In 1989, I had a co-worker friend who was very active in the conservative Falls Church Episcopal Church. He had a roommate with ties to "Love and Action" and "giving up the gay lifestyle". I've written about that group before (Oct. 19, 2011). That particular congregation, one of the first in Virginia, got involved in the Anglican Divide.
Monday, May 07, 2012
"Love Free or Die" is a compelling portrait of gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson
On Sunday May 6 the Maryland Film Festival presented the
biography “Love Free or Die: How the Bishop of New Hampshire Is Changing the
World”, the story of Episcopal Bishop Vicki Gene Robinson, who was elected to
the post in New Hampshire in 2003, after a bitter struggle within the Anglican
church about accepting openly gay people into the clergy. The title, of course,
is based on New Hampshire’s libertarian state slogan, “Live free or die”.
The film, directed by Macky Alston, is remarkable in
providing “live” coverage of events spanning so many years. The climax of the film occurs with the 2003
vote in Minneapolis (where I was living when news coverage occurred. The
so-called “Anglican Divide” followed as a result.
Some of the most interesting footage in the film occurs
early with a visit to Canterbury cathedral, which was the end destination of
the famous 1944 film by Powell and Pressburger,
“A Canterbury Tale”. Reviewed here March
15, 2011. The Church is quite deceptive
and evasive about allowing filming. Later, Robinson is shown standing near a
bridge near the church that resembles Washington DC’s Memorial Bridge, followed
by a conclave in which someone becomes disruptive over the gay issue and must
be removed.
The film was shown in the spacious (Maryland Institute
College of Art) MICA Brown Center in Baltimore, and both the director and
Robinson were available for a detailed Q&A.
Robinson said that at the time, the Anglican Church “risked its life”
over the issue. He also said that the US
ought to follow the lead of France, and perform all legally-driven marriage
ceremonies in a civil procedure, and then have a separate consecration in
Church. I asked a question about Edward
Wilson’s book (review May 1) and comments
about eusociality and homosexuality as a form of diversity that promotes
altruism within a group, and Robinson was familiar with Wilson’s
arguments.
In 1989, I had a co-worker friend who was very active in the conservative Falls Church Episcopal Church. He had a roommate with ties to "Love and Action" and "giving up the gay lifestyle". I've written about that group before (Oct. 19, 2011). That particular congregation, one of the first in Virginia, got involved in the Anglican Divide.
In 1989, I had a co-worker friend who was very active in the conservative Falls Church Episcopal Church. He had a roommate with ties to "Love and Action" and "giving up the gay lifestyle". I've written about that group before (Oct. 19, 2011). That particular congregation, one of the first in Virginia, got involved in the Anglican Divide.
The film was produced by ITVS, Reveal Productions and the
Sundance Institute, and for PBS Independent Lens.
The official website for the film is here.
PBS Independent Lens says that the film premiered at
Sundance on Jan. 23.
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