I saw an advanced screening of the hilarious documentary “Lord save us from your followers.” [1]which will be hitting screens this June. The movie is about challenging the left-right spiritual-social stereotypes and about building a conversation between both sides. Our local celebrity Lars Larson is interviewed talking about public distrust of politicians. Also Steve Duin is teamed up with Dave Anderson (Mark and Dave Show KEX) [2] in a comedic “culture war” game show against a team of Oregon Young Republicans.
When asked about his job at the Oregonian, Steve Duin joked “”¦when I am not working at The Oregonian I like to burn American flags and officiate gay weddings.” (paraphrase). The church crowd audience I was in burst into laughter. Turns out that Duin is not just a moonlighting stand-up comic artists, but he and his team of media elites kicked the tar out of the Young Republicans. Behind the game show there an interesting lesson to be learned that caught me off gaurd.
The movie allows many big name religion critics (Bill Mahr, Al Franken) to speak frankly about problems among religious conservatives. It was hard not to disagree with what they said. The movie also showed how many religious conservatives are admitting their mistakes and finding new ways to build relationships with their traditional opponents.
I don’t want to reveal too much about the movie’s secrets, but I will say that the movie has already won praise from both liberal and conservative audiences. For the audience I was in (mostly conservatives) they were both laughing and even weeping at the many truly poignant parts.
Amazingly, in the era of one-sided propaganda documentaries, this film steers right in the middle by giving fair treatment to both sides. It then takes the higher ground by calling people to a high standard of how we talk to each other and makes a moving appeal for people to start the conversation.
If you ever felt frustrated at how America talks about religion — this movie touches every sore spot and then offers a much needed band-aid.
The movie comes out in June. Please do what you can to see it opening weekend and bring a crowd. As an avid documentary watcher (yes I am a nerd) I cannot praise this film enough.