January 21, 2009 04:00PM EST
Waiting for Armageddon
America was founded, in part, by those who sought freedom from religious persecution. And, given the American basic right of freedom of speech, people are free to say whatever they want. Just a reminder.
In their new documentary, Waiting for Armageddon (screening next week at the New York Jewish Film Festival), filmmakers Kate Davis, David Heilbroner, and Franco Sacchi take an eyes-wide-open look at the belief of 50 million Evangelical Christians in what they call "The End of Days"—including the Rapture and the Battle of Armageddon—and how these beliefs (prophesied in the Bible) shape their opinions of modern-day Israel and current U.S. foreign policy.
Admirably, the filmmakers let their subjects speak for themselves, and speak they do. The film’s subjects—myriad Evangelicals (including two jet-propulsion engineers in Connecticut), members of the Jewish community (here and in Israel) and thoughtful academics—all provide their perspectives on the complicated relationship between the US and Israel.
The Evangelicals support Israel’s rights because they believe Israel to be the site of both Christ’s reappearance (when a subset of true believers will be instantly saved in 1/64 of a second, known as The Rapture) and the Battle of Armageddon, a devastating world war necessary before Christ can rebuild the world in his image, free of strife and pain. (These beliefs are also the premise for Left Behind, a wildly popular series of apocalyptic novels and film adaptations.)
In Waiting for Armageddon, we see these Christians on guided tours of the Holy Land—where they sing patriotic songs and loudly denounce the existence of the Dome on the Rock…while standing in front of it on the Temple Mount—they also use Photoshop to alter their souvenir photos. The Evangelicals need an anti-Christ, and in their support of Israel, this has shifted to a demonization of the Muslims over the past decade; in the film, they perpetuate the myth that the Muslims’ fundamental goal—the foundation of their religion, no less—is world domination.
We also meet a mother of many in Oklahoma who believes the Rapture will come before her youngest son gets his driver’s license. Her teenage daughters are clearly upset by this. One explains that—although she fully believes in the Rapture—she always thinks of it happening when she is 85, so she can have time to live life on Earth, get married, have children, etc. Therein lies the rub.
And to lift the rhetoric to a more national level, at the film’s denouement, controversial pastor John Hagee is on hand to refute postmodernism and explain how “separation of church and state is such a myth.”
The Jews, as you might imagine, are understandably wary of the support of the Evangelicals, though they understand that Israel very much needs the support of the US. (One rabbi explains the golden rule: “The one who has the gold is the one who makes the rules.”) They also understand that the Christians in question deeply believe that Jews will need to accept Jesus in order to be saved, and that 144,000 Jews will accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior on the spot when the Rapture comes. To do so would, of course, mean they would cease being Jews. Therein lies the other rub. As one Jew explains, “That is the kind of love being expressed to the Jews. We love you, and we want you to give up your identity.”
The academics offer a nuanced view of the bigger picture, examining what this all means in terms of US foreign policy and the Evangelicals’ influence on US politics. (Just how influential is this voting bloc?) They also point out—rightly so—just how CERTAIN the Evangelicals are about things that have been fought about for millennia. As one academic warns, “The Bible should not prescribe U.S. foreign policy… God doesn’t need WWIII as part of the prophetic plan.”
This film is a fascinating and complex look at a controversial subject. The discussion at the New York Jewish Film Festival should be quite lively, to say the least.
Waiting for Armageddon will screen next week at the New York Jewish Film Festival, presented by the The Jewish Museum and The Film Society of Lincoln Center. Screenings are scheduled for Wednesday, January 28 (2:00 pm) and Thursday, January 29 (8:30 pm).
Tribeca Film is giving away a pair of tickets for the 1/29 screening at the Walter Reade Theater. Filmmakers Kate Davis, David Heilbroner, and Franco Sacchi will be on hand to lead a post-screening discussion.
The New York Jewish Film Festival is taking place today through Thursday, January 29.
