Daily Times

If for any reason you’ve recently been feeling complacent about global security, international relations and oh, you know, little things like the continued existence of the species, here to herald the end of all that comes Tonje Hessen Schei and Michael Rowley’s “Praying for Armageddon,” a glossy, persuasive and increasingly alarming documentary exposing the influence of the fundamentalist Christian lobby on US politics. Loosely tracking the investigative sleuthing done by Lee Fang, a reporter at The Intercept, but also taking ample time with parachurch pastors, GOP politicians, Israeli and Palestinian observers and Mission: M25 – an evangelical biker gang who traverse the country on compact-car-sized motorcycles proselytising and occasionally knighting one another with swords – Schei and co-director/cinematographer Rowley’s film can feel a little scattershot, as it lops off one of the Hydra heads of this malign movement, only for two or three more to sprout in its place. However, the core thesis is abundantly, horribly clear: there are a growing number of people in positions of major power in US politics and broader society who are actively working to bring about the end of the world as we know it. It does not feel fine. While the definition of a Christian fundamentalist is someone who believes every word of the bible to be literally true, this bunch only ever seem interested in Revelations – as if the Good Book is a thriller and, impatient to see whodunnit, they went immediately to its last chapter, never bothering with the mellower stuff about turning cheeks and loving neighbours. First off, we’re on the road with Mission: M25 leader Gary Burd, as he speeds through middle America to get to Lebanon, Kansas, the geographical epicentre of the US Much of the extreme Christian right’s dogma accords deep significance to geographical or linguistic coincidences, such as the pastor who claims to his impressed congregation that “Bible” stands for “Basic Information Before Leaving Earth.” Like so much in “Praying for Armageddon,” it’s tempting to find such assertions laughable, until you remember that underestimating a political entity, on the basis of them being outlandish and easily ridiculed, hasn’t worked out so well in recent years.