider the song.

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Lobbying for votes is not new to the Oscar process, but Broughton is a former governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and currently is an executive committee member in the music branch.

Members said he was using his influence as an official to lobby for his own work.

But Molen, who won Oscars as producer of "Schindler's List" and "Jurassic Park," disagreed, sending a letter to academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. In it he warned, "Critics will pound and accuse us of being out of touch and needlessly offending middle America" by pulling the nomination, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

Appearing on Fox News Channel's "The Kelly File" on Tuesday, Molen said it is common for people to lobby for films during December and January. 

"Why was this one singled out?" he asked. "Maybe I've missed something."

In the 86-year history of the Academy Awards, it is only the fourth time a nomination has been rescinded. 

Broughton had said in his email that he was bringing attention to the song only because it was from a movie that the voters most likely had not seen, and he wanted it to have a chance.

The movie "Alone Yet Not Alone" earned only $134,000 in a 21-day run, and has a strong evangelical Christian theme. The song was sung by Joni Eareckson Tada, a celebrity in evangelical circles who became a quadriplegic after a diving accident.

"In my humble opinion, it seems to me that this has turned a Cinderella story that America loves into a story of the wicked stepmother who wants to keep her daughter from the ball, with we, the academy, cast as the villain," Molen wrote.

Molen is also the producer of two documentary films by Dinesh D'Souza, "2016: Obama's America" and the coming "America." 

Molen said recently that he suspects the investigation into D'Souza's political activities is political payback for the anti-Obama film.

Molen told Fox News he would like to see the academy reconsider its decision on "Alone Yet Not Alone."

"If that's the final decision, then we're all going to have to accept it," he said. "We don't have to like it, and we can certainly voice our opinion."