Homeless in Arizona

Source

'Hellbound?' 4 stars

by Kerry Lengel - Oct. 4, 2012 09:00 AM

The Republic | azcentral.com

With all those superheroes, vampires and Kardashians running around, the pop-culture radar doesn't have a lot of space left over for theological debates. Which is a bit strange if you think about it, since the U.S. is supposed to be one of the most religious countries in the world, with more than three-quarters of the population identifying as Christian.

'Hellbound?'

Director: Kevin Miller.

Cast: Kevin Miller, Robert McKee, Brian McLaren, Mark Driscoll, Sharon Baker.

Rating: Not rated.

Note: At the Harkins Valley Art.

Enter first-time filmmaker Kevin Miller, who challenges those 247 million Americans to put their moviegoing money where their Sunday-morning mouths are with "Hellbound?" Not to be confused with the "Hellraiser" sequel, it's an engaging, accessible documentary that explores the (truly) eternal questions, "Does hell exist? If so, who ends up there, and why?"

Miller (who is actually from Canada) adds fuel to a smoldering corner of the culture wars, which flared up last year with the publication of the book "Love Wins." Written by the influential evangelical pastor Rob Bell, it challenged the notion of hell as a place of eternal suffering and suggested that God's grace might just be expansive enough to grant salvation to all, not just the "elect" few.

Miller positions himself as a neutral interlocutor, giving a full hearing to many perspectives. In addition to conservative and progressive evangelicals, he interviews Catholic and Orthodox theologians, an atheist, an exorcist and the founder of HollywoodJesus.com. He even chats up some (tongue-in-cheek) Satanists -- singers from the heavy-metal bands Gwar, Deicide and Morbid Angel -- at the Copenhell music festival.

Adding some spice in between the talking heads, "Hellbound?" also weaves in footage of street preachers haranguing nonbelievers and a Halloween "hell house" that aims to scare young Christians straight with gruesome images of the consequences of sin, in this world and the next.

But don't get the impression that this is a frivolous endeavor. Miller's interviewees dig into the history of the early Christian church and the etymology of ancient biblical languages, and they argue with clarity and passion.

Ironically, the conservative position is expressed most succinctly by the atheist, screenwriting guru Robert McKee, who argues that without the threat of damnation, there is no need for salvation, and thus no need for Christianity at all. "By eliminating hell," he says, "these people are sucking the meaning out of life."

Speaking eloquently on the other side are scholars such as Brian McLaren (author of "The Last Word and the Word After That") and Brad Jersak ("Her Gates Will Never be Shut"), who muster biblical and historical evidence to argue that a loving and omnipotent God could not condemn his own children to infinite torture as punishment for temporal sins.

As for Miller himself, his stated aim is to open up the conversation, but he may tip his hand once or twice. For example, he opens the film with the most extreme view imaginable, in a conversation with members of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church -- yup, the "God hates (gays)" folks -- who proclaim that "99.99999999999" percent of humanity are going to hell, essentially because that's the way God likes it.

Such withering certainty might be the best argument of all to entertain a little doubt.