Jesus Camp -- The Movie --- A Review

Jesus Camp: The Movie was up for an Oscar but lost out to an Inconvenient Truth. That's not bad company, considering all the buzz given to Al Gore's documentary. Jesus Camp has had plenty of buzz itself, and I finally got an opportunity to watch it on DVD and I found it disturbing and yet largely fair. Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady peer into the lives of participants in the Fundamentalist/Pentecostal sub-culture.

Watch the trailer from the movie's web site and then come back and read my comments.

This is the story of Becky Fischer, a Pentecostal children's minister from North Dakota who runs a Bible Camp like none I've ever known or experienced, and I was once a Pentecostal myself (but mine was a more moderate version, I guess). Becky is a zealot, a person completely sold on her calling to raise up an army of children who will "fix the world." The film provides a statistic that claims that 43% of Evangelicals make a profession of faith before age 13, and Fischer and those she enlists in her work take this to heart.

By her own admission, Fischer is impressed by the Muslim extremists who indoctrinate young children -- in a sense hers is a Christian version (though her militarism is more symbolic than violent). But she wants to see Christian young people being as radically committed to their faith as these radical Muslims are -- and that includes a willingness to lay down their lives for the cause.

There is a constant theme that God's people are at war with the Devil's people. She says the "devil goes after the young" and so she's determined to stand in the gap. And so because this is war, she asks the children at her camp -- "Are you part of it or not?"

The film starts in a Kansas City suburb where Becky leads a Children's prayer summit and recruits a group of children to attend her camp -- these include 12 year old Levi, who is an aspiring preacher, 10 year old Rachel who loves to witness to adults, and Tory, another 10 year old aspiring dancer for Jesus. She likes Christian heavy metal. The film follows them from their suburban homes, where most seem to be home schooled to camp and then on to Colorado Springs' New Life Church, for an encounter with Ted Haggard (more about that in a moment) and then on to Washington, D.C. for an anti-abortion demonstration.

What is important to note about the camp setting is the degree to which guilt over sin is used to rally little children to the cause. You see them weeping at sins, that I doubt any of them have ever thought about committing. And this is the really sad part, there is no innocence here. They try to have fun, but the fun ends up being geared toward the larger goal of raising up the army of children. In a way it reminds me of the medieval children's crusades.

As for Pastor Ted, it is sort of ominous that the clip of him begins with an anti-gay statement. That this would appear before his fall, is almost too amazing to consider. In many ways Pastor Ted comes off as kind of a "dork." I'm not sure how else to put it. He looks into the camera and makes wisecracks and when Levi goes up to talk to him about preaching, he kind of puts the boy down. It's all kind of surreal.




Even in all her zealotry Becky Fischer actually comes off as more compelling than Pastor Ted does. She's scares me to death, but she's real. And the children, they're real as well. I just feel sorry for them.

The movie moves along without narration. There are periodic graphics that give information, but little commentary. At several points in the movie, the film makers insert commentary and news reports about the Samuel Alito confirmation hearings -- and there is a message here. The judiciary is a focus for left and right. The film's only foil to Becky is Air America radio host, Mike Papantonio, an attorney and host of "Ring of Fire." He hammers on the principle of church-state separation. In many ways, the film doesn't need this counterpoint, because it carries the message by itself.

As scary as this movie is, I think it's important to note that this militarism and zealotry is probably fairly isolated. Yes, there's there is a strong culture war mentality, but how many churches focus so intently on children?

This is a movie that needs to be seen. It's a fair picture that lets this one voice get heard. It's a voice of fear and frustration. It's a voice that needs to be taken seriously as well.