Interview with Daniel Karslake, writer/director of "For The Bible Tells Me So"

Exerpt from the interview...

We're very much still in a discussion in this country where both sides are yelling and really not listening to the other side. So one thing that I'm really hoping is that the film can lift the conversation out of that separating point and that people will at least start to hear another way to think about gay and lesbian people in the Bible and walk away thinking, "Okay, I respect what these theologians are saying, I respect what conclusions these very faithful Christian families are reaching and I will just let that lay instead of trying to change them."

What I will say, though, is that a lot of the initial response I've gotten from the film from the people I most made it for, these conservatives who have another view of the Bible, have been very strong and very positive, and more positive than I'd even hoped.

We had our world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January and at Sundance there were groups of students from two very conservative seminaries who came to the same screening. And both groups of kids, or not really kids but in their early 20's, emerged from that screening desperate to have a longer conversation with me about the film and about the issue. They asked me to come to the church — they were sleeping on the floor of a church throughout the festival — and i went to the church the next day and we had an amazing conversation where a lot of them said, you know, we couldn't sleep last night, we couldn't believe there were these stories of good Christian parents who had gay kids, and I've never really been exposed to what gay people are before and I think maybe I've been misled this whole time.

And another woman stood up at one of the screenings and said, "I'm a born again Christian," and I thought, here it comes ... and she said, "I just want to thank you for reminding the world about the real message of Jesus," and she sat down. And I thought, wow — I think this movie actually is resonating more deeply with people than I'd even hoped — especially the people that I want most to see it ... Because all five families are Christian families who are wonderful and to various extents embrace their gay child but also stay in their faith. So I have a lot of hope.