Jesus Politics Taylor Boyers

Jesus Camp raises an interesting ongoing debate about the idea of church and state. The radio announcer in the film says that religion is too entangled in politics. He claims that it is a common feature of our political era, and one that needs to be changed. This is just the opposite of what both Thomas Jefferson and Giroux believe in. They believe that in order to have a successful government, there must be a separation. The people in Jesus camp were leading a push to get the “right people” in government (right people meaning conservative, Christian, and republican). They felt that George Bush was a perfect man for the job because he had the same views on important issues to the group, and he was very open about his faith. I personally feel like religion will always play some sort of role in politics in this country. Many people have strong beliefs on certain issues such as abortion, gay marriage, etc. Religion normally plays a role in people’s views on these topics. Therefore they are more
likely to vote for someone that has the same beliefs. That is exactly what the people in the film did. I think that religious groups like this will always play a role in politics. Pastor Betty claimed in the film that if all Evangelical Christians voted, they could essentially get who they wanted in office. I also feel like that religion plays too important of a role in American life for it to be ignored by politicians. Therefore, they have to address it in some way usually by proclaiming their personal faith and religious views.