The Questions Most Hate Answering: Filmmaker Dan Merchant Digs Deep into Politics & Religion Writer: Megan Murray
emember that rule about never discussing politics and religion in polite conversation? Apparently no one told Dan Merchant. Merchant is the writer/producer/director, of Lord, Save Us From Your Followers, a film in which he investigates the polarizing social issues that have long kept Christians and society at odds. In the film, Merchant takes to the streets to ask five simple questions about Christianity in an effort to answer the quandary, “Why is the gospel of love dividing America?” Fresh from a recent screening of the film, (the 183rd to be exact) Dan sits down with Risen to talk about bumper stickers, perceptions and the power of asking difficult questions.
Interviewed exclusively for Risen Magazine in San Diego, California
Risen Magazine: What experience or encounter inspired you to make a film like this? Dan Merchant: I traveled to Ethiopia in the spring of 2004 as part of a United Nations trip to see the progress that’s been made since the droughts of 1984.There I met lots of Christians and Muslims and saw them getting along with each other. I met Christians who lived in huts and had to walk miles to get water, [who were] happier than I was. As best I could figure, they were happier because they believed God loved them, which I believed, but it didn’t make me that happy. There was one kid in particular I met and we were talking about our faith and he said something to the effect of, “Even though our skin color is different and we speak in different tongues, we are brothers because we are brothers in Christ,” and I thought, “Oh that’s nice, he must have a different picture of who Jesus is.” My vision of Christ was this blonde, blueeyed Dutchman Jesus. So I asked “Who is Jesus to you?” And he answered, “My father died of AIDS, but not for me, my mother died of AIDS, but not for me, but Jesus Christ – He died for me.” And the thing that’s embarrassing to repeat is that the first thought I had was, “Wow this kid really believes this stuff.” The next thought was, “Wait a second, that’s what I believe – but I want it the way he has it.” I want faith like that. I thought I had it. How is this guy happier than me? I’m in America, I grew up on a cul-de-sac and I met Jesus like 46 times in youth group. I came back that spring and it was the run up to [President George W.] Bush’s re-election. It was a highly debated, us vs. them, red-state vs. blue-state, Christian vs. non-Christian, gay vs. straight – all these divisions… and the questions spurred on by the kid were, “Who are we as Christians in America, and why don’t any of them yelling on TV remind me
of Jesus?” And that was the starting point for asking some of the questions I ask in the movie. Really, the film is a detective story about questions I don’t understand. As it turns out the questions that most people – gay, straight, atheist, Christian – had also been asking. RM: The majority of the movie is made up of interviews. Why is there power in starting a conversation rather than a debate? DM: I address that question with a Phillip Yancy quote in the beginning of the film that says, “Nobody ever converted to Christianity because they lost the argument.” It became very clear that the “us vs. them” is fueled by a great misunderstanding of who the other is. We don’t really know each other. We speak different languages; we come to the table with different assumptions. Really, the goal of the movie is to suggest a third paradigm which is “we.” As a Christian if you read the Bible, inconveniently it is exposed that God created everybody. It’s absolutely biblical. So if I believe the stuff I say I believe, I probably ought to take that seriously. I’ve become pretty comfortable about being right about everything and when you’re right about everything you take this cold comfort in dismissing those who are “wrong.” That’s not how Jesus did it. So if I’m going to follow Jesus, then I have to do a better job. RM: He never said “Clothe yourself in self-righteousness…” DM: [Laughs] That’s right. The Bible says “love one another” and it’s like, “uh oh, that one’s hard. He just set the bar high.” The movie stirs things up with Christians and atheists alike and really brings us together because it puts forward Christ’s idea that love is a different kind of being right; a more complete version of being “right”. Truth doesn’t exist without grace. Truth risenmagazine.com 25