COLUMBIA — Can the love between two people ever be an abomination? Is the chasm separating gays and lesbians and Christianity too wide to cross? Is the Bible an excuse to hate?
These questions, from the Web site of the award-winning film, “For the Bible Tells Me So,” are the subject of a documentary highlighting five families and their experiences with homosexuality and struggles to reconcile it with the Bible.
The film was shown by Allies in Action, an MU group raising awareness for issues related to sexual identity, at MU on Monday as part of Ally Week. The film, which has been shown at the Sundance Film Festival, was also shown on Sunday in Columbia by Open Door Ministry, a ministry of Missouri United Methodist Church.
MU student D.J. Jordan went to the Monday show with an open mind, he said.
“I wanted to really experience the movie just as a human and not just as a gay person,” Jordan said.
Raw humanity and God’s love were major themes of the film.
Retired minister Dick Blount of the Open Door Ministry said that, unfortunately, members of the Christian faith are some of the main contributors to homophobia in America.
“We want the church to look at itself and see how it can be a ministry of reconciliation. Showing this film was meant not to contribute to more divisiveness but to contribute to healing and understanding,” Blount said.
Lance Pierce, president and founder of Allies in Action, said there is a place in the church for homosexuals. Spokespeople for homosexuality and religious people are both working toward the same goal, which is love, he said.
“Our basic faith is that God is love, and we believe in the commandment to ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ recognizing that every person is a child of worth created by a God of love,” Blount said.
MU student Kourtney Mitchell said viewing the film with others present added to its impact.
“If you watch it by yourself, it’s very easy to exact your own beliefs on it,” Mitchell said. “It’s necessary to watch it in a group because you need your views challenged to really benefit from watching a film like this.”