NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Few issues are as controversial as the Bible and
homosexuality, and a new documentary on that subject is receiving
thumbs down from orthodox Christians -- and garnering its own
controversy in the process.
"For
the Bible Tells Me So" is a 90-minute, one-sided film focusing on five
families who profess to be Christians and who have a homosexual family
member. For the most part the families' stories reflect the
documentary's message: The Bible has been misinterpreted over the
centuries and homosexuality is not a sin.
"There's nothing wrong
with a fifth-grade understanding of God, as long as you're in the fifth
grade," one liberal pastor says in the movie.
Director Daniel
Karslake and his film crew interviewed such notables as former
Democratic House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt -- who is promoting
the film and who has a lesbian daughter -- and Gene Robinson, the first
openly homosexual Episcopal bishop. Not surprisingly, the documentary
throws in a few scenes showing Fred Phelps' infamous church of "God
Hates Fags" fame, picketing.
It has won a handful of awards,
including the Audience Winner for best documentary at the Seattle
International Film Festival, and it has the backing of the homosexual
group Soulforce, which promotes so-called "pro-gay" interpretations of
Scripture and which has posted the trailer on its website. The film is
not being distributed widely, but media critics nonetheless are raving
about it and essentially urging readers to support it. That has become
part of the controversy, too.
The Seattle Times' Moira Macdonald
called it an "inspiring" film about "acceptance" that "may well leave
you blinking away a few tears." The documentary, she said in her Oct.
26 review, shows clergy and religious scholars "calmly rebutting
literalist interpretations of Scripture."
Not to be outdone, The
Tennessean's Bill Friskics-Warren wrote a 1,400-word review of the
movie for page one of the Nov. 18 Issues section, asserting that
"nowhere ... does the Bible say anything, much less condemn, loving and
committed partnerships between same-sex adults." Scholars, he argued,
"tell us that these passages have nothing to do with sexual orientation
as we've come to understand it." Friskics-Warren even listed a few
Bible verses he said are misinterpreted.
"The use of Scripture
to justify discrimination began long before the current dispute about
what the Bible does or doesn't say about homosexuality," he wrote.
Both reviews included information on when and where to watch the film.
The
Tennessean's one-sided review received so much reaction that a week
later it published three columns by Christians from the opposing
viewpoint.
"While there may be a few idiots like Fred Phelps
among us, most Christians oppose homosexuality with a degree of
humility," wrote Kevin Shrum, pastor of Inglewood Baptist Church in
Nashville. "... Someone asked me one time, 'Pastor, what would you do
if you had a homosexual family member?' My answer is that I do. And
when I see her, I hug her, love her, pray for her, talk to her, laugh
with her, listen to her and long to see her 'come out' of a lifestyle
that appears to be miserable, abnormal and destructive."
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