12/09/06
Text: Scott Indrisek
It’s the 21st century, and Jesus Christ has never been hotter. There’s an American strain of radical Christianity hidden in plain sight, ranging from charismatic Evangelicals to a new subset of pierced, punk believers flocking to makeshift “churches” held in bars and concert halls. Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s fall 2006 documentary Jesus Camp turned the camera lens on the youngest members of God’s army—boys and girls at the ‘Kids on Fire’ retreat whose tearful ecstasies, speaking in tongues, and cardboard cut-outs of President Bush shocked the morning talk show circuit. Lauren Sandler, an editor at Salon, released her book Righteous in September. This examination of alternative Christians focuses on the underground movement happening outside of the typical parameters of organized religion—teenagers and 20-somethings who are combining countercultural attitudes with strict faith. Together, Jesus Camp and Righteous form an eerily powerful picture of an American movement that is passionate and mobilized, ready to take over from a secular society that has failed to provide the right answers. Anthem sat down with Rachel, Heidi and Lauren to talk about mega churches, plastic fetuses, what Jesus has to do with Iraq and why the Red State/Blue State divide doesn’t matter very much at all.
Lauren Sandler: Right now polling numbers suggest that right now the church is losing kids. I don’t trust them, and I think this misunderstands the way this whole thing is working. It’s not about church.
Rachel Grady: It’s more about lifestyle.
LS: It’s totally about lifestyle. There are a huge number of people I have spent time with in different states, they’re cowboys or skateboarders or you name it, who think religion and church is the problem with Christianity. They feel that their personal relationship with Jesus is something that they don’t need to go to church to express. They feel like the mentality that you do something on a Sunday and something different six days a week is what they’re rebelling against because that’s their parents’ way. It’s the album you listen to: it’s the way you talk to your friends. I think just to see all of these kids completely caught up in this—I’d already interviewed a lot of them about how they thought that, you know, Iraq is a war that has been fought to bring back Jesus, how the military is God’s mission tool.
Heidi Ewing: One of the kids in our film, Tory, her father volunteers during our production, and goes off to Iraq. He’s 43.
