Across America the pandemic and political polarization has further exposed the huge gulf between what conservative Christians profess to believe and the politics they support at the ballot box. In this compelling documentary, Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Jeanine and Catherine Butler take audiences into the buckle of the Bible belt where a group of defiant ministers, congregations, and community leaders challenge deeply rooted fundamentalist Christian doctrine. Rev. Bishop Carlton D. Pearson, featured in the movie Come Sunday, is just one of the many courageous voices we hear from. Other compelling perspectives on the root of the conservative Christian agenda and how it emerged as a divisive force in today’s political landscape come from historical, religious, and constitutional experts, such as Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers, Dr. Bernard Brandon Scott, Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, Rev. Lori Walke, Oklahoma State Representative Collin R. Walke, and Black Wall Street Times Editor Nehemiah D. Frank.
The filmmakers felt compelled to offer this screening for free to a national audience, saying, “In this time of social distancing and increased isolation, the power of negative partisanship is tearing us further apart along the lines of religion, race and culture. So please join us for another way of seeing what ‘The Politics of Loving Thy Neighbor’ looks like.”
Q&A Special Guests—Film Cast
Rev. Bishop Carlton D. Pearson, Affiliate Minister, All Souls Unitarian Church, Tulsa, OK
Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar, Senior Minister, All Souls Unitarian Church, Tulsa, OK
Dr. Robert Jones, Head of the Public Religion Research Institute
Dr. Bernard Brandon Scott, Pauline Scholar, Professor Emeritus Phillips Theological Seminary
Rev. Lori Walke, Assoc. Minister at Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ in Oklahoma City
Rep. Collin R. Walke, Oklahoma Representative District 87, OKC
Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers, Retired Senior Minister at Mayflower Congregational UCC
Nehemiah D. Frank, Founder & Editor of Black Wall Street Times
Linda Hodges is Westar's Communications Director and Assistant to the Executive Director. She has been a Westar associate since 1993 and joins the staff after serving for three years as Westar Board of Director’s Chair of the Marketing and Membership committee. After earning a Master of Theological Studies degree from Pacific School of Religion, she worked at the Rockridge Institute under the direction of Dr. George Lakoff where she coordinated the national online conference, Spiritual Progressives: A Dialogue on Values and Building a Movement. Linda helped helm PSR’s academic journal, “Progressive Christian Witness” and worked with Westar Scholar Sakari Hakkinen as a research assistant on several book projects. She served for 10 years as a Unitarian Universalist Church Administrator.
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