January 29, 2007
Alexandra Pelosi is a filmmaker and daughter of Nancy Pelosi, who you might have heard is speaker of the house. That’s a joke.
I’ve met Alexandra a few times and she’s a lot of fun. She has made a film about fundamentalists and evangelicals that portrays them as money-grubbing, politically addicted, hypocritical and stupid. Some are, of course, but most are not. Focusing on a stereotype promotes a point of view and Pelosi clearly wants to paint a picture that Christians are nut cases who want to take over the country, using the republican party as their vehicle.
There is Ted Haggard, the disgraced pastor and former head of the National Association of Evangelicals, talking about how Christians have the best sex. There are overweight evangelists. There is a camp for Christian kids which shows them behaving like mind-numbed robots. There is a wrestler with “Jesus Freak” emblazoned on his trunks.
There are never films about serious Christians applying their faith in a way that would please Jesus. One thing’s for sure. No one, including Alexandra Pelosi, would dare make a film that mocks Muslims.
Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.
