Coracle recently made its first foray into Coracle: Culture, and a group of us gathered to watch the much-talked-about film, Birth of a Nation.  The film has drawn less attention for its content  and Sundance Festival accolades than for the director and star Nate Parker’s personal life and the cultural climate into which the film was received.  The film set a record for its purchase price at the festival, and has had disappointing box-office returns.  Our discussion last night dealt mostly with the content of the movie, and less with the flurry of media and controversy surrounding it.

The movie tackles the difficult subject of the life of Nat Turner: his life and ministry as a preacher, and the slave rebellion he led on August 21, 1831, resulting in around 250 deaths in southern Virginia. The largest section of the movie is devoted to Nat’s life as a preacher on plantations around Southampton County.  Interestingly, Nate Parker who played the role of Nat Turner, grew up in Norfolk, VA, less than 100 miles away from the sites where this story unfolded. In interviews he cites himself as deeply connected to the story of Nat Turner both because of his race, his creed (Parker is a professed Christian) and his hometown. And Nat Turner’s thorough knowledge of the bible and sharp intellect, displayed at an early age, led him to be well-respected by both his white owners and his black brothers and sisters.  He was loaned out by his master, Samuel Turner, to preach a message of subservience to other slaves at other local plantations and to calm a growing feeling of agitation.  This is portrayed in the movie with striking poignance as difficult passages from the bible are brought before downtrodden fieldworkers at the end of their rope as a message of hope and comfort from the mouth of one of their own.  As Nat speaks words from 1 Peter (verse 2:18 – “Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.”) we are forced to consider how the words sound to us today, and how they must have sounded back then to both black slaves and white owners.  The implications are broad and unsettling, to say the least.

Of the many tough undertakings of the movie, perhaps the most difficult for Christians to grapple with is the central role of the words of the bible in the shaping of Nat Turner’s temperament, his preaching to both encourage and pacify his brothers and sisters in slavery, and then those same words inspiring him to rebellion and vengeance.  The film depicts this rebellion graphically and its violence is jarring, as is the violence against the slaves themselves depicted prior to the rebellion.  Certainly Nat Turner and his fellow slaves had reached a breaking point.  In a recent talk given at Q Commons, Christian rapper Lecrae spoke eloquently on the topic of race, asking the question of our current moment in race relations in America, “is now a time for righteous anger?” And all who see Birth of a Nation do well to ask themselves the same question of Nat’s decision to lead his brothers into rebellion, comparing it to today. Clearly, Nat had decided that it was time, and his anger was rooted in righteousness and truth, in his interpretation.  When Nat and his compatriots run at a line of armed white men who have come to quell the rebellion by whatever means necessary, they do so yelling “REVENGE!”.  Birth of a Nation tells the story of a man who saw himself as an instrument of the Lord’s wrath and vengeance on earth.

The two most interesting scenes in the movie to me pitted paradoxical characteristics of God against each other on either side of this conflict.  In one scene, Nat has finally stopped preaching the message of subservience and has instead taken up the charge of wrath and he displays his newfound rebellious identity for the first time against his owner, Sam Turner.  Sam and the local pastor are together with Nat in conversation asking him what went wrong at a recent gathering, and they go into a scripture-shouting match where each one is flinging bible verses at the other like grenades.  Sam is surprised at Nat’s fire and vitriol against him, and beats and whips Nat as a result, which is a significant break in their heretofore friendly, even close, relationship.  Later in the movie, a house servant is trying to convince Nat to turn away from the brink of this rebellion because he is afraid of its implications on those who are not going out to fight on the front lines but will instead feel the wrath of the owners where they are in the event that the rebellion isn’t completely successful.  The man, Isaiah, implores that God is a “God of love” and Nat responds to him that God is “also a God of wrath”.  Both men are correct.  And it is a question that we all struggle with when we see the injustices and wrongdoing in this world.

Lecrae, in his recent talk, also made an excellent point about the difference between peacekeeping and peacemaking.  Peacekeeping, he said, implies suppression, and putting a lid on things.  Peacemaking, he continued, churns up and requires action, an uncovering and an airing as opposed to a covering up to keep things calm.  What is required in our current moment? What was required of Nat Turner in his time? What does peacemaking look like in this day and age? Are we past the point of non-violent resistance? Co-host Drew Masterson made a great point that of the three movies in its market basket, (12 Years a Slave, Selma and Birth of a Nation) this one does the best job, perhaps of capturing the current tone of race relations in the US.  Because it’s angry, and stirred up.  There is a churning and a fire at the heart of this movie that echoes the sentiment we see in our nation and around the world about differences between nations, races, and religions.

This movie raises good questions, worthy of discussion and thought.  Cinematically, I believe it leaves a good bit to be desired but the content it offers is a good springboard for thinking about what else there might be.  All of us in discussion were left with the question, what is my part in bringing Your Justice and Truth in the here and now, God? How can we love in this too? We pray for those opportunities and we pledge to prepare for them, and to sharpen each and carry the weight of injustice with each other.  We need to come together and talk about these things and pray for the Lord to walk closely with us in those conversations as we seek to find the true interpretation of his Word and indeed his very presence in where we are today.