If you’re interested in learning a little more about the Supreme Court ruling I wrote about the other day, check out this post from Benson Hines.
His has a bit more information/explanation, as well as useful links.
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p.s. – has WordPress gone stupid? I can’t seem to resize images in the editor anymore, and all my previous posts with images in them have the pictures at full size now … any other WordPress bloggers know what’s going on? Am I the only one having this problem?
Regular readers may remember this post I made about a court battle whose verdict could have major implications for campus ministry.
A Christian student organization at a local San Francisco law school was barred for refusing to admit non-Christians. This resulted in a lawsuit being filed, and the case has gone all the way to the Supreme Court.
Here’s the story from The Associated Press:
Court splits sharply on campus Christian argument
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court justices seemed to split sharply on whether a law school can legally deny recognition to a Christian student group because it won’t let gays or non-Christians join.
The court heard arguments from the Christian Legal Society, which wants recognition from the Hastings College of the Law. Lower courts threw out a lawsuit trying to force the school to make it a campus organization.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito questioned the school’s lawyer sharply, saying that being forced to admit someone who doesn’t share their beliefs was a threat to the group. But Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor pressed the group’s lawyer on notion that if they can ban gays, other groups can legally ban women and minorities.
The story continues:
Lawyers for the student group say it’s only fair that groups with different viewpoints are treated equitably by university officials.
“In an earlier era, public universities frequently attempted to bar gay rights groups from recognized student organization status on account of their supposed encouragement of what was then illegal behavior,” Michael McConnell, a society lawyer, said in court papers. “The courts made short shrift of those policies.” McConnell argues: “The shoe is now on the other foot in much of academia. The question here is whether such groups as CLS will receive comparable First Amendment protection.”
The California university said it requires all registered student organizations to be nondiscriminatory if they want to operate on campus, regardless of viewpoint.
Groups that support gay rights “cannot exclude students who believe homosexuality is morally wrong any more than CLS is permitted to exclude students who believe it is not,” university lawyer Gregory Garre said in court papers.
Read the full story here.
So what do you think?
Should the officers of the Young Republicans Club be forced to admit registered Democrats to their organization and even allow them to serve as officers? Should the campus NAACP group be forced to admit skinheads? Should the Muslim student organization be forced to accept membership applications from those who hate Islam?
I hope common sense prevails in this case … we’ll see.
If it doesn’t, all student organizations – not just the Christian ones – will be legally vulnerable to abuse.
[NOTE: This review was later published on Youth Worker Journal’s website]
“Why is the gospel of love dividing America?” This poignant question posed by Dan Merchant sets the framework for his latest film, Lord, Save Us From Your Followers.
Merchant, a long time producer and writer whose resume includes stints working for television’s VH1 and CBS, makes his directorial debut with Lord, Save Us, and his is a film you’ll likely remember. After all, who can forget a 6’3 man walking around in a white jump suit covered with Christian merchandise (i.e. “Jesus schwag”) containing sometimes offensive messages? Bumper stickers that say things like, “Get the he** out of my way, I’m late for church” or “Abortion: Big People Killing Little People.” Oh, and did I mention it’s ladled with atheist and agnostic propaganda as well? That’s right, The Jesus Fish is chillin’ right next to The Darwin Fish and The Flying Spaghetti Monster … how’s that for diversity? Merchant believes the two extremes represented by the conflicting messages found on his suit illustrate a great point: both sides have something to say, but neither are having a conversation – they’re simply yelling at one another without listening to the other point of view.
Merchant believes the yelling needs to stop and dialogue needs to start, and starting a conversation between the two extremes is exactly what Lord, Save Us aims to do. The tagline on the official movie poster, “The Conversation Starts Now,” articulates this. With that in mind, it’s safe to say this film accomplishes its purpose – you will feel the urge to converse.
Indeed, the film itself is a collection of conversations. Merchant travels the continent speaking with people from all walks of life. In addition to people on the street taken aback by his odd jumpsuit, Merchant also speaks with celebrities like Al Franken, evangelical leaders like Tony Campolo, plus many other famous talking heads and politicians. Merchant’s adventures take him to places like San Francisco, where he encounters Ron Luce’s brainchild BattleCry – a rally organized by Luce that involves teenage Christians protesting the immorality that permeates contemporary culture. He travels to Portland where, taking a cue from Donald Miller’s popular book Blue Like Jazz, he sets up a confession booth for people to listen to his apology for Christianity’s sins, only he’s not apologizing to reveling college students – he’s apologizing to attendees of Pride Northwest – Portland’s gay pride festival. In addition, Merchant participates in Night Strike – another event in Portland where Christians serve the city’s homeless population in an all night service project. He also makes a trek to an adult film convention to hang out with the guys from xxxchurch.com – a Christian ministry aiming to reach porn stars with the love of Christ – to hurricane ravaged Mississippi to speak with Christian relief workers in the aftermath of Katrina, plus much more.
If that weren’t enough, Merchant organizes a gameshow styled after Family Feud called “Culture War” that pits teams made up of “heathens” that is, non-Christian media personnel labeled “secular progressives” or “agnostic scholars” against teams made up of conservative evangelical Christians labeled “religious conservatives” and “young believers.” In perhaps the most telling portion of the film, cultural questions are posed to both sides with the “heathen” teams winning out overwhelmingly each time. A very insightful moment came when it was noted that non-Christians could easily predict the cultural answers of the Christians, but not vice-versa. Indeed, it appeared the Christians in this game were very much out of touch with contemporary culture, and this led to their having trouble relating to the other side. Also interesting is that, after the gameshow ended, each team retreated to the green room where they hung out conversing with one another for over an hour. Both groups came to realize that, even though they strongly disagreed with the other, they could still have a civil conversation and even enjoy it. One of the Christian participants commented with surprise: “I actually liked talking to them!”
Lord, Save Us is a direct assault against the “us verses them” mentality that’s become characteristic of American Evangelical Christianity. Quotes like “outrage and being more right than them doesn’t remind me of Jesus,” and “fight fire with fire and you get a bigger fire” are prevalent in the film. Merchant’s call to “get out from behind the microphones and megaphones and have civil conversations” with people will no doubt resonate with many church leaders tired of evangelicalism’s bullhorn tactics and mass protests being touted as viable forms of cultural transformation.
Lord, Save Us does, however, have a glaring weakness in this critic’s opinion: for all of Merchant’s talk about “The Gospel of Love,” he never gets around to actually sharing what that gospel is. In fact, if one ignorant of the core doctrines of Christianity were to watch this movie, they would likely walk away thinking the gospel is equivalent to doing nice things for people like donating to charity (since Merchant spends much time highlighting the good works of Rick Warren, U2’s Bono, and several other philanthropists). The wrath of God against sin, justification by faith, substitutionary atonement, the reality of hell – none are touched on or hinted at in this film.
Also, the final line of the movie could leave some believing Merchant is a universalist. Merchant says at the close of the film, “Sometimes I feel like a river trying to make its way back to the sea. And though the journey is long, I know the sea refuses no river because I belong to the sea, and I believe you do too.” It almost sounds like he’s saying, “You’re okay no matter what, you’ll find God no matter what, all religions lead to heaven, blah blah blah truth is relative.” I’m fairly sure Merchant doesn’t believe this, so why he would choose to end his movie with this vague quote is baffling.
Christian theology does teach all people belong to God, and all will eventually make their way back to Him, but Merchant’s final line leaves out a key biblical truth: we’ll initially make our way back to God to be judged by Him. According to Scripture, polluted “rivers” uncleansed by Jesus will be in trouble of eternal proportions.
The strengths of this film do, however, outweigh the weaknesses, and, as mentioned earlier in this review, Merchant’s aim for this movie is to spur on discussion – not to provide an in-depth theological education to viewers (perhaps this is what the ensuing conversations could lead to). This movie will be enjoyed by anyone interested in religious discussion, Christian or not, but will especially be healthy for evangelicals who value argumentation over dialogue.
Lord, Save Us From Your Followers is slated for theatrical release starting February 28, 2010*, and for DVD release on April 20, 2010 (retail $24.99). If you simply can’t stand to wait, church groups willing to pony up $199 can immediately buy a package including the official DVD, site license, small group discussion guide, 250 tickets and bulletin inserts, and four movie posters. For more information, visit the official website at lordsaveusthemovie.com.
My thanks to Seth Simmons for loaning me his screener of this film.
The Overflow 