Jesus Camp

“If you’re not with us, then you’re with the terrorists.” – President George W. Bush

Countless tiny fists pump into the sky as a collective roar of exaltation spreads throughout the air. Standing amongst this precocious army is a towering middle-aged woman, whose impassioned beliefs are as formidable as her build. “This means war!” is the mantra she recites. Is this a Nazi youth rally, you may wonder, or an Al Qaeda convention perhaps? The unnerving truth, uncovered by the compelling but mildly underdeveloped documentary Jesus Camp, is that this image is fairly commonplace within the confines of Evangelical America. Pastor Becky Fischer’s “Kids on Fire” summer camp is the film’s primary subject of focus, which is gradually revealed to be an accurate representative of the most important theological movement in contemporary American history.

Since 2001, Fischer has run camps for Evangelical youth, with the goal of transforming them into “warriors” for their faith. She admires Islamic radicals, if only for their desire to sacrifice lives for faith, and she believes that people should do the same for Christ. The kids who attend her camp are a collection of sheltered innocents, so pure in their idealistic views, and yet so blinded by the tunnel vision they’ve inherited from their parents. Clad in militant facial paint, these young campers don’t waste any time canoeing. Their daily schedule includes speaking in tongues, clutching plastic fetuses, blessing cardboard cut-outs of George W., and sobbing uncontrollably for their sins. Yet home life is not much different for these tykes, the majority of whom are home-schooled. These children’s parental lessons include dismissing global warming as a lie, while damning ‘warlocks’ like Harry Potter to Hell.

Unlike the opinionated opuses of Michael Moore, Jesus Camp maintains a refreshing objectivity, devoid of biased narration. Boys of Baraka co-directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady wisely allow their electrifying footage to speak for itself, although it’s possible that extremists of opposite viewpoints could have distinctly different interpretations of the film’s events. Interspersed within the camp footage is liberal Methodist Mike Papantonio, who warns of the growing extremist threat on Air America Radio. When he goes mano a mano with Fischer on his show at the film’s ‘climax’, the film isn’t simply depicting a battle of personal viewpoints. It’s showcasing the central ideological conflict of our nation, between those championing equal freedom, and those fighting to conform the human race into following one belief structure. Needless to say, some viewers will side with Papantonio, and others with Fischer.

As a Catholic myself, I have recently found similar traces of fundamentalist fanaticism seeping into my own fairly liberalized hometown church. Just a couple years ago, political pamphlets were issued to the congregation. The music during ‘teen mass’ was slowed down – to increase a level of devoutness. Some of my friends began to explain to me how no Muslim could ever be my friend, since the goal of Islam was ‘to obliterate all non-Muslims from the Earth.’ These frightening developments were further heightened by this year’s grotesque passion play, in which a Roman soldier – after breaking Mel Gibson’s record for ‘longest Jesus flogging’ – pointed his cat of nine tails toward an audience of trembling children and bellowed, “From the youngest to the oldest – you did this!”

I can therefore attest to the fact that Jesus Camp is not a commentary on any particular religion at all, but a study of real-life intolerance that transcends theological and cultural barriers. It also makes the Christian comedy Saved! (2004) look like 7th Heaven. Although some scenes will no doubt spark amusement in some viewers, such as the children’s dance number to a song with lyrics like “Kickin’ It for Christ,” the film’s core is deadly serious. “If the Evangelicals vote, they determine the election,” admits Ted Haggard – president of the National Association of Evangelicals – with a childlike smirk. Fischer’s question to her young followers, “are you a part of it or not?” clearly mirrors Bush’s black-and-white philosophy of determining friend from foe. Results of the current administration’s pandering to Evangelicals can be seen simply by their continued presence in the White House.

At a mere 85 minutes, Jesus Camp doesn’t possess the time to adequately delve into the lives of its subjects deeply enough, and the filmmakers’ refusal to officially ‘take sides’ mutes the film’s overall impact. And yet this absence of opinion is also Ewing and Grady’s biggest strength, thus allowing their film to become the year’s most provocative cinematic conversation-starter. The audience is ultimately left to decide whether the faith of these born-again youngsters have experienced a rebirth or a miscarriage.

Rating: **** (out of *****)