On Friday, a special screening of “1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture” (2022) was presented at the Carbondale Library. The film which has stirred conversation in recent years, examines how the anti-gay movement took root within Christian communities in the 20th century.
The event had the quintessential church gathering signifiers: folding tables, freshly unstacked chairs and plenty of pizza. A little over a dozen people attended, with numerous pastors from local congregations included. The screening was presented by Roaring Fork United Methodist Churches and co-sponsored by St. Peter’s of the Valley Episcopal Church, Two Rivers Unitarian Universalist congregation and the Western Slope Mennonite Fellowship. A pastor from Glenwood’s First Presbyterian Church was also in attendance. The event was organized by the Justice Ministries Team, a Methodist group engaged with social justice awareness and the role of faith in civic life.
The film began with documentarian Sharon “Rocky” Roggio, who examines her own experience as a queer person raised in a religious household. Her father, a non-affirming pastor, taught that being gay is a sin. Through personal storytelling and archival research, the film explores what it calls the Bible’s transformation into a “sacred weapon” during the rise of the culture wars, when religious persecution was increasingly used for political ends.
A key quote from early in the film distills its thesis: “Jesus did not write anything in our text.” The documentary argues that understanding the Bible’s human construction through its translation and revision, is essential to grasping its moral teachings. In 1946, the Revised Standard Version introduced the word “homosexual” into the Bible for the first time, in a passage originally referring to sexual assault. That term replaced the Greek words “malakoi” and “arsenokoitai,” which described an ancient sexual hierarchy associated with power imbalance and coercion. The original dynamic was concerned with exploitative sexual relationships not limited to same-sex encounters, such as those between older patrons and younger dependents in classical society.
The main academic evidence in the film comes from researchers Ed Oxford and Kathy Baldock, whose lectures inspired the project. Their research at Yale University forms the foundation of the film’s argument. Oxford recalls their breakthrough discovery:
“On the third day at Yale, we found the answer. It was in an exchange of letters between a seminary student and Weigle [head of the translation team]. The student challenged the use of the word ‘homosexual’ in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and laid out his reasoning. Weigle responded, admitting the team had made a mistake and promising to correct it in their next update.”
The revision, however, was delayed for 10 years due to publishing contracts. During that time, other translations — including the New American Standard Bible, The Living Bible and The New International Version — borrowed the error, cementing it into the permanent record.
After the film credits rolled, the tone turned reflective. The conversation spent time in awe at the perseverance of LGBTQ believers who continue to hold faith despite exclusion and even hostility. Carolyn McBurney spoke about her daughter’s experience as a lesbian navigating faith: “How can LGBTQ people remain Christian after such mistreatment? It’s mindboggling they still want to join the community. The faith they display is amazing.” Another attendee added, “Most LGBTQ people exhibit the gospel better than people I am in congregation with.”
Jen Ellsperman, a retired principal and member of the Justice Ministries Team, reflected on the filmmaker’s father, Sal Roggio, who exposed his daughter’s sexual orientation after reading her diary. “The father did not go inside; he had no mirror,” she said, struck by his lack of introspection. His letter to his teenage daughter, featured in the film, reads: “Obey God or become part of the world.” Though father and daughter later reconciled superficially, things remained tense. He appears throughout the film as a counterpoint to the documentary’s arguments, embodying what seems to be an intractable position. The film reports he is writing a book arguing that homosexuality is sin, though it remains unpublished.
In one of the film’s most poignant moments, Baldock, the researcher, reexamines the Bible after her LGBTQ friend Netto asks, “Can you convince someone God doesn’t love them?” That question was the catalyst for Kathy to develop the lectures that inspired the film. One participant noted during Friday’s discussion that many Christian parents live with the fear that their LGBTQ children “will go to hell.” This belief, they said, is the driving force that divides a family.
Near the film’s conclusion, Netto says, “As long as we are talking, arguing, there is still hope.” The line resonates in a film that insists faith is strongest when it makes room for nuance and complexity. The screening carried that same spirit: warm, searching and free of hostility. The doubters stayed home, and the pizza slices meant for them went cold.
In this quiet valley, during the No Kings protest weekend, it was reassuring to see tradition asked to reconcile the new with the old. If our traditions can grow to include what is excluded, we can preserve what is most worth keeping: integrity, honesty and our capacity to grow together.