After five minutes, I was ready to leave a showing of Armor of Light because I didn’t think I could spend an hour and a half in Rob Schenck’s company. Some of my friends said they felt the same way. After spending an hour and a half with him, we’re still thinking about and talking about the film.
From IMDb:
The film tracks Reverend Rob Schenck, anti-abortion activist and fixture on the political far right, who breaks with orthodoxy by questioning whether being pro-gun is consistent with being pro-life. Reverend Schenck is shocked and perplexed by the reactions of his long-time friends and colleagues who warn him away from this complex, politically explosive issue. Along the way, Rev. Schenck meets Lucy McBath, the mother of Jordan Davis, an unarmed teenager who was murdered in Florida and whose story has cast a spotlight on “Stand Your Ground” laws. McBath, also a Christian, decides to work with Schenck even though she is pro-choice.
There are so many topics to discuss in connection with this film:
never mind gun control, the social vision of the NRA, and the place of faith in a democracy.
I invite other BMGers who have seen it to chat.
Christopher says
…but from what you describe it sounds like something we need more of in our politics. Deval Patrick often reminded us that we don’t have to agree on everything in order to work together on anything.
peter-dolan says
Not only that, another facet of the story is how his coming to a very different conclusion about gun control affects his relations with those whom he has considered his political allies. There is a scene in which Schenck sits down with three other politically active conservative Christians that has you feeling like you have dropped in on a family dinner where someone has just made a bad choice to discuss politics. You see how his thinking on this issue could lead to an irreparable rift between him and people whom he has considered his allies for many years. Then there is one of my favorite scenes where he challenges another evangelical, I may not have it exactly here, “So you’re saying all you need to be safe is Jesus Christ and a sidearm?”