—Beyond Off Grid—Years In The Making... This Christian-Agrarian Documentary Is Finally Done!

Dateline: 21 February 2017

Those of you who have read my blog writings for a few years may remember back in September of 2013 when I had a Deliberate Agrarian book-sale fundraiser to support a new video documentary project called Beyond Off Grid. I had hoped to raise a couple hundred dollars, but ended up selling 87 books and raised $435 for the project (you can read about it At This Link).

Well, a lot of time has gone by since then and, frankly, I kind of lost hope that the documentary video would ever get made. But it did get made, finally, and I was delighted to receive a few copies of the just-published DVD in the mail today.

The Beyond Off Grid documentary is an excellent analysis of the manifold weaknesses within our complex, interconnected, and vulnerable modern civilization. The worldview perspective of the film is clearly Christian and the solutions offered are both Biblical and agrarian.

As I watched this movie, I thought of my Deliberate Agrarian blog, which was, essentially, a Christian-agrarian apologetic. Almost everything I wrote about for 11 years was, in one way or another, a celebration of the concept of Christianity lived within an agrarian setting. My ever present, underlying theme was to encourage my readers to continually lessen their dependencies on the centralized, Babylonian system which seeks to enslave our minds, our time, and our families.

So many of the themes I wrote about at The Deliberate Agrarian, are presented in this new documentary. And many of the people I wrote about are featured in the film. 

This is the kind of film that those who already have a Christian-agrarian worldview can give to friends and family. It will get them thinking outside of the Babylonian box they live in.

What the movie doesn't do is discuss the Biblical call for Christians to live within the agrarian paradigm, while deliberately separating themselves from worldly expectations and dependencies. Instead, the movie explains the inevitable collapse of our modern civilization, and presents a "Return to the old paths" as the wisest course of action to be able to best survive what lies ahead. 

There is a distinct difference between the pursuit of agrarianism as a Biblically-based way of life, and the pursuit of agrarian life as a survival tactic. But I'll leave that discussion for another day.

The description of the video on the back of the DVD case is a very good summation of the movie:

The modern consumer economy and culture is not resilient to disaster, and is imitating the Roman Empire before its fall and destruction. This film explores why we should strive to reduce our dependence on the modern economy and systems, and the critical elements that need to be addressed first. Freedom is found by returning to the old paths of productive households and local community interdependence.

By exposing the weaknesses of our modern economy and culture, and by showcasing the solutions that can be learned from the past and through wisely applying technology, this film will inspire you to pursue a greater degree of self-reliance and to rebuild the foundations of civilization from the ground up.

In addition to the movie itself, the DVD has a Special Features section with excerpts of interviews with Michael Bunker, Franklin Sanders, and others. Michael Bunker's discussion of his grandmother is, in my opinion, particularly thought provoking.

The bottom line here is that I like this movie. I'm glad I was able to help support its production. And I hope a lot of people will take the time to watch and consider the wisdom it presents. CLICK HERE to learn more about the Beyond Off Grid documentary.