Jesus Camp

sweet

source: Jesus Camp

Hello, I don't think this movie deserves a 1, frankly I only saw a couple of minutes of it. No, the 1 is given out of nausea from the content. For being made the way it was, I think it deserves a ten. I think summing up the first few minutes I saw, will get the idea across. What is shown is the brainwashing and the indoctrination of small children by their parents who bring these kids to religious cult gatherings which reminds one of the way things were done during the Naziregime. All that really was left out were the uniforms, banners and typical arm-movements. But maybe they were present at the bit where the actual jezuscamp was shown. I have nothing against religion, I have nothing against adult cults, but this...truly gut-wrenching, to use but a term. Im not easily shocked, truly I'm not. And me turning this off after only 15 minutes is saying a lot. I guess watching child abuse can make you feel that way. Beyond the shockiness, I don't believe this to be entertaining either. Educational value? sure.. If you liked this entertainment-wise, I would suggest Faces of Death as well.

No one could have scripted a satirical film that would have had as much impact as this documentary does. It's intense and very disturbing. The film examines the Christian Right in America and how they are co-opting religion, indoctrinating the youth, and influencing politics. The ironic thing is that the main subject of the documentary, Becky Fischer, an evangelical kids' summer camp preacher, thought the film would have a positive effect on people's perception of her "Jesus camp." The real effect is QUITE the opposite. It is horrifying to see what the kids at the camp are exposed to. This is indoctrination at its worst. An excellent, scary film. 10 out of 10

Congratulations to the filmmakers on a wonderful piece of work. This thing is tight -- and fascinating, and frightening. There is considerable fear, ignorance and hate, beneath the veneer of enlightenment here. It is easy to see how kids can be manipulated to become soldiers willing to strap bombs to themselves and rapturously blow up innocent people in the name of their God. This film answers the question: "How did George Bush get elected and reelected to the most powerful position on the planet?" God save us from the zealots. Space travel is the only real hope left. We have to get far away from these folks. Imagine spending eternity with these people at their Jesus camp on Devil's Lake. Would that be Heaven?

A must-see film! I first thought it was a pro-fundamentalist film, but it's quite the opposite... a scary documentary about people who train kids to die for Jesus. It starts with a heavy-set female Pentecostal children's minister who drags kids to a Jesus Camp, where they undergo some pretty heavy brain-washing. The children look like they're 8-12. They talk about being saved at 5, pledge allegiance to the Bible, and listen to "Christian heavy metal rock'n'roll" (which sounds exactly like regular heavy metal, just with different - religious - wordings). The kids are yelled at by the female Pentecostal children's minister (FPCH) for reading Harry Potter ("You don't make heroes out of warlocks!"). She also makes them cry and confess their sins. On her computer, the FPCH photo-shops a poster with the legend "The Punishment for Sin is Death" in scary, blood-dripping goth lettering. An 8-year old girl says that God is not in every church, "he's not in those dead churches where people sit still. God only comes to churches where people jump up and down, talk in tongues and yell HALLELUJAH!" When the FPCH has softened up the kids, they meet a creepy smiley-guy who tells them that they will save the world with their faith. And to prove their strength and determination he gives them a big hammer with which they're supposed to crush to smithereens mugs with "Government" printed on them. "This means war, children!" Creepy smiley-guy talks in tongues and keeps bobbing his head the way praying Muslims do. He also hands out little doll-babies, the kind you put on baby shower cakes, and say they represent their aborted brothers and sisters. The kids then talk about the wonderment of being a missionary ("those people die for God and they're not afraid. They're called martyrs and everybody loves them!") SOmeone drags out a life-size cut-out of George Bush, and he is prayed to and prayed over. Then the kids are ready to met Ted Haggard, a mega-church minister in charge of 30 million fundamentalists. he talks to president Bush every Monday. He tells one adorable 12-year old baby-preacher, who worries about the contents of his sermons,"just use your cute act until you're 30, then you'll know what to say." This is the same Haggard who recently had to step down from his ministry when a male prostitute came forward and said he's been servicing Haggard, a married man with five kids, every month for the last three years. We also get numbers in "Jesus Camp" - 43% of born-again Christians are saved before the age of 13. 75% of home-schooled kids are evangelical Christians.

This is an interesting movie but its message is fundamentally flawed. The filmmakers use scenes of a few very dedicated Pentecostal Fundamentalist families to leave the impression on the viewer that they have just seen a representative sample of the 80 million or so Americans who self identify as Evangelicals. Statistics about Evangelicals are occasionally flashed on screen as we watch the Pentecostal Fundametalists, in an apparent effort to equate the two groups. As an Evangelical, the movie opened my eyes to how many Americans may view us and our perceived political movement. There was a great deal of focus in the movie on "soldiers" and "warfare", while Jesus Camp was being portrayed on screen as a Christian equivalent of Islamic madrassas. To the non-Evangelical this can easily appear to be a scary thing. The huge difference is that these sort of camps (not just the one in the movie but what I have personally attended), don't feature AK-47's, hand grenades, or strap on suicide bombs. The children are being trained to engage in spiritual warfare, not physical warfare- and the movie fails to make that clear. Do they go too far with their indoctrination of the children? That is a legitimate question but I don't know that the film brings anything new to the table. Children become just as enthralled and emotional about a wide variety of things as these children are about Jesus. Regardless of their indoctrination, each will still have to make a personal choice on following Jesus when they get to an appropriate age- and none of the featured children seem to be mature enough to have made that decision yet. So the real question here to me is- should parents be allowed to subject their children to such indoctrination? If you believe in freedom, you've got to say yes. The indoctrination going on in the film may be different in content but it is not different in form from any number of competing ideologies that children are exposed to, and yes, indoctrinated into every day.

I have two words: UP and SETTING. This documentary details the events of the "Kids on Fire Summer Camp" led by Evangelical Christian leader Becky FIscher, a woman who, in my opinion, must be stopped at all costs. This country-wide movement, encouraging Christian warfare, now boasts a membership of around 80 million Americans, a good portion of whom are children being subjected to brainwashing techniques. These children are tortured and manipulated psychologically to think that they are damned creatures who must constantly repent their sinful natures, starting as young as the children can speak. Kids are home-schooled, and in addition to being trained to take over politically one day, they are taught the evils of abortion, homosexuality, evolution, and of all things, the campaign to end global warming. These fools actually speak in tongues and have their children say blessings on cardboard images of Bush, their poster child for godliness. I literally found myself sick throughout this film and anxious to find a way to stop this movement. If you value your freedom and have the smallest liberal bone in your body, I urge you to find this film. It will change the way you view our country.

Jesus Camp is the best documentary I've seen all year! The camera follows a select group of devout children through the routine ceremonies of Pentacostal Evangelical Christian life and summer camp. Beware, this is not your average summer camp! Regardless of your religious views, this film is a compelling portrayal of textbook indoctrination practices. I love the scene when the camp head master (Becky Fischer) draws comparisons between Islamic fundamentalists and their own tactics. Her quaint distinction is: "Because we have...excuse me! We have the truth", exemplifies the myopic intransigence of religious dogma. Bravo to directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady for pulling back the curtain on this rising movement in America that seeks to extirpate the hard won separation between church and state.

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. Favorite films: http://www.IMDb.com/list/mkjOKvqlSBs/ Lesser-known Masterpieces: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070242495/ Favorite Low-Budget and B-Movies: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls054808375/ Favorite TV-Shows reviewed: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls075552387/