God On My Side

Synopsis: Andrew Denton travels to the Gaylord Convention Centre in Dallas, Texas for the 63rd National Religious Broadcasters convention. He then does what he does, which is ask people questions and listen to their answers.

In Christ the Centre, Dietrich Bonhoeffer observed that the great problem of approaching God through theology, or any putative science of religion, was that unless you already believed in Him, no amount of study would ever allow anything to make any sense. Science works by testing and analysing, then reaching answers. Theology works by knowing the answer, and working out from that point. The same problem afflicts pretty much all documentaries about religion of any stripe; unless you already believe, most of it will be nonsense. God On My Side manages to sidestep (in part) this problem by not really attempting an investigation. Instead, we are fellow travellers with Andrew Denton as he walks the floors of the National Religious Broadcasters convention, talking to people and listening to their stories. Anyone who has ever seen his television interview series, Enough Rope, knows what to expect. (The documentary was originally intended as an episode of the program, but given the wealth of material it was decided the feature-length documentary format suited it better.)

We meet a range of folk from the extremes of the Christian faith including a guy who believes the Holy Spirit can be seen in little speckles on your skin (though Denton contends that it might just be sweat) and a young screenwriter who wants to emulate Jesus and run amok through the convention overturning tables proclaiming that they're all missing the point (he doesn't). Then there are three brothers with the most extraordinary hair and a remarkable story explaining why they do what they do. Throw in a puppet who thinks that George W. Bush was divinely appointed to lead America and you've got an interesting mix of stories. Denton never really contests them, he just prods gently to get their stories. And the stories are fascinating, and sometimes disturbing. The marketing of a video series proclaiming how we are certainly the last generation to live before God's return is just plain creepy. And marketing is what this convention is all about. God is big business. You can buy a Bible where all the personal pronouns are replaced with with your name. No more "Blessed art thou", more "Blessed art Andrew". Cute, but wasn't there something in there about not changing a word lest God strike you down? Then there's the strange sculpture of Jesus riding a horse and seeming more soldier than saviour. It's weird and strange, but the film never condemns these people, it simply highlights the oddities of the event. And it's not a hatchet job; there are a number of sane and moderate people demonstrating the broad range of attitudes that fall under the umbrella of the Christian faith.

For all the craziness of the event, there is no questioning the genuineness of the people or their goodwill. Denton's unobtrusive, gentle style works almost entirely throughout. He only comes unstuck near the end when he asks the one question you'll never get a satisfactory answer to. "Why this? What makes you right?" As Bonhoeffer observed, either you believe or you don't. No answer is ever going to satisfy any other way, and standing on the outside looking in, you can only watch in befuddlement. The answer would be the same in any religion, and as the peak of an investigative technique in the film, it's pretty poor. The SBS series John Safran vs God was a far more intelligent and interesting exploration of issues of faith in the modern world, but that's like comparing Hunter S. Thompson and Michael Parkinson. Gonzo journalism is probably the only way to report on religion, because it's experiential, not objective. As it stands, God On My Side isn't much more than a double episode of Enough Rope. As an investigation of the intersections between faith and society it's sorely lacking, but as a short detour into the surreal land of US style evangelism, it's definitely worth the price of the ticket.

 

 

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