This week I had the honor of being able to screen the movie The Birth of a Nation. The movie details the true life of a slave Nat Turner. I first learned of Nat Turners story a few years ago when I started training students to participate in competitions focused on African American history. Given the tone of our country right now I was hesitant to attend, but I decided to go forward. I expected it to be the typical slave story with the same themes we always see. The dehumanization of a group of people based on the color of their skin, treating people as property opposed to human beings, beatings, lynchings, the typical things we see. Because of the nature of Nat Turner's life as a preacher this movie stood out in a different way though. The thing that struck the biggest cord with me was the theme of religion. We read and hear about things, but when you see a visual representation of something it makes it a bit more personal. Seeing how his master gave him the Bible to learn, watching him become a preacher to the slaves and using the word of God to encourage slaves to be of good heart and keep working hard for their master just didn't sit well with me. It made me leave with questions about my own beliefs. Why I believe what I believe. The part that Christianity has played in holding a group of people back. What parts of my beliefs am I holding on to that were actually tools of manipulation opposed to doctrinal truth. I think that Nat Turner was very courageous for putting together this revolt. I highly recommend this movie. It would be great for members of the clergy and other religious leaders to watch this and give their feedback. It brings up an aspect of slavery that we don't often bring up in conversation and will leave us with some things to think about........