Written by lainie at 11:08 PM on May 20, 2008.

Hola. How you doing? I've a recommendation for ya. You need to watch this film (available on Bittorrent, or with dodgy subtitles at your local friendly pirates today, arrrr):

For The Bible Tells Me So.

Greatly likeable documentary on how the bible has been used to bash non-hetero forms of sexuality (focus: gay and lesbian), especially based on scripture.

This was primarily a study of:

i) how conservative Christian families deal with religion & queer family members
ii) how scriptures had been quoted out of context to justify the opinion that homosexuality is "unnatural" and an "abomination". Usual suspects include Sodom and Gomorrah, Leviticus.
iii) the effects of this misinterpretation of the bible - on gay people, those who cannot reconcile the teachings on love with the anti-homosexuality stance (say "love the sinner, hate the sin", and I will smack you - I'm not as nice as the director of this film).
iv) what the scriptures actually say when read in context.

This is not: A bashing of gay-bashers. It refutes their gay-bashing arguments (quite well - always helps that rebuttals aren't a part of the documentary). It humanises the reactions.

Interesting: They point out the studies on the scriptures they cite are not apologist readings of the bible, released in the past few years to counter the increasing homophobia by bible-thumpers. These are studies that have existed hundreds of years - especially the one on Sodom and Gomorrah not being about punishing a city of gay people.

Choice: Emphasis is placed on the fact that sexuality is not a lifestyle choice. My take is that people are free to choose, and be, with whoever they want. Whether sexuality is genetic, conditioned or chosen - it is not my place to judge.

Recognisable faces: Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson, who is gay, and his family. Chrissy Gephardt, daughter of Richard Gephardt (former American House Majority Leader). I'm not sure what she actually does, besides be lesbian and a politician's daughter.

Fortunately / Unfortunately / Unintended Consequence: It's a very intelligent, healing look at the issue. Also extremely emotional, and relies on showing strong family ties - will definitely attract accusations of not making arguments so much as resorting to pathos. This is untrue, but some breeds of haters are exceptionally predictable.
 
Me: I am not well-versed on bible stuff - heck, I'm atheist. I don't expect visiting Canadians to have extensive background knowledge of dangdut. I prefer the reading in this documentary's version - which is kinder on the queer community. Merit wise, I'm not the one to qualify it - but as a layperson, it seems plausible enough.

Caution: This is *my* blog. I'm a blur wanker. Watch this film yourself, don't cite me.

Accolades! Awards! Fame!: For the Bible Tells Me So was in the documentary feature Oscar shortlist this year, but did not make the final list of five nominated films. It did however win many other awards, including the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize in 2007.

If you liked this: Scout's Honor is also a documentary on gay issues in America - dealing specifically with the Boy Scouts of America's policy to openly exclude gay members.

Steven Cozza (Scouting for All) of Scout's Honor reminds me of Jake Reitan (Right to Serve) from For the Bible.
Can someone send the Boy Scouts of America a copy of For the Bible Tells Me So, please?

Question: Do any of these people blog?

For the Bible online resources:
You can read the Cinematical review of it here.

View it's official website.

Watch the trailer on Youtube.

This is the kind of film that a queer person would watch and I can imagine them just wishing their family would, too.
Who I think should watch it: Anyone who's under the impression the Bible is against homosexuality. You've heard that side, now hear this one.

This isn't the endall of readings into these scriptures (I doubt there will ever be one), but it's a pretty good start. I'm guessing the average person isn't keen on a 3-year intensive study into the bible, yeah? So as far as documentaries go, this is it. This works better as a dvd to pass along, that it does a 3am conversation on religion.

Personally, I found it a great watch.

By the way, this documentary made me cry like a bitch. Don't press play in front of people you'll like to maintain dignity around.

[ backdated post - just found this ]

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Working in Bernice's place. I slept through three alarms today, I don't know how. I didn't set it super early, but I suppose 9.30am is, for me - I came back from Genting tired, and I've not had an opportunity to rest so far.

Everytime we talk about my being single, I complain that Bernice doesn't introduce me to lesbians, and she wigs out that she doesn't know any except those I already do.