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God's Next Army
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Skip past the first 2:26, as this is the end of the prior Channel 4 show.
Conservative evangelical Christians hold key positions in the US Government and now they're training the next generation to take power.
God's Next Army investigates Patrick Henry College (PHC), set up five years ago in Virginia, near Washington DC. Its mission is to train young fundamentalist Christians to become the next generation of America's cultural and political leaders. Though the separation of church and state is enshrined in the US Constitution, with financial backing from the evangelical community the college aims to "rechristianise" America; to "preserve the world from the sinfulness of man".
God's Next Army shows students taking their first step towards power, canvassing for a key Republican candidate. They visit a conservative lobbying company which is opposing the payment of compensation to people affected by asbestos, and is trying to repeal estate tax because "the earth is the Lord's".
Helped by the institution's friends-in-high-places, PHC has already provided the Bush White House administration with more interns than any other college in the USA, and more are in the pipeline – on the way to becoming "key players in a Christian republic".
Conservative evangelical Christians hold key positions in the US Government and now they're training the next generation to take power.
God's Next Army investigates Patrick Henry College (PHC), set up five years ago in Virginia, near Washington DC. Its mission is to train young fundamentalist Christians to become the next generation of America's cultural and political leaders. Though the separation of church and state is enshrined in the US Constitution, with financial backing from the evangelical community the college aims to "rechristianise" America; to "preserve the world from the sinfulness of man".
God's Next Army shows students taking their first step towards power, canvassing for a key Republican candidate. They visit a conservative lobbying company which is opposing the payment of compensation to people affected by asbestos, and is trying to repeal estate tax because "the earth is the Lord's".
Helped by the institution's friends-in-high-places, PHC has already provided the Bush White House administration with more interns than any other college in the USA, and more are in the pipeline – on the way to becoming "key players in a Christian republic".
Oct 18, 2009 5:58 PM
Re: God's Next Army
I grew up in a Christian religion that refuses to get involved in politics. Jesus did say that his followers be no part of this world. I was the one kid in class who didn't salute the flag because I was taught to put my trust in God not man. Seeing religious people get involved in politics is such a lack of faith.
By: digitalprime
Re: God's Next Army
"Jesus did say that his followers be no part of this world". Sounds like your religion teaches it's followers to look forward to death. That's so sad. Why not live in the now instead of looking forward to the after life which may or may not exist?
By: KeyserSosay
Re: God's Next Army
And what's so bad about getting involved in politics. I mean I totally respect the fact that your religious organization doesn't promote a particular political agenda. But to tell it's members not to get involved in politics sounds like some bullshit.
By: KeyserSosay
Re: God's Next Army
I'll answer both posts here. The term "world" deals with society in general. Being no part of this world means remaining separate. You can still enjoy life, and it has NOTHING to do with looking forward to death.
As for not getting involved in politics, that deals with putting faith in God not man. If you don't believe in God, then you wouldn't understand. So while other religions fight wars, we remain neutral. We were killed by the Nazis for simply refusing to support Hitler. All they had to do was sign a paper recognizing him as the furor, yet they chose not to and were often treated worse than the Jews for outright resistance. In Rawanda during the genocide, Hutu and Tutsi within the religion died to protect one another rather than slaughter one another. Not getting involved in the world's politics is putting true faith in God.
As for not getting involved in politics, that deals with putting faith in God not man. If you don't believe in God, then you wouldn't understand. So while other religions fight wars, we remain neutral. We were killed by the Nazis for simply refusing to support Hitler. All they had to do was sign a paper recognizing him as the furor, yet they chose not to and were often treated worse than the Jews for outright resistance. In Rawanda during the genocide, Hutu and Tutsi within the religion died to protect one another rather than slaughter one another. Not getting involved in the world's politics is putting true faith in God.
By: digitalprime
Re: God's Next Army
You're talking about genocide. Obviously no one should engage in genocide. But does your religion say you can't have an opinion and engage in some non-violent discussion about health care reform or some other political issue? I don't think putting your faith in god is going to take care of our country's political decisions. That's something us humans must take care of.
By: KeyserSosay
Re: God's Next Army
I list 3 different philosophies and then combine them to explain my answer.
First, you have two choices. You can put your faith in God, or you can put your faith in man. If you are atheist, that narrows it down. I believe that humans are corrupt as a whole, and therefore human governments are corrupt.
Second, the Bible says that broad and spacious is the path leading to destruction, while cramped and narrow is the path leading to salvation with few finding it. True followers will always be the minority. Some religions brag about how large they are, we prefer to be the minority as that shows we are on the right path.
Third, the Bible says a day to God is a thousand years to man. All of RECORDED human history is about 7,000 years. That's including Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Persian, Greek, Roman, and all other cultures. It's only been one week to God.
So add them all up together. We don't get involved in politics because we put faith in God. Since we are the minority, we know the majority will take care of everything for us. Any inconvenience we deal with is trivial in the grand scheme of things with one exception. That exception being laws that go against what we believe in.
I mentioned that they refused to support Hitler, but they didn't fight back either. They were prepared to lay down their life for their beliefs. Early Christians were fed to lions by the Romans and didn't fight back in the arenas. If death doesn't scare us, do you think I'm going to worry about the economy?
We were taught to be model citizens and follow the laws of the land as long as they don't interfere with our beliefs. God comes first, not man. In civilized parts of the world, we would use the court systems to defend our beliefs and many cases have been brought up and won around the world. So the only time we got involved in politics was to defend our system of faith. It doesn't work in all countries, and many have been persecuted in such countries.
First, you have two choices. You can put your faith in God, or you can put your faith in man. If you are atheist, that narrows it down. I believe that humans are corrupt as a whole, and therefore human governments are corrupt.
Second, the Bible says that broad and spacious is the path leading to destruction, while cramped and narrow is the path leading to salvation with few finding it. True followers will always be the minority. Some religions brag about how large they are, we prefer to be the minority as that shows we are on the right path.
Third, the Bible says a day to God is a thousand years to man. All of RECORDED human history is about 7,000 years. That's including Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Persian, Greek, Roman, and all other cultures. It's only been one week to God.
So add them all up together. We don't get involved in politics because we put faith in God. Since we are the minority, we know the majority will take care of everything for us. Any inconvenience we deal with is trivial in the grand scheme of things with one exception. That exception being laws that go against what we believe in.
I mentioned that they refused to support Hitler, but they didn't fight back either. They were prepared to lay down their life for their beliefs. Early Christians were fed to lions by the Romans and didn't fight back in the arenas. If death doesn't scare us, do you think I'm going to worry about the economy?
We were taught to be model citizens and follow the laws of the land as long as they don't interfere with our beliefs. God comes first, not man. In civilized parts of the world, we would use the court systems to defend our beliefs and many cases have been brought up and won around the world. So the only time we got involved in politics was to defend our system of faith. It doesn't work in all countries, and many have been persecuted in such countries.
By: digitalprime
Re: God's Next Army
That sounds like awfully complicated answer. Are you sure your not just bullshitting yourself?
By: KeyserSosay
Re: God's Next Army
Chilling stuff. Worse yet is the fact that I'm hearing about this via Channel 4 in the UK.
By: Oh-Deeh
Re: God's Next Army
They are the salt of the earth, salting the earth where ever they go.
By: Raikou
Re: God's Next Army
there is an ego-centric idea to christianity where there is this so called personal connexion to god, and the concept of personal salvation. what is happening now is no different to the schools started by jesuits or dominican friars. these institutions were very dominant in europe and in the new world, where they spread their message of the bible to supersede the culture and history of native populations. all empires used religion as a means of spreading its influence and power. when you let yourself be influenced by those who speak in god's name, who say: this is what god is telling me for you to do with your life, and when you give this power to pastors to priests to gurus you are acting like a child not an adult. an adult will question the validity of these claims and will challenge the outright fabrications of these men of god.
furthermore, all empires decline in part to financial troubles and when they try to fight too many enemies at once, but also when they revert from their pursuit of science to the pursuit of some religious revival.
furthermore, all empires decline in part to financial troubles and when they try to fight too many enemies at once, but also when they revert from their pursuit of science to the pursuit of some religious revival.
By: ritterkreuz
Re: God's Next Army
That's just what we need, some more home schooled ignorant "soldiers". I almost laughed when the biology teacher started speaking. She should be ashamed.
By: shinkster
Re: God's Next Army
Many of them will probably become lawyers, clogging our courts with nonsense. No wonder our legal system is so inefficient.
By: KeyserSosay
Re: God's Next Army
this reminds me of handmaids tale, the book and Waco the tragedy.
I find it interesting how women talk themselves out of leadership positions, because men do not like dominant women, really? Too many frisbees to the head. Also the grooming of young men to become the older politicians aids, hmm... got a sneaky suspicion that if their sex ed is as good as their biology class, there might be some confusion as to what virgin or gay sex is.
I find it interesting how women talk themselves out of leadership positions, because men do not like dominant women, really? Too many frisbees to the head. Also the grooming of young men to become the older politicians aids, hmm... got a sneaky suspicion that if their sex ed is as good as their biology class, there might be some confusion as to what virgin or gay sex is.
By: imkoan
Re: God's Next Army
I think politicians like them young home schooled guys. They lack testosterone and make good man-bitches.
By: KeyserSosay
Re: God's Next Army
I'm thinking Jesus would definitely want Wall Street controlling the national retirement fund, he'd want to stop taxing multi-million dollar estates, and he'd want people who get asbestosis at work to pull themselves up by their bootstraps instead of cutting into the asbestos profits.
Jesus also loves private health insurance, a flat tax on jobs, deregulated financial markets, cluster bombs, cost-plus contracts, and executive signing statements. And indefinite detention. And torture. Jesus loves arranging naked men into human pyramids.
Jesus also loves private health insurance, a flat tax on jobs, deregulated financial markets, cluster bombs, cost-plus contracts, and executive signing statements. And indefinite detention. And torture. Jesus loves arranging naked men into human pyramids.
