Keeping the faith, enjoying the fame

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In the modern-day world of celebrity, religion often seems reduced to a commodity. A fashionable trend that can be bought into and discarded as easily as a red string Kabbalah bracelet or a designer yoga mat bag. A choice that has more to do with accessorizing than the afterlife.

Not that this should come as any surprise. Celebrities today have much on their plates. Between rehab stints, divorce proceedings, corporeal enhancement, criminal trials, the pesky paperwork generated by foreign adoption agencies, jail sentences and reducing carbon footprints -- who has time for a spiritual practice?

For those who've lost their faith in the famous, however, there is a light: A few young film and music industry notables are showing that it's possible to walk a religiously righteous path, even when it cuts through territory riddled with temptation.

It's no cakewalk, but for faith-fame tightrope walkers like Mormon actor Jon Heder, Hasidic reggae artist Matisyahu, Muslim MC Lupe Fiasco and members of the Christian pop-punk band Relient K, to name a few, it's the only route they know.

To one side of them are the skeptics, who may scorn their traditional beliefs and question their seemingly restrictive lifestyles.

To the other side are fundamentalists, for whom these stars will never be pious enough.

Ahead lies the financial compensation that typically awaits successful, talented artists -- as well as gifts on a higher order, which might include the joy of bringing happiness to others and the fulfillment that comes from finding and following one's God-given purpose.

What many of those engaged in this balancing act have found, however, is that staying the course requires putting blinders on. It's all about tuning out the naysayers and the temptresses and developing core strength: a solid set of guiding principles and a firm sense of self.

The process and results vary for each individual.

Mr. Heder, for example, has had to find his footing in a hurry. Just three years ago he exploded into the film industry and popular culture as the nerdy title character of "Napoleon Dynamite," a film written and directed by two of his classmates at the Mormon-affiliated Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Since then, Hollywood's kept a-knocking, and it'll likely continue to do so thanks to his appearance as Will Ferrell's skating partner in this year's smash-hit comedy "Blades of Glory."