Jesus Camp
Directed by Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady
Jesus Camp is one of 2006’s most frightening films—and it’s not even a thriller. In fact, it’s a purely observational documentary: one that serves as a galvanizing cautionary revelation about the Evangelical indoctrination of children in heartland America.
Framed by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s resignation and confirmation of ultraconservative Samuel Alito as her successor, we witness home-schooled preteens, Levi (12), Rachael (9) and Victoria (10) delivered by their Evangelical parents unto Bible camp at Devil’s Lake, N.D., where Pentecostal Children’s Minister Becky Fischer “hooks them up” (her words) with Jesus.
While prepping for camp, Fischer actually admonishes the devil not to disable auditorium lights. She boasts she can “have kids ‘saved’ in minutes because they’re so open” and comments “they’re so useful to Christianity.”
Scared yet? Wait ’til ya meet the kids. Levi, “saved” at age five, knows Creationism’s the only possibility and science doesn’t prove anything. Rachael thinks martyrdom’s “really cool.” Victoria owns guilt about dancing “for the flesh,” which leads to damnation. Worse, these and other campers are conditioned to believe they’re soldiers of God—ready to die for Jesus.
To warn children about what Christian America’s up against, Fischer preaches about how al-Qaeda’s kids fast, bare arms and sacrifice themselves for Islam. To their credit, filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady don’t preach; Jesus Camp is so devoid of Michael Moore-ishness, you’re not sure where their beliefs lie.
Fischer may think Jesus Camp glorifies her. The film gives statistics: 75 percent of home-schooled children are Evangelicals; 43 percent of Evangelicals were “saved” before age 13; 25 percent of our population—or 80 million people—are Evangelicals. But there’s only one opposing presence, Christian talk radio host Michael Papantonio, who expresses alarm about Evangelical fanaticism as he chats with callers and conducts on-air discourse with Fischer—during which she asserts her program is apolitical.
If that’s true, then why are campers instructed to pray—in tongues—over a cardboard cutout of G.W.? And why stir them into such frenzied chanting about banning abortion and creating a Christian America that they enter trance-like states, some falling convulsively to the floor? These hair-raising moments are reminiscent of scenes from Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, and it’s imperative to recall the ending of that cautionary tale when Levi receives preacher-to-preacher advice from Ted Haggard (Evangelical pastor to 30-million people and a frequent George W. Bush visitor) who assails homosexuality and boasts he has the numbers to elect our government. Although narrowly focused, Jesus Camp exposes a terrifying training ground of religious indoctrination and will (hopefully) convert those who watch it to a greater awareness of what’s happening on our home front.
