Documentary filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, who also directed the doc about the Presidential campaign of George W. Bush Journeys with George, tackles evangelicals in Friends of God, an original film for HBO. It's a startling look deep inside the conventions, beliefs, and personalities that make up this larger than you would think demographic in the United States, which contains an estimated 50 to 80 million Americans.

Some of the subjects in the film are some wrestlers who describe what they do as "Taking TV wrestling, cleanning it up, and putting Jesus in it," and a minister who brags about the amount of sex he has with his wife. He also dubiously claims that evangelicals have "The most satisfying sex lives out of any group." He also asks two of his constituents how often they have sex with their wives, and they both claim every day. Two times a day, sometimes ... and they climax every time. Wow. Not exactly what you'd expect to see in a documentary about evangelicals, and that's what makes this look appealing.

Christians are in a disagreement over whether or not "a la carte" cable, the ability to pick and choose which stations you want to have rather than buying "packages" of various channels, is a good thing. Some argue it's a means of protecting children and families from channels that carry "inappropriate" programming, but evangelicals behind such religious-themed networks as the Trinity Broadcasting Network and Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network claim people could cut those networks out just as easily as networks such as MTV. The response to this, of course, is that only certain Christians watch these networks anyway, so why does it matter? Colby May, an attorney for the Faith and Family Broadcasting Coalition which represents the two aforementioned networks, is against the concept of "a la carte" cable, claiming the by having Christian stations as part of the lineup increases the chances of people serendipitously stumbling across them and "[changing] their life for the better." Dan Isett of the Parents Television Council argues, however, that allowing viewers to pick and choose could create diversified programming and ultimately help such stations.

[via Huffington Post]