No one disputes that there is cultural war in progress in the United States. Assessments over who is 'winning' are varied. Athanatos Christian Ministries, Inc., believes that Christianity is not doing well and thinks that part of the solution is to have more Christian authors and writers and artists in general.
Executive Director Anthony Horvath explains that, "Historically, Christians have been involved in various vocations across the board: writing, art, science, astronomy, philosophy, and the like. Today the feeling is that if you are a TRUE Christian you will be a pastor or teacher or, if you are an elite Christian, a missionary. I think that this has been bad for Christianity and has contributed to its bad reputation in some eyes."
Many people believe that Christianity is just a private matter and that spirituality has no place in the public sphere. This is an attitude that Horvath disputes, pointing out that there is a big difference between keeping the government out of religion and keeping religion out of government. "A spirituality that does not interact with the real world is really meaningless. Anything really true will send ripples of consequences all around us," he says.
The ACM 2010 Christian Writing Contest is meant to inspire Christians to reflect their personal faiths in a very public vocation: writing. ACM describes this as 'literary apologetics.'
"The goal is not to make the culture in Christianity's image," Horvath says, "But to make sure our voice is well represented in our diverse culture and resist the tendency for Christians to get pigeon-holed into various cliches such as being anti-intellectual or fundamentalists. Christianity can compete: if only Christians will take the field."
The 2010 contest is accepting story submissions through February 15th, 2010 and will announce a winner in April. ACM intends to have the anthologies and awards distributed in May. More than $2,000 was awarded in 2009 and even more will be awarded in 2010 because a poetry category has been added. There are two age categories for short story fiction, one for high school students and one for anyone age 19 and up.
"Nothing moves people like Story," Horvath urges, "And Christians have a Story to tell: the good news that Jesus has saved us by his death and resurrection and our death is not the end of the story for any of us, but rather the beginning."
The writing contest home page is http://www.christianwritingcontest.com
Athanatos Christian Ministry's home page is http://www.athanatosministries.org
Anthony Horvath is available for interviews and can be reached at director@athanatosministries.org
