Review of Jesus Camp (2006) by Rob M — 03 Feb 2009

When I was 9 years old, I remember packing up the van with my dad for a week long trip to West Virginia for a Childrenâ??s Revival Conference. It was hosted by a passionate evangelist with a British accent who wanted all of us to open our mouth and speak in tongues at one of the evening services. "Did you know that yawns can be from the devil??" he said urgently - as though yawning caused cancer. "So open your mouth and let GOD fill it!".

I still think twice before I yawn.

It's memories like this that haunt me while watching a film like 'Jesus Camp'. I'm sure that the British speaker's intentions were as pure as Minister Fischer's from the film - surely no one would speak so passionately about something that they didn't feel was necessary and right. But I still can't help but cringe at the near 20 years of ongoing struggle it lead to for me - and possibly the struggle it will lead to for these children. The inescapable guilt, the heavy martyr complex, the magical 'I-command-you-in-Jesus-Name' response to all things contrary to a desired outcome, the constant divisive line that sees 'us' v. 'them' (and 'us' is so much better than 'them', of course), the defensiveness that protects the nagging fear of possibly being wrong.....and the list goes on. It's difficult to see these kids beginning a journey that took me years to recognize as unhealthy and will continue to take years to recover from.

Do I think that all Christians are like this? Thank Jesus himself - no. Do I even feel that this presents a picture of what Jesus is about? Again â?? no. And if speaking in tongues or â??taking back the landâ?? or winning converts is all God cares about, He certainly lacks imagination. Do I think that children should be instructed in issues of faith? Certainly. Do I think that God gave us minds and hearts and souls to discern how exactly that faith should look? Without a doubt. And that's perhaps what's most alarming about the goings on in this film and beyond. There is a certain tunnel vision that all of us - conservatives and liberals, religious and non-religious alike - are prone to. A tunnel vision that rejects all things different and foreign from itself at the expense of seeing what could actually be more healthy, accurate, appropriate or true. In essence, we begin to believe that God has a brain as microscopic as ours. I see this film as a clear comment on the dangers of that kind of myopic thinking and an invitation to embrace the life God gives us with all of its beauty, frailty, and unanswerable questions. To reduce faith to over-emotional displays of irrelevant behavior completely misses the opportunity to explore its mysteries, not to mention its call for perhaps more important things â?? like mercy, compassion, justice, peace, love â?? just to name a few. I for one â?? yawning or not - would rather God fill my mouth - and my life - with things such as these.