Praying for Armageddon explores how the influence of the radical, Evangelical Right Christian movement is changing America and, by association, the entire world. The film has three distinct areas that it explores, each using different styles of cinematography to highlight what sets them apart while also affecting one another.
The film opens by looking at Gary Burd, the leader of Mission M25, who aim to train leaders to be Warriors for Christ that care for the overlooked in their communities. They show the grassroots movement towards the fight for Armageddon in the States that many other ministries stand by, such as the First Baptist Church and Christians United for Israel. These large organizations have significant influence in Christian communities who represent large amounts of voters and have become spiritual advisors to politicians like Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. These are the leaders who have pushed Trump to make changes that have moved the world towards Armageddon, a destiny that they believe is coming soon due to some of the more catastrophic events in the world like COVID, world wars and Climate Change. They have made changes that have heightened the conflict between Israel and Palestine, as some Palestinian people are having their homes taken, the U.S military presences being increased and the placement of the U.S embassy in Jerusalem creates a potential ‘bomb under the table’ situation. Armageddon leaves the potential open for the conflict between Israel and Palestine to not only become full out war but that it will also cause the U.S to retaliate agains any attacks on their embassy.
Armageddon juxtaposes these more calm and quiet moments of prayer with the more violent and destructive results of their efforts to “protect” Israel. The music brings in a haunting tone that evokes the potential danger of this Armageddon movement. Admitteldy, the film does tread into a narrower perspective that almost tries to instill fear as opposed to create awareness. However, it does inform the viewer more of a political reality that should be addressed. People need to kno know about these potential dangers. Though if one fully believes that this movement has the power to cause global destruction, it also creates a fearful mindset that these leaders want their followers to have.
Praying for Armageddon is now playing at HotDocs ’23. For more information, click here.
