Jesus Camp (2006)

K: This is an oscar-nominated documentary that we just got around to seeing on DVD. Some friends lent it to us, with the warning that it was pretty good "except for the radio talk show guy." I'd say that that's a pretty fair assessment.

This documentary follows some evangelical kids and their families to an evangelical summer camp. There are some pretty creepy segments in this movie. Early in the movie, the children speak in tongues and shake on the floor. Their children's pastor instructs them on how to approach their friends about being saved ("find a time when they are vulnerable"). Multiple times, the kids are told that they are the soldiers of Christianity and that they should be willing to give up their lives for Jesus because that is what the little Muslim children are willing to do for their god (you can almost hear the lower-case "g").

Throughout, the kids are surprisingly articulate. One gives a rousing sermon to his peers, complete with bible-shaking gestures. His rhetoric is surprisingly advanced, especially considering that he and his peers are still young enough to scare each other with ghost stories. In addition to being articulate, the kids are also incredibly consistent. There is never a flicker of doubt, or an off-message statement. At first blush, their faith seems refreshing...pure...almost seductive.

In fact, their faith is too perfect. Their cheerful statements about the evils of Brittany Spears and Harry Potter have a hollow feel, as if they were coming out of the mouth of someone very far away. You get the impression that they have repeated these same words hundreds of times. No wonder they sound so articulate.

The result is a group of kids who sound thoughtful, without actually being thoughtful. A perfect example of this kind of comes partway through the film. The mother of one of the particularly articulate children (actually, the same one who gave the sermon I mentioned above) is in the middle of home schooling her kid. The topic of the day is evolution and creationism . He nods vigorously as she gives him a series of vague explanations of why creationism is more reasonable than evolution--none of which have any actual informational content. She repeatedly says "Its the only thing that explains all the questions", without any indication of what "the questions" might be. And this is the kid with the impressive rhetoric later in the film.

The film does set up a strange pseudo-conflict between the preachers at the camp and a liberal Christian talk show host. Strange, because there's no clear reason that he appears in the film. He's not particularly articulate and aside from a brief interchange between him and children's preacher over the telephone, he doesn't directly interact with the other principle players. On the whole, he wasn't really needed.

All in all, I thought that it was a good film to see. Throughout the film, the adults talk about how important it is to get to children early. They claim that the leaders of Islam are training their children young, and so they must do so as well. Ironically, I learned the same lesson from them--I will train my children to think for themselves from a young age. Otherwise, the Evangelicals might get them.

In summery: The film is well worthwhile, but will be just as shocking on video.