Woody Allen vs/ Billy Graham.
I imagine there might be various combinations of people we wouldn’t expect to see on the opposite ends of a televised conversation but this one really surprised me.
I stumbled upon it on the Relevant Magazine site in an article titled “Remembering the Time Woody Allen Debated Billy Graham About God and Sex in Primetime: A surreal moment in pop culture history.”
The controversial Hollywood director of classics such as Annie Hall, Hannah and her Sisters, and Mighty Aphrodite and the world’s most famous modern evangelist are seen having an informal conversation and answering audience questions such as “What’s your worst sin?” or “Do you think you’d make a good minister, Woody?” While the questions and answers were interesting enough, there is something deeper that jumped out of this for me.
Take a look:
You have a controversial, provocative, pushing-the-envelope agnostic with an opportunity to “take on” a well-known preacher and yet the spirit of the interview was so completely light and non-confrontational.
At the end of the interview, Woody Allen even says to Billy Graham, “I hope I haven’t provoked you or alienated you in any way” to which Billy Graham replies, “Oh no, no. I’ve enjoyed it very much.”
Imagine if all our social media interactions could be handled with such grace and dignity. Woody and Billy really demonstrate here the possibility of having strongly different beliefs (which they both express at the start of the interview) and yet they never make it personal or attack the character of the other person.
We have a lot to learn from this. Especially those of us who take to social media to influence, challenge and encourage others in matters of race, politics, gender, sexuality, and religion.