MOVIE REVIEWS
Jesus Camp
Nathan Lim
Depending on your political stance, Jesus Camp, the new documentary about Evangelical Christian kids who spend several days camping in Devils Lake, North Dakota, will either shock you or comfort you. A woman in the film says, “There are two kinds of people in the world; people who love Jesus and those who don’t.” And she isn’t joking either. There’s a serious movement happening in this country, and it’s not Sirius Satellite Radio. It’s a group who is quickly growing in population and influencing the political spectrum. It’s a group who call themselves EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS.
WOW! What an eye-opener this film was! And I don’t get shocked easily.
Pastor Becky Fisher preaches to hundreds of innocent-looking kids. She tells them that they are the most important generation in the history of this country. The kids then start praying to God, and some of the kids weep in ecstasy (I think). I must admit that watching kids crying and experiencing seizure-like reactions is kind of creepy. We next meet Levi, a nine-year-old boy with a mullet. He’s a precocious preacher. He says that when he’s writing his sermons, he feels that a higher presence is holding his hand and writing for him. Then there’s a little girl by the name of Victoria (I think) who likes Christian Heavy Metal. She does a pop dance during her favorite part of the music. I can’t help but think that when she reaches that rebellious stage, she’ll discover Marilyn Manson and Ozzie Osbourne.
There are so many shocking scenarios in the film, I don’t even know where to begin. I guess I can start with a scene in which a life-sized cardboard cutout of George W. Bush is presented before the kids. And then a plethora of little hands touch the cardboard while someone prays for our flummoxed President. The line that elicited the loudest unifying gasp in the theatre was from Levi who says that he is a warrior for the Conservative movement and he’s not afraid to die in the name of God.
These Christians are not the stereotypical country rubes. They are articulate and passionate about their cause. According to a statistic in the film, over 70% of kids of Evangelicals are home schooled.
Air America’s Mike Papantonio gives the liberal’s perspective throughout the course of the film. But both Democrats and Republicans are full of crap, in my opinion. The Right wants to censor the media and stick their noses into our private lives, and the Left wants to ban fast food and cigarettes.
America’s in a civil war. The Vietnam War divided the country, but I can’t imagine Conservatives back then spending their energies converting their kids. If Jesus Camp doesn’t cause a stir among the people on the left, then I don’t know what will.
