God's Army Scrutinizes Christian Right

An audience gathered at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on Wednesday night to watch a documentary about a college that aims to turn students into political leaders who will remake America as a Christian republic.

The film, God's Next Army, featured Patrick Henry College-a five-year-old evangelical school in Virginia that aims to both teach Christian doctrine and train students to become political and social leaders in Washington and in the Republican Party, according to the film.

The documentary examined the ways the school prepares students for service in the White House­­-training students to debate, take part in mock court, and campaign.

Filmmaker Tom Hurwitz said he thought the movie showed the ways in which the religious right has become increasingly fundamentalist.

"I don't think these people are Christian," he said. "Perhaps this is a new religion."

Hurwitz said he thought members of the religious right have more in common with fundamentalists of different religions than with Christianity as he understands it.

Other panelists discussed the way the religious right has grown in America and how it has changed its strategy.

Calvin Skaggs, president of Lumiere Productions, which produced the film, said one of the reasons he was attracted to the project is because of the religious right's ability to hold on to power over decades.

"Every time they [the religious right] lose an election the press will say they're dead," he said. "The right is with us through the youngest person here's lifetime."

Hanna Rosin, who is working on a book about young evangelicals, said she thought the school and its founder, Michael Farris was creating a "very sophisticated kind of Christian."

After the panel, members of the audience asked about the school's endowment and financial aid, as well as whether the film, which offers only a narrative about the college without opposing view points, might serve to promote the school.

Audience member Martin Olivieri said he thought the film raised frightening points about where the country is going, though he has hope for the future.

"The film spoke for what's going on in a lot of the country," he said. "But this Election Day made me think that maybe this isn't quite such a juggernaut."