For The Bible Tells Me So
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend 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… Product details and pricing info |
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61 Customer Reviews Posted
- Depending on one's perspective...
- This video makes some very valid and important points which need to be understood, if they can get into the heads of the fundamentalists. My problem is that the audience it seems to be targeting is more the gay person who is struggling to reconcile his faith to his sexuality, and less for the Christian parent or pastor who needs to understand that struggle. I tried to visualize the content as though I were a fundamentalist homophobic, and from that perspective, the video fails miserably. There are scenes which would antagonize and further alienate Christians who might be watching it.
And it starts with that classic pie-in-the-face scene of Anita Bryant. Farbeit from me to align myself with Anita Bryant, but I felt more sympathy for her than I did with the pie thrower, especially as she started to cry while she was praying. And portraying prominent Christian evangelists in an unsophisticated light, and showing gay demonstrations in almost a circus sideshow atmosphere, and gay men kissing at their wedding -- these things won't win any votes either. Those are the very things that the fundamentalists find disgusting, and they won't be able to get past that to the important parts of the message. I just don't think that kind of presentation is going to help, and it would probably make things worse.
Although the movie gave me some good arguing points to remember, and there are some very heartwarming moments as parents share themselves with the audience, there is no way I could show it to our pastor or other already-antagonistic fundamentalists and expect understanding and acceptance. Hell, it makes even me want to reject homosexuality!
When someone makes a video in which the conflict between one's faith and one's sexuality is presented in a respectful manner toward all parties involved -- one that avoids ridiculing or antagonizing its very audience -- then maybe there will be progress in acceptance in the churches. But I don't see that happening with this film. - 2009-01-06, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- It's okay to have a 5th grade understanding of homosexuality, as long as you are in the 5th grade!
- That is my favorite line in this brilliant documentary. Not only do they explore peoples homo-ignorance and homo-prejudice but they show compassionately what people "think" they know and really have no clue as to what the bible really says.
For me, I am glad I am a Jew. Everything was spoken in Hebrew in my synagogue and if they preached homophobia I didn't understand a word they said! - 2008-12-23, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Responded to Questions
- This was an excellent documentary that followed the lives of several families and their transformation and pain with the discrimination against gay and lesbian children and siblings.
- 2008-12-16, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- FREEDOM TO WORSHIP AND LOVE GOD
- For The Bible Tells Me SoAfter living in a hate filled world of "so called Loving Christians".....along comes stories of those who actually have open arms and hearts!...... just as I encounterd the day I opened my heart to accept my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 47 long years ago. Right-wing Christians had pushed me far away from the church and taken my God-given right to worship away.... but here were voices welcoming me home. Honest, frank, well spoken and fact based truths put together in a powerful package. I was moved to tears. If you have been estranged from the church this is a must see. Only God decides!
- 2008-11-29, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Karslake asks us to discover what we fear, instead of who we hate
- "For the Bible Tells Me So" (FBTMS) by director Daniel Karslake is an interesting movie on many levels. Most superficially, it is a documentary illustrating how many religious leaders have held aloft homosexuality as a convenient demon through which to influence their flock. Through candid interviews with several individuals and their parents, the movie follows the personal evolution of families that are coming to gripes with the realization that their child is not straight. More fascinating is that three of these families contain parents and/or children who are practicing pastors or ministers.
Gene Robinson ignited waves of controversy, discussion, and hatred when he was elected as a bishop in the Anglican Church in 2004. The issue was that Bishop Gene Robinson was an openly gay, non-celibate priest. In several interviews with him and his parents, we have a glimpse into the spiritual torture of a man who suffers inner torment as he confronts his failed marriage, his parents, and finally his faith after he accepts who he is. We are able to share in his ultimate vindication towards the end of the film as he is ushered in as bishop, not to cries of rage, but to cheers of joy.
Chrissy Gephardt, daughter of yesteryear's presidential hopeful Richard Gephardt, brings the viewer along during her struggle with sexuality. Chrissy also encounters anguish within a loving, but passionless, marriage. Ultimately, she informs her parents that she is gay--far from rejecting her, they embrace their daughter and offer her a place on the presidential-election campaign staff. In her own words, she felt acceptance beyond anything she had expected during the campaign.
Delving deeper into the movie, the viewer is presented arguments which attack two of the fundamentalist's core messages: that homosexuality is explicitly stated as evil in the Bible, and that the Sodom and Gomorrah stories were primarily about homosexuality and "perversion." Critics attest that the rule found in Leviticus that demands capital punishment for those who are homosexual has to be examined contextually, instead of literally. They go on to argue that many other rules in Leviticus also threaten death for a variety of other rather mundane activities, such as eating shrimp or working on the Sabbath. Biblical scholars from both sides also debate the current belief in academia that Sodom and Gomorrah were actually destroyed over differences in tribal custom--one being the tradition of inviting strangers into the home, of all things.
It is a familiar argument to anyone having difficulties parsing the inherent contradiction in interpreting the Bible literally--you must literally believe everything in the Bible to truly be a literalist. So why, one may ask, is the Bible being waved around as "proof" that homosexuality is evil if it is clear that you cannot base modern behavior on millennia-old dictates? This film suggests that those who use the Bible in this manner are not intellectually honest, or honorable, folk.
FBTMS challenges viewers to answer three questions: why do you believe, what do you believe, and how did you come to your belief regarding homosexuality? Through interviews and personal stories, the story told is that homophobia is exactly that: "the state of fearing that which is homosexual." The filmmakers suggest that this fear is lent religious credence with a few scattered Biblical quotations mixed with earnest sermons from influential ministers. This is a stunning argument when examined--are religious leaders really just wrapping up a primitive fear in the coating of malleable religious dogma?
Other issues explored are the choice/no-choice controversy, "homosexual rehabilitation," and hate crimes. This movie delivers its message in a scholarly, passionate, subtle, and sublime fashion. The message is simple. Love--of parents, of neighbors, of community, and of tolerance--is the answer. Daniel Karslake directs this masterfully, as too-often an "informative" film can quickly deteriorate into preachy, irritating material that is off-message. This documentary is highly recommended to everyone, especially those willing to see a movie that avoids annoying methods of argumentation while still delivering a powerful message of tolerance. - 2008-11-23, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
