Battle for the Minds. - movie reviews

Besides the brilliance and inherent interest of the film, though, I wonder if it isn't an especially arresting one for Catholics - at least for Catholics troubled by recent pronouncements about the role of women in the church, and especially Catholics concerned with the whiff of sexism in traditional Christian belief as it has come down to us.

Southern Baptism, anti-authoritarian and deeply private, is almost a fun-house mirror image of Catholic belief. And yet its recent history, at least according to this film, seems to have brought it to the same crisis currently possessing the older church. Is a patriarchal system the only way of church governance? And if so, why? Can a brilliant woman not serve as pastor instead of a dull male? And if not, why not?

Al Mohler is still president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Molly Marshall, as of the time of the film, is still looking for a job.

Anybody interested in the future of American religion should watch this film: It's a cautionary tale.

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