Review/Commentary - Divided We Stand

We Are Different…But Yet Much The Same

The United States of America is such a great country. So many things have been done throughout the years to make us proud of our fellow citizens. We have freedoms that other countries envy and other citizens crave. We do sometimes take those freedoms for granted. And sometimes, we think “we” are the ones that deserve those freedoms…while others among us do not. That is the foundation of the new documentary Divided We Stand: Rising Above Religious Intolerance.

Politics divide us on a daily and even hourly basis. One of the basic rights we are granted in the United States is the Freedom of Religion. We can choose who we want to worship, without a government telling us what is right and wrong. But we go even further when it comes to our elected leaders. In the Constitution it states, “… no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” Sure, that is great in theory, but as a country we do elect our leaders, and religious tests are all around.

The most evident example in our recent history, until recently, of religious bias was when John F. Kennedy ran for office. He underwent massive questioning on whether a Catholic could hold down the top office.

In the years before the 2008 Presidential campaign, the vetting of Republican candidates began again, and this time Mitt Romney was the different one. His membership in the Mormon Church raised the ire of some Christians around the country. So in 2007, Director Bryan Hall set out to see if that religious intolerance that Kennedy faced was still present in society today. The film is a result of his findings, coupled with archival footage to paint a picture of a country that still has a long way to go to become perfect.

At just under an hour in length, Divided We Stand gets a brief chance to paint a picture of America today. We get to see not only the Christian leader that seems petrified of ever becoming with friends with a non-Christian, but also the Pastor that says God is Love not hate. There is intolerance towards Mormons as well as other religions in the film that will shake your foundation in the inherent good in people.

The truly eye-opening part of the film is the fact that it never really feels like a hit piece on religion (this from a Christian). Instead it feels like a wake up call of acceptance. When it comes to religion, we may differ. We have many different individuals that worship in different ways in this country we live in. Yet we are ALL Americans that want the best for our brothers and sisters. Just because you know a Mormon, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh or Atheist worshipper doesn’t automatically convert you to their religion.

As a film, this works on some levels, but most importantly it starts discussion on who we are as a people, and what we want to become.

Instead of letting our differences divide us, we should look to let our similarities unite us.

Divided We Stand: Rising Above Religious Intolerance

Director: Bryan Hall

Featuring: Dr. Robert Jeffress, Dr. Richard Land, Hugh Hewitt, Bill Keller, David French, Judge Ray Moore

Rating: Not Rated.

Runtime: Approximately 56 minutes