The chewy library we call the Bible is close to my heart. (A surprising person in this documentary calls it "the only book I know that I can go back to time and time again and still have it challenge me.")

Homosexuality -- and in a special way the faith-lives of people who are homosexual -- is also close to my heart.

So while I -- a gay Catholic man studying theology -- was anxious to see the this film I was also, well, anxious. I was afraid of cardboard people, puffed-up drama and endless talking heads making sloppy theology. Instead, the documentary honored both of its weighty, controversial subjects. I'm tempted to say that's no small feat, but it's what all the gay Christians I know do every day. The same can be said for the delicate job the film does of cultivating compassion for homophobes, connecting homophobia to misogyny, and holding up just how radical God's call to love really is.

Here's the blurb and a link to the movie's website and list of where it's playing:

Is the chasm separating gays and lesbians and Christianity too wide to cross? Is the Bible an excuse to hate? Director/co-writer Daniel Karslake's provocative and entertaining documentary brilliantly reconciles homosexuality and Biblical scripture, and in the process reveals that Church-sanctioned anti-gay bias is based almost solely upon a significant (and often malicious) misinterpretation of the Bible. Through the experiences of five very normal, very Christian, very American families—including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson—we discover how insightful people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child.

I can't recommend the movie enough -- for gay folks and straight folks, for atheists and agnostics and believers and everybody in between. No movie is perfect -- even if the filmmakers had four hours to work with, there would still be some tough editing decisions to make. But let me know what you think when you see it.