American Jesus (Documentary, 2013)

[onager]

Last edited Wed Apr 9, 2014, 07:00 PM - Edit history (1)

Stop whatever you're doing and go watch this RIGHT NOW. It only takes 1 hour and 17 minutes.

You'll laugh, you'll cuss, you'll throw stuff at the TV. Probably during the Creation Museum sequence. Or when you see the interview with snake-handling preacher Mack Wolford - the guy who died from a snake-bite in 2012.

I've never seen anything (especially in such a short time-span) that explains so clearly why the USA is so deeply fuc...er, so deeply religious.

From a Spanish film maker, Aram Carriga. Which is good. We Americans live in the middle of Fundie Crazyland all the time, so we get used to it. (Sort of like that frog in the boiling water...) And it probably takes a foreigner, with fresh eyes, to see how incredibly nutso American Xianity really looks to other people.

We hear from Xian surfers, bikers, body-builders, strippers, porn stars (no, I'm not making that up). You won't be surprised to learn that every single one says: "Uh...that other guy you just interviewed? He's doing it wrong. God told me I'm the real deal!"

I don't want to talk/type this to death, but it's a great piece of work. Here's a link to Frank Schaeffer's HuffPo review of it, "How Jesus Took America Hostage." (Schaeffer also appears in "American Jesus," but was not paid.)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/how-jesus-took-america-ho_b_4015566.html

[Curmudgeoness]

1. Like a frog in boiling water.

That says it well. I had been one of those frogs, not noticing how hot is was getting. I have since been much more observant and can say that there is not a day that goes by that I don't notice the effects of religion on our culture.

I will watch this later.

[Promethean]

2. Watch it where?

All my searching says official release isn't until May.

[onager]

3. Well, that's weird.

I saw it on the Vutopia on-demand channel, with Time-Warner cable. It's been playing on there for a couple of days.

Stuff usually doesn't show up there until well after it has been released. And I thought I saw ads for the DVD already.

Thanks for the info. And have fun when you do get a chance to see it.