For The Bible Tells Me So Best Review
I had the opportunity to see this film at my church as part of a new companion study that's just been released, and I want to say how much both have helped me in my understanding of this issue. The class was at my Methodist church here in Nashville, and I joined it because I confess that, despite all the controversies surrounding this issue -- gay marriage, gays in the military, etc. -- I really hadn't gone beyond a surface understanding of the scripture. Mostly, I have been upset by how much this issue has divided our church, and I haven't been sure how to feel about it.
We watched the film the first week of the class. More than anything, I think it took me beyond the word "issue" and really opened my eyes to the human suffering that has been caused by our Christian tradition. I have no doubt that certain Christian practices are in place with the intent of upholding the Word of God. But how can God not be compassionate amid the pain endured by the families in this film?
God calls each of us to undertake a faith journey with an openness to the Holy Spirit, and the film definitely showed me the Holy Spirit was at work, particularly in the stories of Gene Robinson, the woman who lost her daughter to suicide, and the Minnesota couple with the gay son. Watching this film, I saw how these people changed their hearts not necessarily because they wanted to (after all, it's a lot easier to stick with the status quo), but because they were compelled to only after great thought and prayer and study. Literally, soul-searching.
After watching the film, I yearned for a similar experience, and I must say, in the next six weeks I found it through the study. It's called "This I Know," and each of the six lessons is written by a different author. The two that really caught my attention are Brian McLaren and Marcus Borg. McLaren is big in evangelical circles and he's written several influential books. (My church did a Sunday school class series on his "Everything Must Change.") Borg has certainly made a national name as an authority of Christ's teachings.
Each lesson is a step in a journey of both your mind and your heart. For me, the study was able to fill in some of the gaps the film left, particularly in the depth of scriptural understanding. Not to knock the film, but there's only so much you can cover in that time frame. There was a lesson by a national expert on the Apostle Paul, who did a great job of introducing me to the context of his writings. I also came to understand why the beliefs about sin and homosexuality have been kept going through the centuries. The lesson that most blew me away was written by a devout Mennonite who made a complete 180 in her beliefs. The last chapter, which is Borg's, is all about putting Christ at the center of our understanding. Our class did include a couple members who are gay, and being face to face with their pain and faith struggle also really made an impact on me.
You can find the study at its own website, [...]. I highly recommend both together, especially if your church is looking for a "safe" way to get into the topic. There's no doubt that the film and the study are trying to present a particular viewpoint, but both do so with great thoughtfulness and the authority to back it up. In other words, I never felt belittled or beaten over the head -- as I would by the "death to fags" protesters in the film! I came away from the whole experience feeling like I truly took my own journey and came to my own conclusions, and I'm now trying to get more Sunday school classes at my church to offer it. This is just the sort of thing I think we all need to make our peace with this issue once and for all.
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For The Bible Tells Me So Overview
Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Seattle Interntional Film Festival, Dan Karslake's provocative, entertaining documentary brilliantly reconciles homosexuality and Biblical scripture, and in the process reveals that Church-sanctioned anti-gay bias is based solely upon a significant (and often malicious) misinterpretation of the Bible. As the film notes, most Christians live their lives today without feeling obliged to kil anyone who works on the Sabbath or eats shrimp.
Through the experience of five very normal, very Christian , very American families - including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson - we discover how insightful people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child. With commentary by such respected voices as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Harvard's Peter Gomes, Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Reverend Jimmy Creech, For The Bible Tells Me So offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity.
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Customer Reviews
Biblical literalists hypocritical - Judith A. Carlson - Chicago, IL United States
This DVD succinctly points out that those who take the Bible as the absolute word of God are largely responsible for the fear and hatred of homosexuals. They interpret the Bible literally, refusing to understand or even acknowledge that it was written by man, for man, and that if they take the passages regarding homosexuality literally they are being hypocritical -- would they stone their daughter to death if she was not a virgin before marriage or would they sell her into slavery, for instance? -- two things that the Bible instructs them to do. In other words, these literalists pick out what they agree with and ignore that which they do not agree with. If they love God so much that they want to follow what they interpret as His absolute word then whatever happened to love thy neighbor as thyself? Don't they understand that God made man and that God would never have made an entire group of people and put them on this earth for the sole purpose of being targets for discrimination and hatred? I wish this DVD could be aired publicly, on a humongous screen and at high volume, at every anti-Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender(GLBT)demonstration. It would expose the haters for what they really are -- hypocrites.
Excellent Documentary - S. Wilder - MN
This documentary covers so many issues surrounding homosexuality, from the historical contexts in which the Bible was written, to the geographic contexts, to semantics, and finally to recent developments in the biological research of homosexuality. Its major premise brings one to the firm understanding that the Bible is being used by many (for profit through fear) to do just the opposite of what God and Jesus would ever have wanted. These people (including many very well-known types that make millions off of their followers) "use" the Bible to erroneously spread their fabricated messages, and in turn, help to create a world of injustice. I would highly recommend this documentary and just maybe more people will be stirred to action to defeat the terrorizing tactics of the homophobics. Unfortunately, it may take a tragic event (like experienced by one mother in the video) before some people can have their their minds finally opened to truth and justice.
For The Bible Tells Me So - MJS -
This video compares in investigative quality to Dateline. It includes childhood videos of Bishop Robinson as well as later interviews with him, his parents, his ex-wife and daughters. There is a segment of an African-American family where a daughter is lesbian; her father is a minister and never accepted that part of her while her mother did but he loved his daughter and did not shun her. Another segment was a mother who was influenced by Rev. Dobson's teaching on homosexuality. She constantly railed on her daughter to change and the daughter eventually committed suicide. The mother and another couple wwent to a Dobson convention to confront him and were arrested on the spot. There are comments by clergy in high & professors in highplaces who explain the Bible. A very powerful presentation.
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