via Jesus Politics
After fighting as an Israeli soldier in the 1973 war, and troubled by the nation’s obsessive mixing of the Bible with politics, the filmmaker left for America, which he considered a “safe haven” because of its separation between church and state. Thirty-five years later, alarmed by the prominent role of religion in the 2008 American presidential campaign, he decides to make a road trip, to try and understand the phenomenon.
Rather than follow the candidates, however, Ziv decides to meet with religious activists supporting the Democratic and Republican candidates. From the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries to Super Tuesday in Oklahoma, JESUS POLITICS shows the efforts of Baptist activists for Obama, Catholics and evangelicals for McCain, Christian conservatives for Huckabee, as well as the political efforts of evangelical organizations such as Christians United for Israel.
Through archival footage and discussions with author and theology historian Randall Balmer (God in the White House) and Moral Majority cofounder Paul Weyrich, the film also provides a historical overview of religion in American politics, from the Great Awakening religious revivals in the 18th and 19th centuries, through 1960 when JFK asked voters to disregard his Catholic faith, through the rise of Jimmy Carter in 1976 as a “born again” politician, and the more recent rise of the Religious New Right, and its political activism around the issues of abortion and homosexuality.
JESUS POLITICS explores themes including the social role of the church in the African-American community, the religious rhetoric of the candidates and their sometimes controversial associations with religious leaders, how moral issues such as abortion became political weapons, and how biblical interpretation is used to validate political beliefs.
Filmed across 4000 miles and seventeen states, in JESUS POLITICS Ziv weaves an historically informed but thoroughly contemporary cinematic essay, a probing look at how deeply religious faith shapes 21st cenury American politics.
January 20th, 2009 1:40 am
I just finished watching this program and at first it was very hard for me to keep from changing the channel because it bothered me so much what I was seeing. I am a Pagan and this is an issue that has bothered me very much as I always feel as others do not care about my rights because of my religion. During the last election I had an very hurtful email from my parents at which point I found that this uncaring for my rights was even shared by my own parents. I find this movie touched me very much, I was especially heartened that pagans are not the only ones that feel Christian need to separate their religion from the politics of this country. I very much believe that religion has no place in politics as in doing so you are always trampling the rights of those that do not share your religious view. I only hope that the Christians that see this movie do not take it as an offense but see the trues it reveals.
January 20th, 2009 8:22 am
Alisida, you will find that I am a strong believer in the separation of Church and State. I believe that our Republic was founded, in part, on that ideal, but has seen it corrupted, especially over the past generations.