'Jesus Camp' - A Critical Review

I am in quite the state of shock having just viewed the documentary, 'Jesus Camp'. It is a scary depiction of the indoctrination of small children into the 'cult' of fundamentalist 'Christianity'. This award winning and Academy Award nominated documentary, from 2006 features, Becky Fischer, a Pentecostal children's preacher from Missouri at the Kid's On Fire camp. While this documentary is 8 yrs. old, I believe the message is a timely one that needs to be heeded at any time, in any generation. Just from viewing the indoctrination of these children, one can comprehend just how these fundamentalist Evangelical sects have taken over the reins of the Christian religion. It is, also, very scary to watch what some may consider a 'Christian Jihad' happening right under our noses. These people plan to take over our government, from the make-up of the winner's of the mid-term elections, I'd say they were well on their way to reaching that end.

I use the word 'camp' because that's what Ms. Fischer calls it. In my mind, Kid's On Fire is a cult infused reformatory. The children involved are 5 yrs. on up, the greatest population seems to be from ages 10-12 yrs. These children are immersed in fundamental beliefs from the moment they wake until they fall asleep. In addition to glorifying George W. Bush as a messenger of god (the children even pray to a full-sized cardboard stand up of the then President), Fisher continually and forcefully demonizes Islam and the Muslim people. At one time addressing the fundamentalist rite of the three-day fast, goading the children who may have faltered during the 72 hour ritual, saying that "the Muslims, when their children are aged 5 yrs., have them start to fast for the entire month of Ramadan and the children do so with grenades in their hands". Children at the Kid's On Fire camp are taught that Harry Potter is evil. "IfHarry Potter was in the bible, he would be a friend of the devil." One poor kid owned up to seeing the Harry Potter movies at his dad's house. There were gasps followed by dead silence from his surrounding lunch mates. Children are pressured to stand up and speak of their indiscretions, the worst of which may be faltering and struggling with their belief in their god or their ability to prostelitize. On a stormy night in any other kid's camp, there would be ghost stories and scary shenanigans. Not at Kid's On Fire, these poor kids are told 'God' dislikes stories of the netherworld. These 'campers' are taken on 'field trips', such as bowling, where they are expected to pontificate to the unsuspecting public at the bowling alley. These children perform cultural-revolution style routines while decked out in war paint and camouflage. One little girl aspire's to be a dancer but she struggles with pleasing the body and pleasing God. She looks to be about 9-10 yrs. old. Someone her age should be able to dance her days away without such heady concern. The children are told that over 1/3 of their friends are dead because they were killed by abortion. These children are crying, wailing and chanting all together and they are told their mission is to pray hard so that those murders stop. They are shown tiny dolls replicating the embryo from 7 to 12 weeks. My children didn't have any idea what abortion was until they were in high school, possibly jr. high, but they surely had no clue when they were 5 yrs. old. Probably, saddest of all was the preaching that those who attend 'dead' churches, sedate places of worship where sitting and listening to a minister or a priest occurs, these congregates are attending churches of the 'devil'. Children should not be told, complete with VISUAL aids (Ms. Fischer believes children learn best with visual aids, the scarier the better), about homosexuality, abortion, the evils of schools that teach evolution, the reprobates that may be around them in the form of classmates at a school (thankfully these children are largely home-school). Kid's On Fire camp floods the children's beings with the discipline of hate, hate for anyone, regardless of religious affiliation, age, race, sexual orientation, familial relationship, etc., ANYONE that is not a practicing, goading and persuading 'Fundamentalist Christian'.

Ms. Fischer fully admits that these 'campers' are brainwashed. She firmly believes that God is guiding her brainwashing, therefor it is what is good and true (How many times in recent years have you heard politicians justifying their lies with these same words, "Yes, I lied about my opponent to get elected but it was o.k. because God wanted me to hold that office"?). As the credits rolled, I was left without a doubt, these poor children are victims. These children have been bathed in an evil that is frightening and judgmental, dauntingly dangerous to our country and our society from such an early age. The heinous drilling they receive every waking moment guides them all to their job of prostelgzing to the masses, to save the world. In the end, the children were filmed, in a park, grilling unknown adults on their 'saved' status. I must add that they do so in quite a rude, condescending and disrespectful manner. It was almost like a real-life version of "The Boys From Brazil".

#fundamentalist #christian #muslim #jihad #children