Well, I finally got around to actually watching the Jesus Camp documentary. Either that or it finally got on youtube. Frankly, it’s a stunning documentary on how you indoctrinate kids. It really isn’t about the religious message. You could do the same with any message. In fact, some of the things that the lady in the movie was saying struck me as familiar, and so I went to search for the quote.
“When an opponent declares,
‘I will not come over to your side.’
I calmly say, ‘Your child belongs to us already…
What are you? You will pass on.
Your descendants, however,
now stand in the new camp.
In a short time they will know nothing
else but this new community.’”
-Adolf Hitler
Not that their message is anything like the National Socialists, but if you are looking for a well documented study on what the evangelicals are doing with their children, it’s right there. One of the things that one can notice about the movie, is when they get Becky off by herself and she’s talking about how she runs the camp. She doesn’t talk so much about her message, but how she delivers it to the kids. It’s right in her speech, they’re “so usable.”
To me, the whole crux of indoctrinating these kids doesn’t rely on getting them to love Jesus, but rather it’s about attaching the message of Jesus to products that kids want. Just watch when she wants to kids to raise their hands, they more than often don’t. First off, most of them don’t even understand what it is she’s really talking about (can’t say I blame them, most small children know the difference between a lion and tiger) and why should they?
These people are treating God like an industry. He’s a product to be marketed and packaged. Imagine a starving person. He needs food. So if I offer him food on the condition that he accept Jesus as his lord and saviour he more than likely take the food. It wasn’t about Jesus, but rather his need for that food. The kids aren’t there for Jesus, they’re attracted to the music, the toys, the gimmicks, the “positive” messages.
Notice how most of the adults speak to these children as if they’re going to be “the greatest” generation, “the most important,” etc… For a lack of a better term I’ll call it the manipulation of self-esteem. If you continue to tell somebody they’re great they’re going to be more accepting of other things you tell them because you make them believe you truly think they’re special.
They also don’t allow the kids the tools to analyse what they’re being told. Let’s look at the scene about home schooling. Now the question was what is wrong with the logic that three progressively hotter summers is proof of global warming. His answer was that it was only .6 degrees and that it wasn’t really a problem. A. He didn’t answer the question. B. He admitted global warming was true by default by dismissing it as not a problem. However, the statement is, if anything, hasty generalization. It’s only supporting evidence and needs to be combined with other evidence before it can be used to support global warming.
Since these kids aren’t getting the education they need they’re not going to see the logical fallacies that their parents are committing. The discussion on the school system was intriguing. To them, we took prayer out of schools and now the schools are failing, ergo the cause of failing schools is the lack of prayer. Any logical fallacy seem familiar at this moment? Of course it couldn’t be whole word reading, new new math, NCLB, and the fact that we’re too worried about self-esteem rather than education. No, those couldn’t at all be at fault. Then again, if they’re so worried about education, then perhaps they shouldn’t teach their kids that Galileo gave up science for Christ.
The movie even gives a nice demonstration of how much the kids don’t get it. Praying to God fervently to get a strike? Seems a bit vain and selfish to me. Of course, if you’re going to pray to God about your bowling skills, might I suggest not having the bumpers up. This is though, the kid who wants to give manicures for Christ. After all, I go to a nail salon to hear about Jesus.
The kids aren’t being taught a message, they’re being taught how to market the message. Since they’re kids you just give them the message and don’t allow them to have any other contradictory information (the kid whose dad let him watch Harry Potter for example. He could get information they didn’t want him to have). You don’t have to preach a message when they have no reason not to believe it. The book that Becky is trying to sell in the beginning. It’s a product that teaches children how to market “The Product” to those who don’t have the logical capacities to even understand it. Ever adult the kids approached treated them as a novelty act, with good reason. The kids have no credibility to what they’re saying. They’re rehashing the marketing slogans that the adults in their lives taught them.
Though, while I’m hesitant to admit it, I do agree with Becky on one thing. You definitely don’t make a hero out of a warlock. I know this from first hand experience. You nerf them. Thus it is written in the book of Blizzard. In fact, Becky might do herself good to visit the WoW forums. I’m pretty sure they hate warlocks more than she does.
The movie has a lot of nice irony in it. Such as the girl missing the cup the first time when she tried to break it. I also enjoyed all the nice shots of the dogs. Nothing expresses a true reaction to what was going on than those dogs. Though, I think the best example bar none; Bush gave credibility to Christianity.
And could we please have more of the tape on the mouth thing. That really gets your message across the best. Please, please try to do that more while spreading your message.
Now, if since this movie was made a few years ago, it’s nice to take a look at how it turned out. Democrats control congress and Haggard’s gay. So, as it turns out, either the evangelicals got lost on the way to the polls, or this movement doesn’t truly exist as powerfully as they would have you believe.
I did have an intersting thought to this movie. She wants these kids to be willing to die for Jesus. My thoughts was how far are we from the point when we reach kids blowing themselves up in the name of freedom and stopping terrorism on the list of stupid ideas that we’ve tried in the war on terror. It’s kind of Jonathan Swift for kids. Though this one might work, once all the crazies have blown themselves up we’re just left with the rational and lazy people.
The scariest thing by far in the movie though, gas used to be $2.03.
I had a lot more notes on my thoughts on the movie; however, as you may have guessed, or will figure out, I can’t read my own handwriting. Really, though, having read this, you should watch the movie and form your own opinion. You don’t have to agree with me, but my arguments at best should only serve as a guidance of things you should look at and think about when you are watching it. That’s something a rational person should do and it’s what separates us from the people in the movie.
