A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #352 - Culture: Watch Thomas Johnson: Evangelicals Conquer the World (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

This three-part documentary by Thomas Johnson, available on Arte.tv[2], 
follows the development of the most dynamic Christian movement in recent 
decades, evangelicalism, and particularly its role in the revival of a 
modern, politicized Christian fundamentalism on the right. ---- The 
first episode, entitled "The Great Crusade", traces the history of this 
movement, which is defined by four fundamental pillars: personal 
conversion, diligent reading of the Bible, recognition of the atoning 
death of Jesus, and missionary fervor.

Arising from the most conservative tendencies of the various Protestant 
churches that led to the colonization of North America, the movement 
truly took shape in 1942, with the birth of the National Association of 
Evangelicals and the central role played by Pastor William Billy Graham 
Jr., aka Billy Graham.

A charismatic figure, he participated in reinvesting Christian 
communities in public affairs, through major preaching campaigns (called 
"crusades"), all over the world. These "crusades" quickly took a 
political turn in the context of the Cold War, to promote the "Christian 
awakening" of the "free world" in the face of the communist threat.

From there, the documentary deciphers the role of this man and the 
debates in his Church in the context of the 1960s and 1970s, when the 
United States was gripped by struggles against segregation and the 
Vietnam War. After two decades of procrastination, at the end of a 
conference bringing together 2,700 evangelicals, the Lausanne 
Declaration in 1974[1]confirmed the victory of fundamentalism and the 
right within the movement.

Subsequently, a large part of the Evangelical Church will become 
increasingly involved in political activism, mobilizing for major 
reactionary causes: the anti-abortion movement, against equal rights for 
sexual minorities, the questioning of scientific theories by 
creationism, frenzied nationalism and the traditional family...

All over the world, Evangelical Churches promote a rigorous vision of 
faith and carry the will to impose a global theological power. Their 
leaders throw all their weight behind supporting the most reactionary 
leaders of the West, Trump and Bolsonaro being emblematic examples.

Evangelicalism also plays a central role in the development of Israeli 
colonization, in a messianic will to trigger the apocalypse.

Rich and powerful, today with around 660 million followers and growing 
rapidly in all parts of the world, the evangelical movement must be 
taken seriously. Although it is not uniform - the documentary also 
interviews repentant believers and opponents of the right-wing majority 
line - it nonetheless remains a major player, largely underestimated in 
France, in the propagation of reactionary theses.

Hugues (UCL Fougères)

Les évangéliques à la conquête du monde, by Thomas Johnson, 
France/United States, 2023, 3 episodes of 53 minutes.

Validate
[1]Founding manifesto of evangelical unity, adopted by the majority of 
delegates at the first world congress for the evangelization of the 
world in Lausanne in July 1974.

[2]The three episodes are available on Arte.tv until September 28, 2024.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Regarder-Thomas-Johnson-Les-evangeliques-a-la-conquete-du-monde
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