There's so much to say about this movie that I thought I'd do a play-by-play reaction.
1. There are so many misconceptions about Islam and the Qur'an, I'm still astounded when I hear people say things like, "Islam teaches children to kill other people." This is simply not true.
2. Evolution. Seriously, people. All evolution is is change over time. It doesn't mean that we "came from monkeys." Scientific evidence shows us that the planet has changed over time. Scientific evidence DOESN'T show what started the universe, and that's where faith comes in. There's no place for the teaching of creationism in the school system, other than teaching it as a viewpoint. Creationism isn't fact, it's Hanna-Barbera as a documentary.
3. Global warming. Global warming isn't "a political issue." There are a few undisputed facts--the polar icecaps are melting. What's the point of not believing in global warming?
4. Our nation WASN'T "founded on Judeo-Christian values." The US was founded on enlightenment philosophies.
5.
Jack Chick pamphlets scare the crap out of me.
6. Don't you think that God has better things to do than make sure you get a strike in bowling?
7. "43% of people who consider themselves 'born again Christians' are under 15." I wonder how many of those people still go to church or remain Christians as adults.
8. A dad tells his child, "Way to be obedient!" This is the first thing that has made me laugh in this movie. The second thing is the same little girl plans to do nails, because she sees it as an opportunity to evangelize.
9. I'm already finding myself wondering how many of these kids actually understand the philosophies that they're spouting.
10. "Christian heavy metal rock and roll"?
11. I'm somewhat reassured by the child who likes both "Christian heavy metal" and Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan.
12. Okay, the mother who worries about how God is going to judge her on how she raises her child, yet cannot see that one of her children is CLEARLY obsessive-compulsive worries me.
13. I'm really disturbed by Christian dance teams.
14. "We pray over the PowerPoint, because we know how the Devil likes to work in meetings like this." HA!
15. You know, the nice thing about this Evangelical camp is that the kids who are regarded as weird at home are now surrounded by people like them. The bad thing is, these kids are surrounded with people like them. I can't even imagine these kids at MedoLark, surrounded by kids and counselors of all kinds of faiths, nationalities, and ethnicities. Of all the kids (who are at Jesus Camp with their families), there are maybe 3 non-white people. Even the Black kids have white families.
16. "When you first start out as a kid..." Really? There's another way to start out?
17. Yep, there's nothing like scaring the crap out of kids by telling them that "the devil goes after the young."
18. "Had it been in the Old Testament, Harry Potter would have been put to death! You don't make heroes out of warlocks!" You're a book-banner, aren't you?
19. Anabaptists with bottled water. Now I've seen everything.
20. I have no doubt that the emotion is real, but it's also really disturbing. I really think that there's a time when you must reassure children that God loves them and created them as God-loved beings. Yes, there's a time when you must tell children that it's up to them to choose between right and wrong, and up to them to choose their religious path (whatever that might be).
21. Ghost stories don't honor God? This just makes me angry, and reminds me of when I was about 11, and my cousin James was rushed to the hospital because he cracked his head open on the wall. My mom and his mom took him to the hospital, and left us alone with out evangelical uncle. I tried to do a magic trick to distract the younger kids (of which were my cousin Kate, 9, cousin Allie, 7, my sister, 6, and my cousin Josh, 3. My uncle told me not to do magic, because "there was no magic outside Jesus."
22. There's a PowerPoint font that indicates "dripping with blood"?
23. The boys' bunks seem like a potential site for a lot of homosexual activities.
24. A word of advice--if you're at an evangelical camp and you admit that you sneak behind your mom's back and watch Harry Potter at your dad's house, someone is going to rat you out.
25. Oh, man. "The enemy of the government?" Which would be what, exactly? I'm pretty sure that these kids don't know what that really means.
26. I wonder how much de-programming and therapy these kids are going to need. Especially if these kids are a statistical representation (which they're not, seeing as how so few of them are non-white or disabled), and a percentage of them turn out to be gay. Those are the kids I'm really scared for.
27. I bet that a lot of these kids aren't real popular in their neighborhoods. I would say "schools," but the statistic thrown at me is that 79% of homeschooled kids are evangelicals.
28. Oh, Lord. They're telling the kids to talk to a cardboard cut-out of GW.
29. I wonder how many of these kids would flip out if they learned that "one nation, under God" was only added to the Pledge of Allegiance during the Red Scare of the 1950s.
30. "1/3rd of your friends would have been here, but didn't make it"? I don't think the statistic on abortion is that hight. And 1/6 of all pregnancies end in spontaneous abortion, so why not throw that statistic out there? I'd like these kids to have an opportunity to talk to women who've actually had abortions, so they can get all the sides of the story.
31. Again, this movie reminds me of "Saved!" I think I may have to watch that next, just to get the taste out of my mouth.
32. I really hope that there's a follow-up to this movie that catches up with these kids.
33. AAAAHHH! Ted Haggard preaching against homosexuality! "I think I know what you did last night! Send me $1000, and I won't tell your wife!" Hee. It's funny because it's true.
34. The woman who runs Jesus Camp sits around at home and watches videos taken at Jesus Camp. I don't know why I find that so disturbing, but I do.
35. It's over. I didn't find it as disturbing as everyone told me it was, mostly because none of the philosophies were new to me. Also, because I think that many of the kids will pull away from this type of Christianity as they're exposed to more of life.
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