Quote of the Week

"And when we die, and you are sent to heaven for doing your conscience, and I am sent to hell for not doing mine, will you come with me, for fellowship?"

Sir Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons (1966)

Documentary on Haitian-Bahamians Now Available

About a month ago, the documentary Can You See Us? premiered at the Hub here in Nassau. Produced by the Bahamas Human Rights Network, this film seeks to show the problems faced by Bahamian-born persons of Haitian descent living in the shantytowns known as the Mud and the Pea on the fringes of Marsh Harbour, Abaco.

Clint Kemp, the BHRN member who headed up the project, has explained that the purpose of the film is not to be politically accurate (and viewers knowledgeable about the Haitian situation in the Bahamas will readily identify a number of glaring factual errors) but, rather, to give an artistic portrayal of the lives and challenges faced by a growing population of persons who are functionally stateless. The situation in Abaco--as portrayed in the documentary--is similar to that faced by children of Haitian migrants throughout the Bahamian archipelago and, to a lesser extent, children of immigrants from other countries as well. In short, this film is a good starting point for discussion about the nature of immigration and related human rights issues in the Bahamas and should be seen by all who wish to engage these issues constructively.

For those who wish to see the film now, I am pleased to announce that it is now available on YouTube and, for the convenience of my readers, I have embedded it below. (Thanks to Nicolette Bethel for bringing this to my attention!) For those who are interested in showing this film to their youth group, church, or other organization, I would encourage you to contact the Bahamas Human Rights Network to set something up.

Part I

Part II

Part III

Learning from the Lives of Haitian Women

Here's the scoop on a new movie that has just been released:

Poto Mitan is a story of struggle, courage, resistance, and democracy. Through powerful, compelling stories/lives of five courageous Haitian women, Poto Mitan will inspire and educate solidarity, global justice, and women's activists around the world and challenge them to think critically about their own work. Each woman's life history will shed light on a particular aspect of the countrys current crisis, weaving Haitis story within her own, something that is often missed by the mainstream and even alternative media.

The image of Haiti that comes out of both mainstream and alternative media is almost entirely negative: a seemingly endless stream of dire poverty, protracted violence, and extreme fallout from natural disasters. While it is true that Haiti is a society that is poor and divided, there are important structural causes of this poverty and division. Poto Mitan gives viewers not familiar with Haiti a humanizing historical context and lived understanding of the people who are confronting these structural imbalances.

Poto Mitan contributes the much needed understanding of the world economy. Our approach is to depict how inequalities based on social and national differences and gender roles intersect and are experienced on the ground. By sharing the lives - living and working conditions, life histories, and activism - of five everyday Haitians, we give the world economy a human face. Most people do not think about where their clothing is made, and how the people who make it live and work. An early site for export-processing zones, often called maquiladoras, Haiti is a good place to examine this global phenomenon, highlighting fluctuations within the export-oriented textile industry.

Poto Mitan is a tool to inspire, educate, and empower solidarity activists. By seeing the daily struggles of local women workers, seeing that they are not merely victims but organized activists, this film will inspire people in the North to get involved.

Read more about the women featured in Poto Mitan here or view the fifteen-minute trailer here. Unfortunately, the film is not yet available for purchase, but you can check here to see if a screening is being held in your area.

Not Showing in a Theater Near You: Why Amazing Grace hasn't come to the Caribbean

Thanks to the persistant detective work of Nicolette Bethel, we finally have an answer as to why Galleria Cinemas is NOT showing Amazing Grace in the Bahamas, at least not for now. Apparently, the movie is in limited release--having opened in the U.S. on February 23rd and, now, slated to begin showing today, March 23rd, in the U.K. and Ireland. In the meantime, Galleria Cinemas' distributor has agreed to let them know when, or if, the film is available to be shown locally.

The irony here is that even though the people of the Bahamas, along with their Caribbean neighbors, are the primary beneficiaries of the abolition of the slave trade, they will not have the opportunity to see the film in conjuction with this weekend's bicentennial observances. Bethel elaborates on this irony:

If the film is not intended to be released in the Caribbean at the time of the Bicentenary of the Abolition, then that is a significant lapse of judgement of the filmmakers and the studio. There is really very little to be gained, either for history or for Christianity itself, to show the film in the homes of the people who perpetrated the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, and not to do so in the homes of the societies that were created by that very trade.

Something is askew.

Yes, something is indeed askew! But given the nature of the pre-film publicity, we should not really be surprised. Nearly a month ago, I observed that:

In the United States and Great Britain, for example, many well-meaning Christians are using the bicentennial of abolition [and the publicity surrounding the release of the film Amazing Grace] to raise awareness of and generate support for campaigns against modern day forms of slavery such as child labor, prostitution, and human trafficking. While I applaud these important efforts, I am concerned that they have largely obscured the legacy of slavery that still persists for Bahamian and Caribbean descendants of the liberated Africans and slaves who originally benefited from abolition.

While I don't believe that any of these oversights are intentional, let alone sinister, I do believe they tell us a lot about the worldview of the of the folks who are distributing and promoting the film. Basically, theirs is a worldview that--consciously or subconsciously--assumes that the evils of slavery came to and end with the abolition of the slave trade and, subsequently, emancipation. It is also a worldview that recognizes that slavery--understood as physical bondage--continues to exist in the world today and, more importantly, it is a worldview rooted in a moral passion to fight this injustice. Hence, they have siezed upon an inspirational event in history and held it up as a model to emulate as they seek to abolish modern day forms of slavery.

For the most part, this is a good thing. The problem, however, is that such a worldview ignores the fact that while abolition and emancipation brought an end to the physical bondage of Caribbean slavery, they did not come anywhere close to bringing an end to the economic systems that allowed and continue to allow one group of people to unfairly benefit from the labor of another (for more on this topic see my post on the legacy of the Atlantic slave trade). More critically, this worldview fails to acknowledge that the Caribbean descendents of liberated Africans and slaves are still struggling today with injustices perpetuated by the descendents of former slave traders and slave owners.

One reason for this, perhaps, is that it is easier to fight against injustices, such as human trafficking or prostitution, in which one is not directly involved. But for those of us--like myself--who are the descendents of countries who profited from the slave trade, it is much more difficult to join Caribbean peoples in their modern day struggle for full emancipation because to do so is to admit that we are still beneficiaries of the modern day economic systems which keep them enslaved.

Even two-hundred years after the fact, there a great need for reconciliation between the countries who benefited from the slave trade and those that were created by the slave trade. The failure of Amazing Grace's promoters to include the Caribbean in their efforts is not the problem so much as a symptom of something much more serious, our failure to recognize that while abolition and emancipation were important steps in the right direction toward mutual reconciliation, they were just the beginning of the journey, not the end.

Planning to show Amazing Grace?

It appears that the National Cultural Development Commission has sent an inquiry to the management of Galleria Cinemas regarding their plans (or lack thereof) to show Amazing Grace in the Bahamas.

Read a copy of their letter here.

The Sin of Omission: Reflections on Censorship and Christian Values

Like Nicolette Bethel over at Blogworld, I am disappointed that the film Amazing Grace is not being shown in the Bahamas. Bethel offers a number of possible reasons as to why it has not shown, including Galleria Cinemas' monopoly over the local commercial theaters or the possibility that the Bahamas Plays and Films Control Board has decided to prohibit the screening of the film. [UPDATE: Bethel has just updated her blog to indicate that Amazing Grace was released only in the U.S. on Feb 23rd, not worldwide as she had originally stated. The film is slated for release in the UK on Mar 23rd, leaving open the possibility that it may still come to the Bahamas. That being said, I believe the major thrust of my argument below is still valid.]

Bethel along with other Bahamian scholars and journalists (see here, here, here, here, and here) have publicly questioned the seemingly inconsistent criteria that the Bahamas Plays and Films Control Board has utilized to determine which films can and cannot be shown in the Bahamas. Likewise, they have expressed concerns about the undue influence of the Bahamas Christian Council and other clergy on the outcome of the Board's decisions. For the most part, I am in agreement with their conclusions.

But for the sake of argument, let’s assume that it is good public policy to regulate what types of films the public should see and, further, that such regulation should be done on the basis of Christian values (keeping in mind that the precise definition of "Christian values" is a hotly debated issue itself). This, of course, is a position that many--but not all--religious Bahamians would strongly agree with. By taking such a position, we would not be surprised to see strong opposition to films that present morally controversial or theologically heretical (not to mention historically inaccurate) content as was the case in last year's debate over whether or not Brokeback Mountain and the Da Vinci Code should be allowed to show. (Interestingly, the former was banned while the latter--which was considered by many to be a deliberate and scathing attack against Christianity--was permitted to screen). Conversely, we would expect to see strong public support for films that powerfully communicate Christian values and heritage.

But in practice, this rarely happens. Opposition to films that do not measure up to Christian values tends to be selective and we can all readily identify numerous films, apart from the Da Vinci Code, that have been shown despite their dismal failure to meet this one simple criterion. On the other hand, high-profile vocal support for explicitly Christian movies--not to mention secular movies that are consistent with Christian values--has been deafeningly silent. It is this latter point--the lack of support for good Christian movies--that I wish to elaborate on here. Consider, for example, the following five films that—to the best of my knowledge—have never been screened in a Bahamian theater and, most likely, remain unknown to the vast majority of pundits who have eagerly sought to ban other movies deemed to be of "no value to the Bahamian public."

Beyond the Gates of Splendor (2002) – This documentary narrates one of the most compelling missionary stories of the twentieth century, showing how five young American missionaries (Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and Ed McCully) were speared to death in 1956 while trying to evangelize the Waodani tribe in the Amazon basin of Ecuador. But the story doesn’t end there. A few years later, Elisabeth Elliot, the wife of one of the men, and Rachel Saint, the sister of another, went to live with the Waodani and successfully evangelized their tribe. Decades later, Steve Saint, the son of one of the slain missionaries was reconciled with the Waodani man who killed his father and, as a result, moved his family to Ecuador to live with the Waodani and continue the ministry started by his aunt Rachel.

Mart Green, the producer of Beyond the Gates, also made a feature film version of the same story, which was released as End of the Spear (2006). The film is not overtly evangelistic but instead strongly emphasizes the themes of truth, love, and forgiveness. Christianity Today reports that the cinematography was even of sufficiently high quality to receive “measured praise from the mainstream press,” which is rare for a Christian film. Both of these films won awards at the Heartland Film Festival and Beyond the Gates also won an award at the Palm Beach International Film Festival (see here and here). Naturally, one would expect that both of these films should be of great interest in a country that is making increasingly significant contributions to the global church.

Luther (2003) – This film explores the life of Martin Luther, the sixteenth century priest who spearheaded the Protestant Reformation. Luther’s legacy is not just limited to the history of the western church. His life and work significantly impacted other areas of European thought, politics, economics, and society, making him a major figure in the history of western civilization, apart from his contributions to the development of Christianity. Even though the Bahamas touts its identity as a Christian nation and, in fact, is predominantly Protestant, I am routinely surprised by the disproportionately large number of students in my church history classes who—when we get to our unit on the Reformation—get confused because they think that I’m talking about Martin Luther King, Jr. instead of Martin Luther. This highly acclaimed award-winning film, of course, does an outstanding job of bringing this important history to a more general audience.

The Second Chance (2006) – Unlike the above movies, which are all based on actual historical events, this award-winning film is purely fictitious. It is about two American pastors—one from a white middle-class suburban mega-church and the other from a poor multi-ethnic inner city congregation—and the conflicts that result when they are forced to work together. It’s a film that demonstrates how Christianity—at its best—is about overcoming our prejudices of race and class and breaking down the barriers between the streets and our sanctuaries. While the film strongly challenges Christians to recommit themselves to these goals, it refuses to downplay the difficulties that one will face when trying to live up to such a vision. Given the growing disconnect between church and society, this is a message that we all need to hear.

Amazing Grace (2006) – Currently playing in theaters around the world, this film shows how William Wilberforce, a member of the British parliament, and John Newton, a former slave trader turned Anglican clergyman, and others teamed up to bring about the end of the Atlantic slave trade in the British empire (1807) and, eventually, slavery itself (1834). Given that this year is the observance of the bicentennial of the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade and that the Bahamas was one of the primary beneficiaries of this legislation, this seems like an especially timely film as we seek to reflect on what this legacy means for us today.

I have shown (or intend to show) all of the above films in the theology classes that I teach at Atlantic College. And with the exception of Amazing Grace (which, for obvious reasons, I have yet to see), I can personally vouch that these are all films that embody important Christian values and/or document important events in our Christian heritage. Undoubtedly, the astute reader will readily identify additional films that achieve these objectives as well but—for reasons unbeknownst to us—have never been screened in the Bahamas.

If our genuine desire is to promote Christian values and heritage, then perhaps we need to consider how we might go about that task in a more productive way. Instead of seeking to ban movies that are inconsistent with Christian values, perhaps our time and energy would be better spent advocating for films that do reflect our values. In other words, perhaps the Gospel message is best served by clearly articulating the positive things that Christianity is about rather than defining ourselves by the negative things that we are not.