Jesus Camp

Becky Fischer, Mike Papantonio, Ted Haggard

Dirs. Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady

Should I fear evangelical Christians? Well, the message of this film is you’re damn right I should. I don’t think I do (maybe I would if I lived in America), but I was certainly amused by them, and also a little saddened. This movie is by no means unbiased and is as manipulative as most documentaries you see nowadays, but if you approach it with a healthy pinch of salt it is an interesting and entertaining 90 minutes.

Jesus Camp explores the wider debate in America regarding the dominant rise of the Christian conservative right and their political and social power. It does so by giving us a glimpse into the training (brainwashing?) of some young kids at an evangelical summer camp ("Kids on Fire" at, ironically, Devil's Lake). Now, I was brought up a Catholic and fondly remember yearly retreats at primary school – we would sing some songs, prayer a little and do a lot of fun outdoor activities. Kids on Fire is NOT like that. At all. Run by Becky Fischer, charismatic camp director and children’s preacher extraordinaire, this is serious stuff. These kids cry bucket loads. They repent their sins, a lot. They speak in tongues at every opportunity. They scream and yell and beg and generally get very worked up. And, I must say, I felt very sorry for them. Some are as young as five and I doubt very much they completely understand what is going on. Fischer admits, in fact, that this is the best age to get them at; that “our enemies” are putting grenades and rifles in their children’s hands at as young as four; that indoctrinating children is the best way to save the nation.

The film follows a couple of the kids closely – particularly 12-year-old Levi and his sister, 9-year-old Rachel. You can’t help but like Levi – he wants to be a preacher and change the world. He is sweet and eager. He tells the story of how he was saved at age five because he “just wanted more out of life”. His sister, Rachel, is also worryingly eager, going up to strangers on the street or in a bowling alley and asking them whether they think they are going to heaven and whether they want to talk about Jesus. These kids are home-schooled by their mother; taught only creationism, told that science doesn’t prove anything and informed that global warming is a liberal lie. I feel truly sorry for these kids and want to slap some sense into their mother. She says with conviction that “there are two kinds of people in this world: people who love Jesus and people who don't.” Lady, life is never that black and white.

These aspects of the film sit uneasily with me and, obviously, they are meant to. We are meant to be appalled and shocked and angry. And while I am, I also think the parents and Fischer are fooling themselves if they think that the passion these kids show at camp indicates anything more than just kids being kids. Who hasn’t seen a kid become over-the-top ecstatic at the sight of a red shiny car? Or burst into tears because their sandwiches have been cut on the diagonal rather than straight? Kids wear their hearts on their sleeves. I just wonder how many of these kids will hit puberty and say “screw this, I wanna have some fun!”

There is some glorious editing afoot here. We see a stars and stripes flag atop a pole, waving in the wind. Cut to a McDonalds sign atop a similar pole. Fischer waxs lyrical about how proud she is of American culture. Cut to a multitude of signs and banners in a busy shopping centre. One of the kids at camp points out how much his fellow camp-goer resembles Harry Potter. Cut to shifty-eyed adults and frightened looking kids. It’s documentary-making at its most manipulative. And, while it’s effective, it’s not necessarily good documentary-making.

I recommend this movie to you. I’ve waffled on a bit in this review, but I must say I laughed heartily at this film and was glad to have seen it. But it’s Michael Moore-esque. It’s determined to tell a story and cuts and pastes in a heavy handed manner in order to do so.

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Becky Fischer: And while I'm on the subject, let me say something about Harry Potter. Warlocks are the enemies of God! And I don't care what kind of hero they are, they're an enemy of God and had it been in the Old Testament Harry Potter would have been put to death!