Director Daniel Karslake raises awareness, as well as many important questions and answers, in his documentary For the Bible Tells Me So about the ongoing issue of homosexuality and the Biblical weaponry which continues to wage war upon it. I was drawn deeply into this film from the moment it began with footage of the classic pie-in-the-face interview with Christian activist Anita Bryant.

From there, the viewer is taken on a voyage through the lives of five very average Christian-American families into a more clear understanding of how people of faith many times change their world views after being made aware that one of their own children is gay.

It was quite a relief to see such respected figures as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Harvard’s Peter Gomes, Reverend Jimmy Creech and Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg offer insight, clarity and an unexpected healing to anyone caught in the middle of this very real battle between the Bible and homosexuality.

For The Bible Tells Me So reveals the hideous truth that Church-sanctioned anti-gay bias exists almost wholly and solely upon a very unclear misunderstanding and often malicious misinterpretation of the Bible. It notes that almost all Christians of today’s age live their lives without feeling obliged to kill others for not observing the Sabbath, eating shrimp, planting two seeds in one hole, or for co-mingling their crops, as a literal reading of scripture dictates, but many still attack homosexuals based on this same literal reading of the Bible.

The questions are raised:  Where do we draw a line between what we choose to ignore and what we choose to fixate on? When will this selective reading of Scripture stop?

This documentary does for the Bible/homosexual struggle what Bowling for Columbine did for gun control in America, and what An Inconvenient Truth should have done for raising awareness about global warming. Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Seattle International Film Festival, I see this film taking home many more awards throughout the entire festival circuit.

Nashville Film Festival, together with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), will be presenting the Nashville premiere of Karslake’s provocative documentary For The Bible Tells Me So on Monday, Nov. 19, at 6:45 p.m. at the Regal Green Hills Cinema. The one-night-only screening event is open to the public. I urge everyone to check this film out, as it is one of a kind and very revealing about a truth seldom discussed in the Bible Belt.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion and Q&A. Confirmed panelists at press time are as follows:

• Rev. Greg Bullard is Pastor of Covenant of the Cross Church, a congregation formed to become an intentionally multi-cultural, multi-racial affirming congregation. He has served churches in Alabama, Georgia and Memphis before coming to Nashville. He has served in various capacities in the community including with the Tennessee Equality Project, the Memphis Coalition for Diversity, Interfaith Alliance and building bridges between affirming congregations and conservative congregations and individuals within the larger region.
• Sandra Eubanks, a breast cancer survivor and Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation 2007 Mary Catherine Strobel Innovator Volunteer of the Year, has dedicated herself in recent years to changing the lives of the homeless and those in her neighborhood adjacent to the J.C. Napier Homes public housing community with her "summer camp" and "Harvest Outreach" ministries. In the late 1970s, she cared for AIDS patients as a Hospice worker.
• Rabbi Laurie Rice currently serves as a rabbi at Congregation Micah in Brentwood. A graduate of Northwestern University, Rabbi Rice completed her rabbinic training at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Prior to serving Congregation Micah, Rabbi Rice served communities in Seattle, Washington; White Plains, New York and Congregation Kol Ami, a GLBT congregation in West Hollywood, California. As one of two spiritual leaders at Congregation Micah (Rabbi Rice is privileged to work with her husband, Rabbi Philip Rice), Rabbi Rice is part of a team of professional and lay leaders that works to reach out to the diverse Jewish population in Nashville and beyond through outreach programming and inclusive dialogue.
• Rev. Sonnye Dixon is the pastor of Hobson United Methodist Church in East Nashville. He is a recipient of the Human Rights Campaign Equality Award.
• Moderator Chris Sanders is the president and a founding board member of the Tennessee Equality Project. He is the past president of the Nashville GLBT Chamber of Commerce and holds a Masters in Divinity Studies from Vanderbilt University. He is a communicant of Christ Church Cathedral and a frequent speaker in parishes of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee.

Tickets are available in advance only at the Nashville Film Festival Website at www.nashvillefilmfestival.org or on the day of the screening at the Regal Green Hills Box Office. General admission tickets are $10, or $8 for Nashville Film Circle members.

Go ahead, watch this film and learn why a man lying with another man is most definitely NOT an abomination!