Jesus Camp
We watched Jesus Camp over the weekend, and I was really kind of creeped out by it.
Not that I have anything against faith, Christianity, or Evangelicalism… To be completely honest, I’m kind of envious. It must be nice to believe with all your heart that there’s someone out there looking out for you…that there’s some kind of divine plan…that things will all work out in the end…that there really is Justice in the world… So, by all means, believe in whatever you can. But these folks in Jesus Camp were a little odd.
The children reminded me of the kids in Village of the Damned. They were all entirely too serious and worried about their salvation. Sure, take your kids to church…teach them about Jesus…but give them time to play, too. There’s a scene where one of the camp counselors doesn’t allow the kids to tell ghost stories before bed because it doesn’t celebrate Jesus. Apparently everything these kids do, 24/7, has to celebrate Jesus.
And the woman running the place sounded like a villain from Final Fantasy. She stated repeatedly that “our enemies” (Islamic terrorists, I assume) were teaching their children to die for their religion and she wanted to see Christian children with the same fervor. She actually wants to emulate the way these terrorists do business! I thought terrorism was bad? She also talks about how “useful” kids are to the Evangelical movement, making them sound more like tools or weapons than living human beings.
And then, after reducing a living human being to the status of a “useful” tool…we see a presentation on how evil abortion is. Apparently unborn children are to be loved and cherished…but once they’re born they’re just “useful.”
Later we see this woman on a radio show insisting that they have no political agenda… This is after we’ve seen them treating a cardboard cutout of George W. Bush as the guest of honor at their camp. After we’ve seen them fervently praying for “righteous judges” that will turn back Roe v. Wade. After we’ve seen this woman explain how the problem with democracy is that everyone is equal, even the folks who are wrong, and it’s time for Evangelicals to take back the nation. We see another woman who’s teaching her children some bizzarely different version of the Pledge of Allegiance.
There’s also a great scene at one of the megachurches, with Ted Haggard being terrifically holier than thou…
And, of course, there’s plenty of anti-science sentiment. One woman explains to her kid that Intelligent Design is the only way to explain everything (mainly because Intelligent Design cannot be disproved). And then there’s a kid who proudly points out that science doesn’t prove anything (no, actually it explains things). Apparently Global Warming is now somehow anti-Christian too, since it’s lumped in there with Evolution as well.
The worst thing, I think, was the complete lack of understanding (and lack of desire to understand) these Evangelicals displayed throughout the movie. They talk about loving the United States and patriotism…and then complain about how democracy makes everyone equal… They talk about putting the church back into government, when one of the key reasons our government was created was to ensure a separation of church and state…
And all through the movie these people talk about “taking back” the country. You can’t take back something that was never yours to begin with. If you could, I’d most certainly “take back” all the gold in Fort Knox.
