I TiVo'd this documentary and finally had a chance to watch it today. As a Northeast Liberal almost-Jew, I was a combination of amazed and horrified.
The good aspects I saw about Evangelical Christians:
-Mega-churches creating small-town life for modern Americans.
-The support systems built into the church.
-A viable safe social life for kids.
-A lot of happy people.
The bad aspects I saw about Evangelical Christians:
- The Reverend Ted Haggard acting as the documentary's liaison. (schadenfreude is oh so sweet)
-The over-riding belief that Evangelicals need to spread Christ's love. (Crusades much?)
-Opinions not based on facts/evidence. (the number of times I thought, "Cite?" = a million)
-A lot of closed minds. (Maybe that's why they're so happy?)
I know I'm pretty biased against Evangelicals due to personal experience. I wonder what informs Alexandra Pelosi's bias?
My personal experience happened when I was 18. I had always been defensive and a little insecure about my lack of religion. The music director of my summer theater asked me to join his Bible study group. I joined because I like to read and debate. It turns out he asked a bunch of kids from the theater to join. Most were Catholic so I didn't suspect anything. We had weekly meetings where the Bible was discussed maybe ONCE. Mostly, we spent time playing games, singing, and eating. He picked me and another girl to go with him to "cell meetings" which were held in a strangers home. This is when I started feeling a little weird. That summer I wound up accepting Jesus Christ as my personal savior because I thought the music director was hot. He even had me testify at his church. I was young and naive. It was only at the end of that summer that I found out he was a Born Again. I was an easy mark plus I had no idea that Evangelicals don't consider Catholics to be real Christians. I ceased contact with him as I left for college. He wrote me one creepy Jesus-speak letter then in the winter for a Bible study reunion (which I didn't attend), he used me as an example of how people can "fall away from Jesus".
I clearly remember how it felt to be used and lied to. To this day, I am wary of discussing spiritual beliefs even with close friends. When I decided to convert to Judaism, I told my parents first and kept quiet for a while. Not out of shame. Being so callously used years ago made me doubt my spiritual beliefs and whether I had any place to speak to God. That is why Judaism is so cool and fits for me. It has built up my spiritual confidence and no question I ask is dumb. In fact, many questions I ask have been debated by Rabbis for milennia!
The summer theatre Born Again guy wasn't allowed back on staff of the theatre and he lost support among colleagues due to his targeting cast members to convert. Also, he was a deeply closeted man. He wrote a letter to his college paper saying how Jesus helped him to resist his sinful homosexual urges.
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