(no subject)
Mar. 15th, 2007 12:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nigeltdeLauren and I watched Jesus Camp last night. It's a fairly well-made documentary about fundamentalist Evangelical Christians trying to create a generation of kids who will change the US according to God's law. This process includes giant, intense revivalist churches, bible study, denouncing Harry Potter, homeschooling, and "Jesus Camp," a week-long summer camp for kids between about five and thirteen.
Apparently most people involved, including the leading pastor Becky Fischer,* feel that they were portrayed fairly, but it creeped me out down to my soul. There were tons of images of kids en masse weeping, screaming, speaking in tongues, prostrate on the ground sobbing or spasming, reaching out their hands to touch a preacher or beg forgiveness or bless a cardboard cut-out of George Bush.
The makers did a good job of showing the interesting intersection between politics and these churches and kids, using the nomination and confirmation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court to show the passage of time. Despite Fischer saying that she had no political agenda--and she probably doesn't have an explicit one--the current government is held up as a giant step forward for Christianity, the children are actively involved in anti-abortion campaigns (their mouths are taped up, and "life" is written on the tape--super creepy!), and creationism in schools is discussed several times. Most significantly, these kids are purposefully being trained to be the generation that leads America to Jesus.
Equally absorbing was one of the three kids focussed on, a boy of ten called Levi, who wants to become a preacher. He's the spitting image of a young River Pheonix (albeit with a world-beating mullet) and just as articulate, self-possessed, and intelligent as you might expect, quite an extraordinary kid. There was also a blond boy who talked about his difficulty believing in God (the only real hint of trouble we see the kids have with the whole thing, which is a pity) and who threw himself down in repentance, and you just know he's going to be a fucked-up closeted teen. I would really like to see a 7-up version of this, to see what happens with these kids as they grow older.
EDIT: c+p from my response to electromoon below, because I forgot to include this aspect of the movie.
I suppose one of the things that really struck me in the film was the emphasis on Americanism, being an American; how complexly intertwined identities of being a Christian and being an American were. Arguments about the fundamental principle of separation of church and state could be forgotten in favour of trying to get Those Damn Liberals out of power, because they threaten everything we believe in--as if the founding fathers weren't liberals! Fischer would go, I love America, I love being an American, and in the same breath talk about how screwed up society was, as if the "True (Christian) Americans," once they'd dominated the false Americans, would save the world. Crazy.
I think that Australian identity isn't as rigid and pervasive as all that; but if Australia fundamentalist/megachurches are explicitly taking their cues from American ones, I can see how things would definitely start to head in that direction. And I guess the other thing is is that we don't have the culture of summer camps here, but you're right in that that could be easily imported!
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* who comes out with stuff like:
- It's no wonder, with that kind of intense training and discipling, that those young people are ready to kill themselves for the cause of Islam. I wanna see young people who are as committed to the cause of Jesus Christ as the young people are to the cause of Islam. I wanna see them as radically laying down their lives for the Gospel as they are over in Pakistan and Israel and Palestine and all those different places, you know, because we have... excuse me, but we have the truth!
and:
- I can go into a playground of kids that don't know anything about Christianity, lead them to the Lord in a matter of, just no time at all, and just moments later they can be seeing visions and hearing the voice of God, because they're so open. They are so usable in Christianity.
Apparently most people involved, including the leading pastor Becky Fischer,* feel that they were portrayed fairly, but it creeped me out down to my soul. There were tons of images of kids en masse weeping, screaming, speaking in tongues, prostrate on the ground sobbing or spasming, reaching out their hands to touch a preacher or beg forgiveness or bless a cardboard cut-out of George Bush.
The makers did a good job of showing the interesting intersection between politics and these churches and kids, using the nomination and confirmation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court to show the passage of time. Despite Fischer saying that she had no political agenda--and she probably doesn't have an explicit one--the current government is held up as a giant step forward for Christianity, the children are actively involved in anti-abortion campaigns (their mouths are taped up, and "life" is written on the tape--super creepy!), and creationism in schools is discussed several times. Most significantly, these kids are purposefully being trained to be the generation that leads America to Jesus.
Equally absorbing was one of the three kids focussed on, a boy of ten called Levi, who wants to become a preacher. He's the spitting image of a young River Pheonix (albeit with a world-beating mullet) and just as articulate, self-possessed, and intelligent as you might expect, quite an extraordinary kid. There was also a blond boy who talked about his difficulty believing in God (the only real hint of trouble we see the kids have with the whole thing, which is a pity) and who threw himself down in repentance, and you just know he's going to be a fucked-up closeted teen. I would really like to see a 7-up version of this, to see what happens with these kids as they grow older.
EDIT: c+p from my response to electromoon below, because I forgot to include this aspect of the movie.
I suppose one of the things that really struck me in the film was the emphasis on Americanism, being an American; how complexly intertwined identities of being a Christian and being an American were. Arguments about the fundamental principle of separation of church and state could be forgotten in favour of trying to get Those Damn Liberals out of power, because they threaten everything we believe in--as if the founding fathers weren't liberals! Fischer would go, I love America, I love being an American, and in the same breath talk about how screwed up society was, as if the "True (Christian) Americans," once they'd dominated the false Americans, would save the world. Crazy.
I think that Australian identity isn't as rigid and pervasive as all that; but if Australia fundamentalist/megachurches are explicitly taking their cues from American ones, I can see how things would definitely start to head in that direction. And I guess the other thing is is that we don't have the culture of summer camps here, but you're right in that that could be easily imported!
-----
* who comes out with stuff like:
- It's no wonder, with that kind of intense training and discipling, that those young people are ready to kill themselves for the cause of Islam. I wanna see young people who are as committed to the cause of Jesus Christ as the young people are to the cause of Islam. I wanna see them as radically laying down their lives for the Gospel as they are over in Pakistan and Israel and Palestine and all those different places, you know, because we have... excuse me, but we have the truth!
and:
- I can go into a playground of kids that don't know anything about Christianity, lead them to the Lord in a matter of, just no time at all, and just moments later they can be seeing visions and hearing the voice of God, because they're so open. They are so usable in Christianity.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-15 02:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-15 04:11 am (UTC)It's also quite terrifying because at the start the filmmakers gave stats like "25% of Americans think of themselves as Evangelical Christians;" but thankfully not all of them are as fundamentalist as the ones shown in the movie. On the other hand, they interviewed a televangelist preacher who said that a new megachurch was being built in the US every two days.
Eeeeeee! Run away! Run away!
no subject
Date: 2007-03-15 05:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-15 05:38 am (UTC)It's amazing parents let their kids within three miles of her and yet they go along to the camp and stick tape over their kids' mouths as well!
no subject
Date: 2007-03-15 06:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-15 07:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-15 07:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-15 07:37 am (UTC)I suppose one of the things that really struck me in the film was the emphasis on Americanism, being an American; how complexly intertwined identities of being a Christian and being an American were. Arguments about the fundamental principle of separation of church and state could be forgotten in favour of trying to get Those Damn Liberals out of power, because they threaten everything we believe in--as if the founding fathers weren't liberals! Fischer would go, I love America, I love being an American, and in the same breath talk about how screwed up society was, as if the "True (Christian) Americans," once they'd dominated the false Americans, would save the world. Crazy.
I think that Australian identity isn't as rigid and pervasive as all that; but if Australia fundamentalist/megachurches are explicitly taking their cues from American ones, I can see how things would definitely start to head in that direction.
And I guess the other thing is is that we don't have the culture of summer camps here, but you're right in that that could be easily imported!