Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1669 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-02-19
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 99 minutes

Amazon.com
For the Bible Tells Me So is a compassionate and insightful documentary about the contemporary face of an old conflict between Christian fundamentalists and gay and lesbian people. The film looks deep into the hearts of several families--a few of them quite famous--that have struggled with making sense of having a homosexual son or daughter in the fold. At the same time, For the Bible Tells Me So is a deconstruction of thin arguments that the Bible actually condemns homosexuality in a few passages and through the story of Sodom and Gomorrah's destruction. A number of clerics and scholars explain the cultural and historical context for Old Testament quotes routinely referenced as arguments against homosexuality, and point out translation confusion about the real meaning of the Sodom story. Unquestionably, the most compelling part of the film is its focus on various families, including that of former U.S. presidential candidate Dick Gephardt, who has a lesbian daughter for whose safety he worries. Also among the interviewees is Gene Robinson, a gay man who became bishop of New Hampshire’s Episcopal church in 2004, and his parents, as well as a gay teen whose folks joined him on the front line in protest of their church’s negative stance on gays. Not every story is affirmative: there are tragedies within these tales, too, as well as an indictment of so-called cures that supposedly banish the gay drive from homosexual men and women. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Disobedience to parents,eating shellfish and sex during menstruation are stoneable offenses,too.GAY? What's the Bible say?
Thank God (literally) for film makers,recently, who have gone out on a limb against the tide of religious fundamentalist non-thinking, and bring sanity,perspective and common sense as well as Biblical understanding to issues that seem to keep plaguing America (and Afghanistan it seems!).I was privileged to catch this at the arthouse in town yesterday, and found myself absorbed in this hour-and-a-half documentary about how five Evangelical families,including Dick Gephardt's,face the issues of homosexuality in their families.Some people may not care about this subject and some may out and out refuse to go, but much like another recent documentary "No End in Sight" which tackled a very sensitive and divisive issue on the Iraq War,now "For the Bible Tells Me So" brings a similar understanding,very fair,balanced,level-headed and fact-wielding that should not be offensive or polarizing, but rather informative,illuminating and ultimately healing.This film is for the thinking and inquisitive and thoughtful film-goer.This film serves as an excellent comparison film to 2006's Oscar-nominated "Jesus Camp" which I tell my story in review.I can only hope that this Film Festival Audience Award winning documentary will hit your town.If not, get the DVD when it is released.

Eye-opening, Amazing, Important
I was blown away when I saw this film. Although I consider myself somewhat enlightened, I really had no idea how to answer the charge that the Bible, and Christianity in general, condemned gay and lesbian people. THIS FILM GIVES ME THE KNOWLEDGE AND THE LANGUAGE to explain to others (like my conservative in-laws!) exactly how the Bible speaks about homosexuality - and, very importantly, how to contextualize those written words for our modern age. More than any other documentary I can think of, including BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE or NO END IN SIGHT, here is a film that truly enlightens (and inspires and even entertains!) the viewer. More than highly recommended...I wish it were required viewing for everyone - and especially for older teens and all churchgoers. A must-see!

Best Documentary I have ever seen!
Absolutely wonderful film. After spending years researching this topic much of information in the film was not new to me. However, this was best discussion on the subject I have come across. The sad truth is, most people just don't want to take the time to wade through information on the subject to intelligently discuss homosexuality as it relates to the bible. This film takes the effort out of researching and provides and excellent background for anyone who has ever wanted to challenge the notion that the bible comdemns homosexuality.