"Jesus Camp"

I viewed the documentary, "Jesus Camp," last night. While it would be ignorant for me to say and believe that all Christians or Evangelicals are as they're portrayed in the film, it still angered, disturbed, and saddened me some.

The film revolves around the lives of three children: Levi, Rachael, and Tori, their parents, and their church/camp leader, Becky Fischer. It follows the three children on their journey being home-schooled and at summer camp.

I went to Vacation Bible School back in the day. The teachers attempted to make learning about Christianity fun, through games, sports, art, etc. There was never a political agenda involved. The teachers never lectured us on why to vote Republican, on how there's no separation between church and state, about why the death penalty is moral, about why immigrants are ruining this country, etc. They attempted to illustrate the fundamentals of Christianity to us kids and do it in a fun manner. Peace, love, forgiveness, and sacrifice are all examples of topics they attempted to teach us about through scripture and games.

That brings me to the film last night. I didn't hear the mention of peace and/or love. Becky Fischer sermonized about how Harry Potter is evil and if a Warlock were alive in the time of the Bible, he would have been executed. A cut-out of President George W. Bush was brought out onto the floor and the kids put their hands on it and prayed for him. Yes, Bush is worshipped in some parts of the country, I guess. She and other church leaders spoke out against abortion and eve went as far as to cover the children's mouths with this red piece of cloth with the word "Life" inscribed on it. Another teacher brought out these plastic fetuses to illustrate the size of a child at such points in the birth cycle. The leaders led the kids in prayer for Bush to appoint righteous supreme court judges, so that Roe vs. Wade could be overturned. The Iraq War was looked upon as just. When Levi was getting homeschooled, his mother (the "teacher") asked him if there are any truths in science, to which he "correctly" responded, "No." She asked about global warming and if it's a big deal, to which he responded, "No, it's risen just 0.6 degrees." During prayers and confessions, Fischer would lead the kids into a speaking-in-tongues session. Some kids even went as far as to have seizures on the floor (so it appeared). Ted Haggard spoke negatively about homosexuality to the children, claiming the Bible scorns and condemns it. (That's even funnier now, knowing what we know about the guy. After seeing this film, I can say, Teddy, three weeks didn't cure you from being attracted to the same sex. You're gay. Get over it.)

Fischer continually refers to she and the children as an Army of God and as soldiers. She continually analogizes they to soldiers in a wartime battle. The kids are led away to an abortion clinic, where they pray on the walls that the women there will elect not to have them (the abortion).

Levi's mother contends that kids can't be forced to serve the Lord. Directly following that statements, she states that she thinks a little forcing may be necessary and beneficial to the children and then claims not she nor her husband ever needed to force their children. So, they can't be forced, but they can and should be at times? That makes sense. Fischer and other leaders believe that what the children know and believe by the time they're 7-9 years old will stick with them for the rest of their lives, so it's important to get them while they're young. Yet, there's no manipulation involved. It's all a choice.

Watching this film simultaneously angered and saddened me. There was hardly any choice in the matter. The kids were being manipulated to the very fullest of their early age innocence and vulnerabilities. One cannot tell me that a five-year old kid is an outspoken critic of abortion and an avid political connoisseur. No five-year old could give me an objective analysis of Samuel Alito. They'd have to be passed a cue card with what to say in response to my inquiries. So, it's painfully obvious to me that this is not a choice for the children.

This all can have a very damaging short and long-term effect on the kids. Their social life, for one, will be hindered. They're in a cult-like atmosphere, where they're made to feel like an Army of One, and anytime they attempt to socialize outside that Army, they will feel out of place and perhaps even guilty. Whether one believes in God or not, it's not our job to forcefeed our subjective interpretations of a religion down a child's throat, when they are most vulnerable. This is the point in their lives when they soak in information unlike at any other point and they should not be limited in their thirst and scope for knowledge.

The film made me chuckle at several points, because I just could not believe what I was watching and I could not believe the ignorance that was spewing out of people's mouths. They were thanking God/Jesus for their freedoms, to freely worship them on this land, and yet, believed in the false dilemma fallacy of, "You're either with us or against us. You're either a Christian or you're not." They thanked God for the freedom to worship them, yet, couldn't respect others' freedoms of believing something else entirely.

Toward the very end of the film, Becky Fischer notes that "liberals" are probably shaking in their boots after watching the film. I'm a liberal and the only things I felt after viewing it were anger at the adults using and maniuplating the children and saddened that the children's infinite learning potential had been limited and ruptured by the brainwashing of others with a certain agenda.

Becky Fischer and others like her are very much free to believe what they want, but just as a sober man should not take advantage of a drunk woman, adults should not take advantage of eager and vulnerable children.