Faith in Film, Week 9

We wrapped up our discussion this term with a look at "Just Mercy," the fantastic book from Bryan Stevenson. After two weeks of looking a films that told fictional stories of race and justice issues, "Just Mercy" is sobering because it is real.

John Grisham said of Stevenson’s book, “Not since Atticus Finch has a fearless and committed lawyer made such a difference in the American South. Though larger than life, Atticus exists only in fiction. Bryan Stevenson, however, is very much alive and doing God’s work fighting for the poor, the oppressed, the voiceless, the vulnerable, the outcast, and those with no hope. Just Mercy is his inspiring and powerful story.”

Stevenson's family attended the Prospect African Methodist Episcopal Church, where as a youth Stevenson played piano and sang in the choir. His later views were influenced by the strong faith of the church, where churchgoers were celebrated for “standing up after having fallen down.” These experiences informed his belief that "each person in our society is more than the worst thing they’ve ever done.”

Stevenson is a graduate of Harvard University. After graduating from Harvard in 1985, Stevenson moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and joined the Southern Center for Human Rights full-time. The center divided work by region and Stevenson was assigned to Alabama. In 1989 he was appointed to run the Alabama operation, a resource center and death-penalty defense organization that was funded by Congress. His office was in the state’s capital in Montgomery. When funding for his work was cut off by Congress in 1994, he founded the Equal Justice Initiative.

In 1995 he was a awarded a MacArthur grant and put all the money toward supporting the center. He guaranteed a defense of anyone in Alabama sentenced to the death penalty, as it was the only state that did not provide legal assistance to people on death row. It also has the highest per capita rate of death penalty sentencing. By August 2016, EJI has saved 125 men from the death penalty. In addition, it has represented poor people, defended people on appeal and overturned wrongful convictions, and worked to alleviate bias in the criminal justice system.

His book captures some of these stories, centering on the case of Walter McMillian, an innocent man convicted of murder and placed on Death Row in the 1980s. McMillian lived in Monroeville, Alabama, and it took six long years for him to be set free. Stevenson talks about the importance of the case in showing that the issues of that classic book aren't just a part of America's past, but part of its present as well.

But the question in this discussion is not whether these issues exist and are important and hot topics in our world today, but what we, as Christians, can do about it. We're called to be Light and Life for the City. There are plenty of things that divide us in this world, but there are also beautiful things that unite us. And if we lean into that, and into God’s call to let His light shine out, this world can be a different place.

Romans 12:9-13 says, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” The title of that section is Love in Action. That’s what we’re to do, put the Love of God into our actions. And if we each find ways to do that in the spheres where God has placed us, I have to imagine the world would be a better place.

Discussion Questions:

1. In 2018, how do you think America has progressed in terms of racism, if at all? Do you think things are better than they were in the time of Atticus Finch? Are they better than the depiction in “A Time to Kill?”

2. In 2018, how do you think America has progressed in terms of justice, if at all? Do you think things are better than they were in the time of Atticus Finch? Are they better than the depiction in “A Time to Kill?”

3. As Christians, how can we speak into these areas? What is required of us?