Review of Jesus Camp (2006) by Jared S — 13 Aug 2011

An Oscar nominated documentary that explores the summer camps in the United States that are geared towards teaching children how to promote Evangelical Christianity.

I do enjoy watching a good documentary, but I always seem to pick the ones that I know will annoy me, and again, I have picked well. This is not the most 'in your face' piece covering religion that I have seen, but I think the subtly of the whole thing just got made it get under my collar even more. I fully understand that religion is a personal choice, and if it get's you through the day, then that is your business. But, to my sensibilities, teaching kids of 8+ years old that things like abortion, homosexuality and Harry Potter (I kid you not) are all works of the devil is nothing more than indoctrination and brain-washing. The major trouble is that it just follows the Evangelicals, and only very, very lightly touches on any form of other views, so in the end it actually begins to feel one-sided and does not promote a rounded view that I expect from a good documentary and left me wondering what the film-makers were trying to get across. Still, with that said, it was an interesting subject that got a reaction out of me.