For the Bible Tells Me So - Believing in Love

Daniel Karslake's Documentary of Religion and Homosexuality

Oct 10, 2009

Five typical Christian families are forced to deal with homosexuality and discover how their understanding of the Bible will help them to choose: family or faith?

When traditional Christian families are confronted with homosexuality from amid their ranks, they must decide how they feel about their faith as well as their family members. Daniel Karslake's sensitive documentary allows the story of each family's struggle with their beliefs to unfold in a respectful, natural way. Excellent timing and a panoply of interesting people keep the viewer riveted to the film throughout its hour and a half of viewing time. The fundamental principles upon which some of the families have relied must be reexamined in light of new information, and it puts obstacles in the path to functioning of the profiled families. It also enables the truth to be revealed and allows better relationships to develop between some family members. What is the difference between an embrace or a rejection?

For the Bible Tells Me So Reveals Religious Families with Gay Members

Being a typical family unit in the United States allowed some of our filmed kindred groups to know their place, accept their role in the community, and keep their eyes on God and their local pastor. They knew who they were, what they stood for, what they believed. For some, the church was the center of their universe, the rock upon which their lives were built. Finding out that a family member is gay forced each family to discover what they really believe in light of this new information. Using interviews from famous people such as Anita Bryant, Gene Robinson, and Richard Gephardt, the view of homosexuality is unveiled, one painful relationship at a time. Not only are family members challenged, but each homosexual person is also challenged as to how they will accept and transform their role in their families and communities, and how they will try to find where they belong. For some, it is like being sent adrift, alone in an alien culture.

This film is not an accusation of anyone or anything; it does not attempt to destroy the existing status quo but rather to search for understanding amid the framework in which it has existed. It is an affirmation of the human spirit; it respectfully examines each person, each family, and allows their individual stories to be told in their own way, revealing each unique set of circumstances. It is only within that understanding that we can grow as a nation or as individual families. Richard Gephardt and his family discuss some of their challenges and growth as a family in a very direct and forthright manner. Witnessing the supportive stance of the Gephardts, a very public family, one is left with admiration for their strength and compassion.

Filmmaker Daniel Karslake Looks at Valuing the Individual

Daniel Karslake seems to be asking us to value the individual, no matter what their particular challenge. Old indoctrination and fundamentalism are exposed. Several religious leaders take a look at the meaning of certain biblical passages, including one that discusses homosexuality as "an abomination." But it is revealed that it is also, according to the Bible, an abomination to eat shrimp, or to place two seeds together in one hole. How will the families make sense of the value of their own with such conflicting information? The role of the church in defining the context in which the Bible will be used as framework for helping people is examined. The Bible has been used to disenfranchise women, to excuse slavery, and to reinforce hatred and intolerance, yet it also teaches us to love on another above all else.

This film is captivating and well paced, with stories seen from the intimacy within families as well as from the vantage point of historical events. Karslake has us walking in another's shoes, and allows us to increase respect as well as frustration with some of the situations that we have allowed to transpire because, as a culture, we have not yet reached a place of understanding and acceptance of one another. But after viewing this film, one can imagine it happening very soon. Don't miss it.

The copyright of the article For the Bible Tells Me So - Believing in Love in Socio-Political Documentaries is owned by Barbara DeGrande. Permission to republish For the Bible Tells Me So - Believing in Love in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.