“The Blind Side” was a heartwarming movie about a real-life Christian family who adopted a troubled teen with a knack for football, helped him get into college, and eventually all the way to the NFL. It was nominated for a best picture Oscar, won Sandra Bullock the best actress Oscar, and it won over Christian audiences who for decades have said they were slighted and misrepresented by Hollywood. But all that was not enough to keep the movie on the shelves one of the country’s largest Christian bookstores.
LifeWay Christian Resources, a division of the Southern Baptist Convention, had been selling the DVD at its 165 stores for two years with a sticker warning its patrons of strong language. There were rumblings about a resolution last month at the denomination’s annual conference, and complaints from about a dozen people prompted LifeWay to remove the film from its shelves and online store.
At issue was the film’s use of profanity, a racial slur and taking the Lord’s name in vain.