American Jihad

If you've ever wondered how on Earth it is possible that children could be convinced by their own parents to blow themselves up in a Jihad frenzy you should surely check out "Jesus Camp". No, we're not talking about goings on in Palestine, Afghanistan or Iraq. We're talking about the beloved idyllic heartland of the USA. Instead of children being used as a means of access to Mohammed, in America it is Jesus that is the object of desire.

Evangelism has become an enormous force in American politics that has contributed towards putting our current president in office and changing the composition of our Supreme Court. "Jesus Camp" succeeds in showing us a slice of how the process actually works.

The story narrowly focuses on the issue by featuring Becky Fischer, a very cheerful but insanely dedicated promoter of evangelism, and more specifically, the indoctrination of America's youth into the movement. We see her standing in front of groups of very young children, teaching them that obeying her view of Jesus as far more important than anything else they will ever undertake. She even teaches them how to speak in tongues, in theory something that should not have to be taught but rather something that would spontaneously transpire from people being touched by a higher power.

Children want to please and watching them babble incoherently in response and watching them wriggle around on the floor as if possessed causes anger and distress in non-believers and great admiration amongst the believers. It would be interesting to follow the lives of some of the children featured here, especially one particular boy and girl who have bought into the program to the hilt.

As a counterpoint to Ms.Fischer we intermittently are shown Mike Papantonio, a radio commentator who also considers himself a good Christian but who fears the intermingling of religion and politics will cause far more harm than good.

The audience at my screening in New York, a very "blue" state, switched back and forth between horror and laughter at Ms. Fischer's behavior. I imagine that the audience response in the Bible Belt will be a polar opposite.

If I knew nothing about this issue before seeing "Jesus Camp" I would certainly have reacted far more strongly to it but because I have always been fascinated by this topic I found myself bouncing between bored, amused and scared.

Keep in mind that this is my interpretation of the film and it's tainted by my pre-existing negative opinion of evangelists. One of the good points of "Jesus Camp" is that those who are very pro-evangelist view it through a wholly different perspective and like the way they are presented here. Whether you have a pre-existing opinion about evangelists or not you will probably get something of value here.