Summary
An informational documentary about groups of Christians in Oklahoma and how their faith has caused them to blaze new trails of political practice.
My Thoughts
I have issues with this kind of film so take my comments with a grain of salt. I like many kinds of movies; Action, Adventure, Drama, Comedy, Art, Spiritual, and Documentary. One kind of film I struggle to love is the documentary which seems largely bent on persuasion on an issue or informational impartation. These Educational Documentaries usually rub me wrong and this one is no exception.
My main reason for disliking them is that I find their value to be limited at best. If you are someone who knows the information within them, they hold almost no value at all. If you are someone who has firmly rooted beliefs one way or the other, you won’t be persuaded by them. Their only values are to those who don’t have strong opinions either way or to those who already agree with the points in the film but need a little preach to the choir pumping up.
I won’t get to into the weeds on what this film is about since telling you almost negates the need to see the film, although I do think there were some revelations even to me (I already know all the historical Christianity in America, the Early Church, and even the modern figures featured in the film) about the history of Oklahoma but that doesn’t come in till the very end of the movie.
These sorts of Liberal Christian Perspective films, movements, sermons, and books are nothing new to an old Christian like me. Please keep in mind that I saw the film and still feel that way. I’m not saying that it was all old news without having seen the film, but I also understand that most Christians have not gone as deep into the history of the Church as I have during my theological and Spiritual journey so maybe it would be more informational for someone who is newer to the faith or never went through an “I want to be a pastor phase” which caused them to study Greek and Hebrew.
For these reasons, though I found myself agreeing with many statements or stories within the film, as a whole, I found it quite unmoving. I can only speculate as to how others will feel about it but I find it hard to imagine that the film would sway anyone who is on the more conservative side, religiously or politically, and anyone on the left, probably already agrees with most everything in it before they even see the film.
My one consolation and hope is that maybe there are some viewers out there who had written of Christianity because all they know of it is Evangelicalism and that seeing this film would open their eyes to the fact that God is bigger than the denomination they grew up in and that there are other communities out there which practice and believe differently than the church they know. Hopefully, they can see past the politicking and see the love of Christ, which I do think is displayed, through the lives of the subjects of this documentary.
Review Written By: