For the Bible tells me so is a wonderful documentary. It has won several awards, such as, the HBO Audience Award at the Provincetown Film Festival and the Audience Award for best documentary at the Seattle International Film Festival. I personally wanted to see the film because I am heavy on religion and have had some drawbacks because of my sexuality. This film gradually addressed all my concerns and none of my drawbacks plague me any longer.
For the Bible tells me so starts off with singer Anita Bryant giving a televised speech against homosexuality. She is then struck in the face with a pie by an activist. The audience cheered. I guess there is something grand about seeing an oppressor get what they deserve. There was quite an expressive audience at the screening I went to. They cheered often when revelations about homosexuality were given. I also cheered inside.
I have been a Southern Baptist since I was eight years old. I remember that I always wanted to go to church. I loved God and I knew he loved me so there was nothing else I wanted to do more than to honor and please him. As I grew older I started to have feelings for guys. These feelings conflicted with the teachings of my church and that put me on a spiral. As I grew older I knew that I was bisexual and I started to fear that I was no longer going to enter the kingdom of heaven. I cried and prayed many times with hopes that a revelation would come to me. I convinced myself that I am how God made me although I still harbored hatred for myself and a lot of doubt about my beliefs due to the teachings of my church.
I didn’t know how to effectively interpret the Bible. I took what was taught to me as fact. After watching For the Bible tells me so I have come to realize that what I was being taught was another person’s interpretation of the Bible. There were a lot of well established experts giving insight on the Bible and its teachings on homosexuality. One expert was Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Archbishop Tutu is known for his wisdom and his acceptance of homosexuality. There were other members of the clergy from various denominations including Judaism and various Christian denominations. They collectively believe that homosexuality doesn’t go against God.
Most of us know the passages in the Bible that are used to oppress homosexuals. The religious leaders in the film debunk the mainstream views of these passages. They use sound reasoning and logic to define what the passages are really saying. There is always more than one side to a story and this film features experts that show you other sides to the stories that we hear and read.
This film has a wealth of information and I learned a lot from it. It has helped me come to terms with my orientation and my religion. Another great aspect of this film is that it delves into the lives of religious families that changed their views on homosexuality because of a gay family member.
Dick Gephardt, senior council for the law firm DLA Piper, best known as the former house majority leader and presidential candidate is featured in the film. His daughter Chrissy is a lesbian and the film talks about her coming out and how her father was accepting of it. The film does a great job of showing the ins and outs of coming out to a religious family. Not only are the Gephardt’s religious, Dick is known for his strong family values.
I recommend this film for those that are conflicted with their sexuality and their religion. I would go on to recommend it to those that are just conflicted and are looking for direction. This film does a great job of presenting a case for religious acceptance of homosexuality.
