God's Army

I meant to post about this earlier, but I finally saw part of the documentary Jesus Camp recently (only part, because once you've seen one kid writhe on the floor under a life-size cutout of Bush while speaking in tongues, you've seen them all). I thought it was alarming but at the same time easy to get hysterical about. For me, the documentary's main value was thinking about it in the context of the image of the U.S. that's developed over the past six years, and how that image comports with the agenda of nations that might seek a nuclear deterrent. If the mullahs needed some video to go with the tagline "They've already invaded one Muslim country on a false pretense," they couldn't ask for anything juicier than this disturbing segment. Nor could future historians, who will no doubt use Jesus Camp to explain the early 21st century nexus between politics, religion, and -- yes -- the military. What we still don't know, I suspect, is the full scope of the disaster about which those historians will write.