Jesus Camp

This is a gripping documentary about a Pentecoastal children's camp held each summer in rural North Dakota. Instead of camping, fishing, or swapping ghost stories, these children, in the age range of 8-12, are taught the Bible, are gathered in nightly prayer meetings, and encouraged to move in what Charismatic Christians call "the gifts of the Spirit". These consist of "speaking in tounges", which is an unfamiliar language that expresses an emotional prayer to God, and prophecy, which is God enabling people to speak a message from Him. These are normal kids from conservative church backgrounds. They play on swings like normal kids do. However, in interviews, these kids express an intense desire for God.

I come from a similar religious background, called Charismatic Christianity. I believe in the "gifts of the Spirit" as I mentioned above, and have spoken in tounges. However, some of the footage of these camp religious meetings made me feel uncomfortable. Seeing children dressed in army fatigues and camoflage paint performing a dance routine while a preacher tells them they need to save America from evil forces made me queasy. The hyperemotionalism of the meetings, where children are weeping as they raise their faces to heaven makes me wonder if this kind of church meeting is healthy for children so young. I have been involved with similar church meetings myself, but I was older, college age and adult, at the time. I believe there is a place for passionate devotion to the Lord, and I believe that children should be taught to pray and that they need to give their lives to Jesus. However, I am concerned that the film shows this camp only teaching these kids emotional experiences and not simply teaching them from the Bible itself. I think this is a real weakness of Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity in general, and much Evangelical Christianity in America does not emphasize strong theological teaching. The lady who runs these camps, Becky Fischer, has the best intentions for these kids and truly cares about them. However, I question whether it is appropriate to teach the kind of political messages that are taught to the kids in this film. One scene shows a preacher warning these kids to vote for "righteous judges", and another scene shows children running up to the stage, reaching for a cardboard cutout of President Bush, and praying fervently for Christians to save America from evil forces. Can kids this young comprehend these concepts?

However, there are certainly worse things these kids could be doing than going to church camp, even if some of the things that go on there look a little odd. These kids are being taught about God, and they come from homes with loving parents, so I think in God's grace, these kids will remain Christians throughout their lives. I'm not a child psychologist, so someone more knowledgeable would have to vouch for what damage, if any, may happen to these kids psychologically.

As far as the film itself, I can appreciate that the filmmakers showed the scenes at the camp as they happened and didn't editorialize. However, one thing the filmmakers did that I find quite misleading is that they don't mention that these kids are Pentecostals. Instead, they refer to these kids as Evangelicals. This is misleading. Pentecostal Christians make up a tiny minority of the millions of Christians who fall under the more general Evangelical classification. Evangelicals are generally characterized as those who believe that the Bible is the Word of God and the need to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Most Evangelicals do not practice "speaking in tounges", do not practice their faith in such an overtly emotional way, and don't encourage their children to go to these more extreme sort of "Jesus Camps", as this particular branch of the Pentecostal church does. In fact, I don't know if all Pentecostals would approve of this kind of "Jesus Camp", because this is a gathering of only a couple of hundred kids. I don't believe that this camp is endorsed by the national Pentecostal denomination. Most Evangelicals, and maybe some Pentecostals as well, would probably be freaked out by some of the things that are shown in this film. On the other hand, this film may be unfairly focusing on a few of the more extreme aspects of this camp, and ignoring normal camp activities like arts and crafts and playtime.

One more thing that bothered me about the filmmakers is this. The film intercuts the footage of the camp with voiceovers concerning the nomination and confirmation of conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. The film seems to be trying to make the point that this camp of kids is the harbinger of an extreme conservative political movement that will force a very conservative government to impose Christianity on the nation. But I don't buy the hype for this film that these kids are part of some huge Army that is going to change America. While most white suburban Evangelicals tend to vote Republican, they are not nearly as intense as the people in this film. America will go on as it always has, it's political identity occasionally changing from mildly conservative to mildly liberal and back again. There aren't enough radicals in the voting public to turn America into some kind of theocracy.

All in all, I see this film as a portrait of the religious practices of a few very devout, very intense Christians. They don't represent the way most Christians in America practice their religion. The kind of intense devotion practiced in this Jesus Camp has its drawbacks, but it also shows people who passionately love God. I disagree with some of the methods that Ms. Fisher and the people who run this camp use. And I don't believe that this model used by Jesus Camp is the proper way to teach religion to children. However, we should take one thing from this film. Emotion is a vital component of a healthy religious faith. No church is perfect, but we should learn that we can cry once in a while in prayer, and to be excited about loving God. And we should remember that the church of God is a big family. Some members of our family may do things the we think are a little weird. But we're going to be in heaven together, so we should learn to get along.