Jesus Camp

If there's one thing guaranteed to cheer me up it's religion . I don't mean I'm going to be spiritually touched by the hand of God , I mean I'm going to feel morally and intellectually superior to some Muppet talking about eternal afterlives and other nonsense . A documentary about evangelical Christians might just be the sort of thing to lift me out of festive gloom ( Christmas humbug) and if this had confined itself to deluded adults spouting metaphysical mendacity it probably would have . However a factual feature consisting of child abuse isn't going to cheer me up and neither does I suspect to any other rational , decent human being

The film opens with Mike Papantonio hosting his radio show decrying the religious right with Christian callers phoning in saying they can't understand this new militant type of evangelical Christianity . Of course right away you might think this is merely selective and biased and the callers might be criticising rival Christian sects . God might love us all but he really hates heretics does he not ? Cut to a stage version of APOCALYPSE NOW with children is cameo face paint dancing to a heavy metal soundtrack . Instantly you're reminded of the line in the movie where Chef states "This is pagan idolatry man" . You said it mate . This event is the brainchild of Becky Fischer who lives up to every outsider view of Americans . Loud , ugly and clinically obese by many pounds she wastes no time in making this audience member concerned with the junk coming out of her mouth rather than the copious amounts of junk food she stuffs in to it "We have too many Christians who are fat and lazy" If you don't believe Americans suffer from an irony deficiency then this documentary will make a believer out of you , believe me . I'm doing my utmost best to be diplomatic and guard my back by saying not all Christians are like this , not even in the American bible belt . She continues and there's a rather disturbing use of the word "training children" . Let's think about that for a second . "Training children" . You train a dog , not children . Maybe she meant "condition children" since as human beings we're all products of social conditioning to a degree , but that would be concede Karl Marx is fairly correct in that a belief in God is simply down to cultural environment and the degree of belief and what God you believe in is down to culture . Worse Fischer then starts saying that children should be trained in faith in much the same way as terrorists are in the Muslim world . Hmmm train the kids to blow themselves and some infidels up you mean Becky ? Please tell me you didn't literally mean that ?

The documentary then focuses on three children , Levi , Rachael and Tory and while Christian theocratic nutjobs like Becky Fischer need put in to a straitjacket and forcefed anti-psychotic medication the children here are poor wretched victims of deluded and bad parents . Tory shows us her dance moves and states "When I dance I really have to make sure it's really God because people will notice I'm dancing for the flesh and people sometimes notice that" Tory is a ten year old child FFS ! These children are victims of child abuse . It's not the sexual abuse associated with the Vatican based Christian cult but it's still child abuse and comes from superstitious nonsense . Maybe Chris Hansen and Richard Dawkins should join forces and do a show called TO CATCH A Christian CHILD ABUSER . If nothing else it's more evidence than God was , and is the worst man made invention

This film made my hair stand on end and I came away from it thinking that the adults in it ought to be indicted for child abuse. These children are being intellectually immobilized in the name of goodness and purity. Do they really think they are superior to other young religious zealots who study nothing but their holy book but who are not Christians? It seems that children ought to be exposed to all the wonders of the world instead of being told that their job is to point out the errors of others. Children are highly impressionable and mostly believe what adults tell them. We can only hope that some of these children get some exposure to reality later which will help them live productive and caring lives as people who can accept the world's diversity. The prospects are not good.

This documentary offers a rare chance to get a close view inside a not very well known society within our society. I thought the content was very honest, and - although this is not the kind of movie people watch for entertainment value - I would like to point out that this is also a very well made film, and certainly never dull or boring.

Religious communities are not often very open towards journalists or filmmakers; they fear - probably with good reason - that their portrayal by the secular media is biased and that their believes are depicted in the wrong light. However, in this documentary the filmmakers were granted full access, and the evangelical community whose portrayal you get to see in the film got the chance to see it first before it was released to the general public. They thought it was an accurate depiction of their lifestyle and their believes.

What you see in this film is not staged - this is real, 21th century footage. Highly recommended. 9 stars out of 10.

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As a man of religion I don't want to be too critical of the Evangelicals in this documentary, but man! It's hard to watch these kids being drilled on adult issues in a very cult-like way and not feel a certain type of way about it. All parents are going to instill some form of beliefs, ethics, morals, or principles into their children, that's part of being a parent. You have to teach them to be good and upstanding before releasing them upon society. And sure, every parent may go about that teaching process in a different way, but watching "Jesus Camp" I couldn't help but be bothered. These kids aren't old enough to even think about sex, yet they're being lectured about abortion. Not once did I hear anything about being truthful, honest, kind, or generous. I just heard, "Love Jesus." "Pray for this, pray for that, and don't sin." "Jesus Camp" is scary and not for the reasons the camp-goers would think.

If there is one thing which "Jesus Camp" reveals, it is the extent to which some adults will rob children of a normal childhood in order to foster their own politico-religious agenda. The children in this film are not being inculcated with moral and spiritual values; they are being manipulated into quasi-religious hysteria. In the name of a warped sense of religiosity the adults in this film are deliberately creating cadres of Christianist "yes men." This isn't faith; it's hypnosis.

I do not doubt the good intentions of parents who indoctrinate their children from an early age with principles of religion; after all, the Catholic Church has encouraged this for centuries, and there are wonderful religious schools of all types which provide a strong moral and ethical education to our children. Giving children a foundation of values is invaluable. However, the religio-political cultism demonstrated in this film is beyond the pale. I can guarantee you that if those parents in the film had been born Muslim rather than Christian they would be at the forefront of such practices as stoning and clitoral circumcision. If that's what their particular Good Book calls for, they are all for it. It sure saves thinking for oneself. At the very least, those who survive this kind of cultist indoctrination may turn out to be psychologically disturbed or emotionally impaired. The children of "Jesus Camp" are the kinds of people who wind up as bigots, informers, and lovers of authoritarianism, and who join the myriad of "holier-than-thou" types who already populate American so-called Christianity. These children may never be able to think for themselves. If they do eventually see through this well-intentioned nonsense, they can wind up as the kind of obnoxious hypocrites which they themselves would be quick to condemn.

What an astounding coincidence, then, that one of those very kinds of people shows up for quite a while towards the end of film. Ted Haggard, Evangelical pastor and newly confessed drug-buyer and patron of "male-massage", is seen counseling a young boy on how to play upon his youth in order to spread the Word. You can already see the young boy fawning over his adult admirers and saying whatever he thinks will please them and bring him a measure of recognition. That's the insidious thing about the "Jesus Camp", the kids really want to please their adult trainers. As for Haggard, in the spirit of Christian love and forgiveness he's already been kicked out of his Church. No turn-the-other-cheek Amish among that bunch. Can't have a guy like Haggard hanging around - especially now that he's been found out. As for the adults who encourage slavish indoctrination of their children, I think they would have been more comfortable in 1930's Spain, Italy, or Germany. Each of those countries had its cadre of young, true believers, too.