The synopsis on the distributor's web site states: "Fifteen years in the making,this epic documentary stands unquestionably as the definitive work on the ever-dividing issue of abortion. Filmed entirely in black and white, director Tony Kaye's Lake of Fire probes into the complexities of abortion proving both sides of the issue have equal historical and moral credibility. It is measured, intelligent, and suitably objective, regardless of one's own position." While one can always take a distributor's blurb with a grain of salt, in fact, reviewers so far tend to agree with this assessment. It is important not to lose sight of the signficance of this and how, along with the recent court decision, it may contribute to an already altered political landscape. The Supreme Court handed the religious right a signficant victory, and early indications are, we will will see a lot of fresh energy and new legislative and legal initiatives. Meanwhile, for a film to have impact, of course people have to see it; it has to be discussed in homes and bars and in the media. But will it? This is a topic that makes people uncomfortable, for many reasons, and many people avoid conversations about it, because the conversations about abortion tend to be tendentious. This is especially tricky territory for a lot of pols, who know they can't please everyone. Abortion opens up questions of the meaning of life and death; of who gets to decide and under what circumstances -- things people, of course, feel strongly about -- and obviously much, much more. And yet, the interest groups involved in the issue, tend to be politically potent and have strong views that pols oppose at their peril. There are many who wish the issue would go away, but the simple fact is, that it is not going to go away. One of the reasons for this is that the religous right will never let it go away. Thus the political reality at the moment is that the court ruling gives the religious right a political boost at a time when it has been regrouping in the wake of the 2006 elections, and they intend to take every advantage.
Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) told the Associated Press: ``We've been losing fight after fight after fight,'' she said, adding that people have become complacent about protecting abortion rights because they have existed for more than a generation.
The AP also reported: ``We have a court now that has correctly yielded to the Congress and the legislative branch,'' said Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council. ``This will bolster state legislators who are reflecting the views of their constituents on abortion.'' The news so far makes clear that the religious right will use the opening provided by the ruling to push the envelope. Of course, this has already been happening, as Moiv has reported here at Talk to Action, many times. I think that Senator Feinstein hits the nail on the head. While the religious right has been active in undermining abortion rights, too many of those who support abortion rights have taken abortion rights for granted. This taking the right for granted, seems to me to have two main foundations. One is the belief that Roe will not be overturned no matter what; and the other is the belief that religious right cannot gain sufficient political power to signficantly curtail abortion rights, or anything else that matters. While I have no panacea to offer in light of these observations, I think that at the very least it is important to be able to say that one does not have to believe that the court will ultimately overturn Roe to recognize that the many issues around abortion will continue to keep the matter alive; deeply contentious; and far from settled for a long time to come. Therefore, one of the challenges of our time is going to be to get a lot better at doing the politics of abortion and stop the foolish game of avoidance. And this brings me back around to Lake of Fire. I believe that this film is going to affect the national discourse in unpredictable ways. I have not yet seen it, but I have read quite a bit about it, and play a role in it. The film opens up the matter of antiabortion violence in a way that has at least one antiabortion leader worried; and it is the first film to show an actual surgical abortion. The film is said not to be intentionally grotesque or sensational, but unflinching in its approach. That such a film may receive a wide audience, is something to take into serious consideration; and those who understand what the impact of a major film can be, should go out of their way to see the film, and consider what it may mean as the audience widens and it begins to inform the national conversation. That it may do so in the context of a reenergized antiabortion movement, and as the primary season gets fully underway, means that the way abortion politics is done may be about to change dramatically. Lake of Fire has, to my knowledge, been screened so far at festivals in Tornonto, Santa Barbara, Philadephia, New York City, and Durham, North Carlolina. The Nahsville Film Festival is screening Lake of Fire Monday, April 23rd; Berkshire International Film Festival in May. Nashville Scene blurbs the film this way in its advance coverage of the Nashville Film Festival: LAKE OF FIRE (6:45 p.m.) Beautifully (and ironically) shot in black-and-white over 17 years by director Tony Kaye, best known for the Edward Norton neo-Nazi drama American History X, this staggering documentary about the abortion debate leaves no position unchallenged-yet both sides may likely feel that it proves their point. Kaye talks without judgment to pro-choice and anti-abortion zealots, incorporates a spectrum of voices from Noam Chomsky to Nat Hentoff to pro-life activist Randall Terry, follows a clearly conflicted woman to her appointment at a clinic, and gives equal consideration to murdered clinic workers and the clearly human remains of aborted fetuses. The result is not a tendentious screed but an engrossing and extraordinarily rich examination of moral impasse. It forces both sides to grapple with the real issue: the sanctity of life. Kaye will attend. Update [2007-4-22 4:13:35 by Frederick Clarkson]: Here is The Boston Globe's mini-review from the Sundance Film Festival: "Lake of Fire" Tony Kaye's epic documentary on the abortion wars stunned Sundance audiences. Kaye includes voices of reason and fanaticism on both sides, and if the ravings of the religious right are hard to stomach, so is the graphic footage of abortion procedures. Which is precisely the point: "Lake" wants to break through decades of encrusted rhetoric to make us think again. With one slow reveal of Norma McCorvey , a.k.a. "Jane Roe ," the movie upends all you assumed about this subject. -- T.B
Lake of Fire, Burning -- Updated | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden)
Lake of Fire, Burning -- Updated | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden)
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Left Behind: Eternal Forces: Installments of Jonathan Hutson's Talk To Action expose series
on the "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game have been viewed by up to 1/2 million people. See our site section featuring Over 35 original articles covering the controversial "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game that has provoked a boycott by a coalition of religious groups and a letter writing campaign urging Walmart to stop selling the game. Media inquiries click here(image: detail from Francoise Dubois' rendition of the Bartholomew's Day Massacre reveals the actual nature of religious warfare)
Palin: "A Natural Choice" for Catholics?
The Catholic Right, Part Sixty-eight Is Governor Sarah Palin really "a natural choice" for Catholics as Fidelis's Brian Burch suggests? The answer is obviously,...... By Frank Cocozzelli (4 comments)
Major Christian Organization Endorses the Military Religious Freedom Foundation
With all the attention being given to the radical fundamentalist brand of Christianity espoused by churches like that of Sarah Palin -- a brand...... By Chris Rodda (0 comments)
Palin's Church Promotes Gay Conversion
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Palin's Pastor: God "Is Gonna Strike Out His Hand Against... America
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Sarah Palin and the Servant Heart
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Short Takes: Sarah Palin Edition
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Palin's Churches and the Third Wave
Part Two This posting documents the extensive involvement of several of Sarah Palin's churches in the Third Wave Movement, also known as the New...... By Ruth (3 comments)
Palin's Churches and the Third Wave
Part One History and Theology of the Third Wave Sarah Palin has refused to acknowledge belonging to any specific denomination or any particular religious...... By Ruth (6 comments)
What is Dominionism? Palin, the Christian Right, & Theocracy
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EVENT CANCELLED Speaking in Philadelphia on September 27th
Update [2008-9-5 12:26:36 by Frederick Clarkson]: Buzzflash has announced that the event has been cancelled, but that the themes will continue to be pursued...... By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)
Sarah Palin's Theocratic End Times - UPDATED
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Dobson and the Religious Right Rally for McCain/Palin
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At Palin Church, Jews For Jesus Head Says Terrorism vs Israel Is God's Punishment
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Theocrats to Pray for McCain's Death
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Rest Assured New Orleans, I'm Sure Lt. Gen. Van Antwerp is Praying for You
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Future links to upcoming documentaries on Palin's Churches
Will live here, at this URL address. ...... By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
Sarah Palin used AK tax dollars to fund dominionist churches
Over the past few days, I've done reporting on Sarah Palin's extensive dominionist connections--including the attempt to run her as a "stealth" dominionist candidate and her connections to some scary dominionist groups including not...... By dogemperor (1 comment)
Palin Steals Hockey Mom Joke from John Hagee?
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The Irony of Sarah Palin's "Choice"
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New revelations re "stealth dominionist" Sarah Palin
A few days ago, I wrote one of the first articles out there regarding Sarah Palin's VP nomination as a "stealth dominionist"--a "stealther" with extensive Assemblies connections (and to particularly scary segments of the...... By dogemperor (0 comments)
Sarah Palin: Dominionist Stalking Horse
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Richard Land Picks Republican Veep Candidate
Yesterday the media was all atwitter about Karl Rove's supposed Republican V.P. pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. However, it seems that instead SBC President Richard Land, well known among readers of Talk2Action for his...... By ulyankee (1 comment)
"Yes on 8" RSVP? Need your advice.
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Alabama PSC Cantidate Matt Chancey: His Views on Suffrage, Women, Marriage, etc.
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Jews and Christians Unite against the Empire of Neo-cons and 'Christian' Zionists
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Patriot Follows the Money and Exposes Foreign Agents
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The Alleged "Church of Liberalism"
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Hope Never Dies for Extremists
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Catholic religious right wing: Legion of Christ
Frank L. Cocozzelli's weekly series of posts on "The Catholic Right" (listed here) includes quite a few posts about Opus Dei. There's another, similarly ultra-orthodox Catholic religious order he might want to examine in...... By Diane Vera (3 comments)
Prosyletization in Iraq: A threat to national security
As amazing as it sounds, dominionists may in fact be fomenting terrorism--not just the domestic terrorism like bombings of women's clinics we normally associate, but the very "Islamist terror bombings" that the GOP loves...... By dogemperor (0 comments)
Proselytization in Iraq: A minor history
The recent incident where a Marine was recently found distributing "Bible coins" promoted by a fundamentalist "Bible church" is, sad to say, far from the first incident of overt prosyletisation in Iraq. The truth...... By dogemperor (1 comment)
Source of "Bible coins" distributed by USMC in Iraq discovered
In what is--sadly--yet another case of the extent of which blatant prosyletisation is tolerated in the modern US military, a recent incident where members of the US Marine Corps were handing out coins to...... By dogemperor (0 comments)
What Does the Religious Right Fear the Most?
A poll that one of the giants on the right, Coral Ridge Ministries, sent to their members gives a revealing insight into their world view. ...... By John McKay (3 comments)
UK Abortion Limit Stays at 24 Weeks Despite Washington Think Tank's Tactics
IN GOD'S NAME is a revealing documentary about how the Alliance Defense Fund is using its tactics to try to restrict abortion in Europe as well as in America. Watch this trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeTfW8-dCNE ...... By TMurray (3 comments)
'Christians United For Israel' Joyfully Sing of Israel's Invasion and Destruction
An open letter, from Ray McGovern, a 27-year intelligence analyst with the CIA, to Admiral William J. Fallon, warns of an impending US attack on Iran. If such an event occurred, the resulting war...... By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
The Petrification of John McCain
We are very pleased to welcome Frederick Lane as a guest front pager. He is the author of several books,most recently, The Court and the Cross: The Religious Right's Crusade to Reshape the Supreme...... By Frederick_Lane (3 comments)
More Biblical Precedent for Allowing Abortion
This is a follow up to my most recent diary entry. ...... By TMurray (3 comments)
John Hagee Says God Made AIDS and Bird Flu But Lord will Protect Him Personally
John Hagee claims 1) that he knows with absolute certainty the will of God (as he told a BBC interviewer in 2003), is 2) sure that he, John Hagee, has a place in heaven...... By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
Biblical support for abortion, who knew?
It turns out that our present legal understanding of when a life is entitled to legal protection is consistent with the Old Testament Biblical understanding of when a fetus becomes a 'life' warranting legal...... By TMurray (2 comments)
2001 John Hagee Film Shows Gangsterish Rabbi, Foppish Catholic Priest In League With anti-Christ
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PBS "Carrier": A Mixed Blessing
Watching the PBS miniseries "Carrier" was a revelation, but not always a pleasant one... ...... By bughouse square (0 comments)
Will We Ever Learn?
Ever looked at something or did something which at the time seemed good and beneficial only to learn that it was not what you thought? If we could all have the opportunity to live...... By truthngrace (0 comments)
McCain-Endorser's Church Casts Out "Demon of Anal Fissures", Teaches Vomiting Evil Spirits
[NOTE: for a related story, see Mai Tai Dogs: Pics Show Bush Administration, McCain-Endorser Hagee Schmoozing at Chinese Restaurant] I have to admit, on one level it sounds more entertaining than a church full...... By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
Bush 41 salutes Sun Myung Moon's effort to subdue the planet.
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Advancing The Kingdom
Over the past four years, I've researched the darkest regions of the Christian right for the non-fiction film Silhouette City. The film tracks the movement of apocalyptic Christian nationalism from the margins of American...... By MichaelWWilson (2 comments) More Diaries... |
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