Review of Jesus Camp (2006) by Nathan H — 08 Feb 2009

Scary film documenting the lives of Evangelical Christians. The music is haunting, the images are compelling, and whatever your beliefs, it's difficult to watch this and not find a great deal wrong with what is happening.

"Jesus Camp," first and foremost, captures perfectly the current attitude of many Evangelicals who believe that they are in an ideological "war" with other religions...their rhetoric drips with battle analogies, soldier metaphors, and a sort of "Warrior Christ" mentality that we probably haven't seen since the Crusades. Much of what they preach and believe is based on comparisons with Muslims and the Middle East (i.e. "They're teaching kids to preach at age 5, so we must teach by age 5!"). Watching this sort of talk was tough for me as a Christian simply because it showcases the most base element of the Christian population: they are drawn to religion because they need to be right, because they need someone else to be wrong, because they want to target and hate someone, because they want to be allowed to be violent and to use religion as an excuse. The religious warfare segments of this film, I think, show us how dangerous religion (any religion) can be when entered into for the wrong reasons.

The film is also frightening for its examination of parents and children in Evangelical Christiandom, and it raises the interesting point: what is education, and what is indoctrination? This isn't as easy a question to answer as one might think. The Christian parents in this film are targeted for teaching children not to believe in Global Warming ("God would never let the world burn!" etc.), and for never giving their children a chance to learn or make decisions on their own, and I wholeheartedly agree that this is indoctrination. But I want to raise my own children with Christian values, with a sense of love and respect for all other human beings: so where does "teaching" end, and "indoctrination" begin? The parents in this film would argue that they are simply teaching, of course, so does "indoctrination" simply become a term we use when we don't agree with what someone else teaches their child?

Interestingly, though, this film does show us why Evangelical home-schooling generally produces such well-behaved children, and why so many of these children grow so strong in their Christian beliefs, and so stubborn and hateful toward the rest of the world. The parent-teachers instill in their children the mentality that the rest of the world is trying to lie to them (I still can't get out of my mind the scene of the mother quizzing her son on why global warming is a farce...or the scene where the children say a prayer for George W. Bush and the Republican party). The home-schooling in this film feels adversarial ("Tell me, son, why those public school teachers are wrong about evolution. Tell me why they're lying."), which kids absolutely love...hell, maybe the problem with public schools is that they don't try similar tactics. Can you imagine a public school where teachers taught grammar or fractions by saying, "Tell me why grammar is boring and wrong!" Kids would never miss a day.

By the end of this film, you're left with a single thought, though: These kids don't stand a chance. They'll never think for themselves. They'll forever parrot the ideas they hear from various speakers and pastors, never even considering whether they actually believe these things, or whether they've just been told that they believe these things so much that they've got no choice. And perhaps that is indoctrination. Perhaps "Jesus Camp" shows us that "teaching" will eventually back off to let you make your own decision, and indoctrination will never let up, will keep coming and coming and suffocating you, will never let you escape.