Jesus Camp

I don't even know where to start with this.


Scary passion. Admirable passion. Strong kids. Disgusting indoctrination. Fervent faith. Lovely & horrific expressions of connection to God.

I was taken aback how this particular Pentecostal Christian group spoke to their children - the negative, chilling teachings. It was sickening. At the same time, I strongly admire the confidence and faith of these kids. THEY WILL BE FORMIDABLE OPPONENTS (when they become adults). I hate to call them "opponents", but they hold such strong beliefs in this "War" for G-d that this frame of opposition is set. These children WILL change the world. And not in ways I'd like to see.

People of all religions and beliefs need to see this film and see their faith. To combat the problems facing our world - political, spiritual, ecological - we can learn from them. I am not suggesting adopting the "war talk" (though I appear to have already in the paragraph above - crap). I am suggesting moving to heal the world through strong, persuasive, heartfelt speech, through passion, love, and faith for your path, and ACTION.

Did you see the kids sitting on their butts at home with a box of Chinese Food and a Root Beer in a lovely brown bottle? NO. You see these children approaching others, proselytizing, speaking and seeing Self as positive and in God's image (even though the sermons were all about evil and sin - perplexing). Now one thought: Is that the evangelical or homeschooling effect? I was thinking it was the evangelical, but actually it could easily be the homeschooling effect. The homeschoolers I know are very confident, somewhat different, strong kids.

It is heartening to know that there are alternatives in Christianity, as we were shown through the Radio Host. All we hear about these days is how the Right is taking over politics. It's nice to see some response by Christians to these fundamentalists. Perhaps it all comes down to... A fundamentalist is a fundamentalist and a warrior. Doesn't matter your cause. Doesn't matter your faith. It's a no holds bar War against the Opposition. Terribly frightening to see, regardless which label this fundamentalism resides under.

The film was well made. I had wanted to see more of the Radio Host, but as I listened to the film with the commentary it made sense why they created the film as they did. I strongly recommend this film. It's incredibly eye-opening. I so want to see what Rachel and Levi are like in 10 years. They are powerful people. While the preaching of Becky and others (except for Levi) made me sick and saddened, I found a number of things to admire about the people in this film: passion - the power of prayer - passion - their relationships to G-d - passion.

Overall, I found this to be a very disturbing film that I hope has ignited enough fire and passion in my own beliefs to respectfully push-back and respond. This is an important film.