God's Next Army
http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/C/can_you_believe_it/debates/godsar
my.html

Conservative evangelical Christians (
http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/C/can_you_believe_it/debates/bornag
ain.html
)hold key positions in the US Government and now they're training the
next generation to take power. Julia Bard reports

God's Next Army investigates Patrick Henry College (PHC), set up five
years ago in Virginia, near Washington DC. Its mission is to train
young fundamentalist Christians to become the next generation of
America's cultural and political leaders. Though the separation of
church and state (
http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/C/can_you_believe_it/debates/bornag
ain1.html)
is enshrined in the US Constitution, with financial backing from the
evangelical community the college aims to 'rechristianise' America; to
'preserve the world from the sinfulness of man'.

PHC students are an isolated group who come from close-knit communities
where everyone prays together and shares moral certainties. Most have
been educated at home and have had no contact with either the social
diversity or the political and intellectual cut and thrust of
mainstream schools. Derek Archer, a prospective PHC student believes
home-schooling has protected him from the 'moral decay of the world'.

Once at the college, the students ceremonially sign a covenant which
commits them to a strict behaviour code: no alcohol, drugs or obscene
literature; sex will be reserved for marriage; personal conflicts will
be resolved biblically; the students will be above reproach, will
uphold the tenets of evangelical Christianity and lead the nation for
Christ.

Everyone at PHC, including the academics, also signs a statement of
faith which includes these assertions:

The Bible in its entirety ... is the inspired word of God, inerrant in
its original manuscripts, and the only infallible and sufficient
authority for faith and Christian living.

Man is by nature sinful and is inherently in need of salvation, which
is exclusively found by faith alone in Jesus Christ and His shed blood.

Satan exists as a personal, malevolent being who acts as tempter and
accuser, for whom Hell, the place of eternal punishment, was prepared,
where all who die outside of Christ shall be confined in conscious
torment for eternity.

There are political as well as biblical imperatives. The students are
highly trained in political debating techniques for which they win
national trophies. The college is extremely well-connected in
Washington, and students are propelled towards internships working for
top politicians.

God's Next Army shows students taking their first step towards power,
canvassing for a key Republican candidate. They visit a conservative
lobbying company which is opposing the payment of compensation to
people affected by asbestos, and is trying to repeal estate tax because
'the earth is the Lord's'.

Helped by the institution's friends-in-high-places, PHC has already
provided the current White House administration with more interns than
any other college in the USA, and more are in the pipeline - on the
way to becoming 'key players in a Christian republic'.

There's lots more information about the involvement of evangelical
Christians in American politics at With God On Our Side (
http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/C/can_you_believe_it/debates/bornag
ain.html
).

What do you think about the issues raised by this programme? Have your
say in our forum (
http://community.channel4.com/6/ubb.x?a=frm&s=162603557&f=69460501 ).