“How Evangelicals dominate US politics” on April 16 at 10:30 p.m. on ORF 2; then: “1979 – Origin of the Present”
Vienna (OTS) – Today, almost 700 million people worldwide profess evangelical Christianity. The religiously based movement has become an influential political factor in many countries. In the second part of the three-part documentary “With God to Power” by Thomas Johnson and Philippe Gonzalez (ORF editing: Sabine Aßmann), “kreuz und quer” depicts this development on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at 10:30 p.m. on ORF 2 which has united the various movements and, above all, politicized them – with massive effects on all areas of life: family, politics, education and the economy should be brought into harmony with biblical principles. Part 2 of the two-parter “1979 – Origin of the Present” by Dirk van den Berg and Pascal Verroust follows at 11:25 p.m.
“With God in Power” – Part 2: “How Evangelicals Dominate US Politics”
Preacher Paula White is one of the wealthiest and best-known evangelical leaders in the United States. When Donald Trump became president in 2016, he chose her as his “spiritual advisor.” Paula White is tasked with protecting the president from the forces of evil. She speaks in the second part of the documentary, as does Michele Bachmann, dean at the School of Government at Regent University, an evangelical educational institution. Stephen Strang also explains his beliefs; he runs the evangelical magazine “Charisma”. They all describe how the Christian right wants the Bible to govern the lives of all people. However, the documentation does not leave these evangelical pipe dreams unquestioned. Analyzes and opposing positions provide a multifaceted picture of a complex development that has long had an impact on politics and society. Under Trump’s presidency, Christian nationalism is spreading and is increasingly dividing the country. Brazil is also having similar experiences under Jair Bolsonaro. Once deeply Catholic, the evangelical movement in the South American country has grown enormously over the past 30 years: a third of the population now professes to be evangelical, and its political influence became clear in 2018 with the election of Jair Bolsonaro. And even in secular Europe, new forms of this “Christian nationalism” are emerging. So what does the rule that evangelical Christianity dreams of look like? The documentation looks for answers.
“1979 – Origin of the Present”
The year 1979 is now considered a significant turning point in historical developments. Looking back, much of what still concerns us politically today began exactly 40 years ago: at that time, China opened up its economy to the outside world despite political reprisals at home. Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Tehran from his exile in Paris and led the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan. With John Paul II, a pope from a communist country was elected head of the Catholic Church. And in Geneva, a world climate conference addressed global climate change for the first time. The list of history-making events goes on. The documentary attempts to understand the enormous political, social and religious developments from the upheavals of 1979 in their context.