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For The Bible Tells Me So
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List Price: $24.95
Our Price: $19.99
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Manufacturer: First Run Features
Starring: Gene Robinson, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Imogene Robinson, Victor Robinson, Isabella "Boo" McDaniel
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0720229913058
Format: Color
Label: First Run Features
Manufacturer: First Run Features
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: First Run Features
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2008-02-19
Running Time: 99
Studio: First Run Features
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
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Editorial Reviews:
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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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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: FREEDOM TO WORSHIP AND LOVE GOD
Comment: 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!
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Summary: Karslake asks us to discover what we fear, instead of who we hate
Comment: "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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Documentary on the lives of 5 homosexuals
Comment: This is the best documentary I have seen. It helped me understand so much more about homosexuality than I did and was the reason for me to actually change my biblical position on the subject. Along with the DVD I read Gene's book "In the eye of the Storm" which was also brilliant.
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Summary: A Must Have!!!
Comment: This video is a must have for anyone in Seminary or anyone who wants to learn more about their beliefs toward biblical history. I would recommend this video for church libraries, christian schools and church classes that want to focus on an in depth study of the bible and it's meanings about things not talked about from the pulpit.
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Summary: For The Bible Tells Me So/DVD
Comment: It is an excellent documentary. Every GLBT person should have this in their library. Perhaps the one of the most affirming media pieces available today. A must for any parent with a gay child or children.
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