Feb

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Article VI

February 1, 2008 |

Last night I attended a screening of a documentary titled Article VI at the Heritage Foundation.  The documentary was directed by Ryan Hall, a Mormon, and Jack Donaldson, and it explores the intersection of faith and politics in America.  At its heart, it’s a call for religious tolerance, and urges the audience not to apply a religious test to those seeking office.  The directors intersplices images from JFK’s address in Houston - wherein he tries to convince an audience that you can vote for a Catholic - with modern day images of people protesting outside of Mormon get-togethers. 

The film was co-produced by Hugh Hewitt, and the cynical viewer might think that the basic message is “it’s okay to vote for Romney.”  And indeed the focus of the film is anti-Mormon bigotry.  Meanwhile, religious figures such as Richard Land and other conservative Christians are interviewed, and they call for their fellow Christians to put aside religious bigotry and to not vote for or against candidates simply on the basis of the candidate’s religious views.

It’s a very thought-provoking documentary, one that attempts to deal fairly with both sides, although the bias towards tolerance is clear.  The artful use of music seems to indicate who the bad guys and good guys are in this debate.  Interestingly, it basically pits religious conservatives against each other, or at least it tries to engage one segment of religious conservatives.

The basic theme is one with which I agree for the most part.  We have a clear sanction in the Constitution against administering religious tests to hold political office, and we ought not to apply de facto tests ourselves. 

The film is a tad uneven.  Though it explores several topics that in and of themselves could be the subjects of detailed documentaries, the film seems too long.  The last third especially doesn’t seem to fit, as the fimmakers spent a little bit too much time on a musical commemoration of D-Day and FDR’s radio address and public prayer.  Though inspiring, it seemed a bit out of place with the rest of the documentary.  They tend to linger a little too long on other musical montages as well.  On the other hand, there is a fascinating moment towards the end where Hall talks to the anti-Mormon protesters, and actually sits down for lunch and then a communal dinner with them.  He voices over the images of this meeting, and calls for more of this sort of “listening” to the other side and treating them as human beings .  They could have spent a few more minutes on this topic and skipped over some of the other fluffery.

All in all, it is very interesting film that will hopefully spark some discussion, and it did as after the film the directors, Ralph Reed (who is helping to promote the film), Richard Land, and Deal Hudson talked about it and answered some questions from the audience.   There were a few points made by the panel that I thought were spot on, in particular their observation - made by Hudson and Land - that America’s history of religious liberty stems not from the Enlightenment, but from religious belief itself - see especially Roger Williams.

Deal Hudson also addressed the role of reason in faith when questioned by a “secular humanist” member of the audience.  This is a topic near and dear to Pope Benedict, and I think that Hudson did the Pope proud in noting how reason and faith intertwine.  And when another audience member questioned whether it was “right” for someone to vote for or against someone on the basis of faith, Land correctly noted that just because someone has the right to do something, it does not necessarily follow that one ought to do that thing, which is a distinction that I wish was more firmly impressed upon the public.

My final thought on the evening was that it was surreal to see Ralph Reed, Deal Hudson, and Richard Land all talking to a group of conservatives and arguing against religious tests - with the audience largely in agreement with them.  So much for the right seeking to impose theocracy.


Comments

4 Comments so far

  1. admin on February 1, 2008 2:58 pm

    I certainly understand your views, but should the right really look to *impose* anything?

  2. paul zummo on February 1, 2008 3:16 pm

    but should the right really look to *impose* anything?

    Could you clarify this question a bit, because the film is arguing against imposing religious tests.

  3. admin on February 1, 2008 4:00 pm

    On a re-read of your last para….. never mind. :)

  4. Infrascape on June 16, 2009 1:30 am

    Really Useful Blog.

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