Jesus Camp

Indoctrination and Isolation

We watched a truly scary documentary film this weekend called “Jesus Camp.” The film follows a handul of Evangelical Christian children as they attend church and then a summer camp in Devil’s Lake, Idaho. The children put on Christian-themed plays and musicals and listen to a series of different speakers talking about issues like abortion and, well, mostly abortion really. The children get up and testify – they talk about how they have been “saved.” Mind you these kids are all of ten years old and they are up on stage talking about how their lives were empty before they found Christ. The kids are encouraged by the counselors to address their sinfulness and to beg for their forgiveness. Many of the kids spontaneously break down and cry – some are huddled in heaps on the ground, rocking and weeping because of their alleged wickedness. One particularly horrifying counselor condemns Harry Potter and rails against Americans inability to fast. This I found confusing as this counselor had to be pushing three hundred pounds. Interestingly this same counselor seemed to have a great deal of respect for the Islamic suicide bombers because of their zealotry and their willingness to die for their religion. She seems to be perplexed by the fact that American Christians don’t have the same devotion to their faith and she speaks of creating “children soldiers” to fight in the name of Christ. Another obvious ex-drug addict attacks the concept of evolution and takes the children on a field trip to Washington D.C. where they tape their mouths shut with red tape and write the word “Life” across it.

At first the film just pissed me off. The words “child abuse” and “ignorant” came up frequently during and after the viewing. I felt an urge to punch people. Initially I felt like the film was a waste of time because ultimately it pointed out a problem I am powerless to change. If people want to believe something I think is preposterous and if they want to home-school their children and indoctrinate them with those same beliefs there isn’t a whole lot I can do about it.

But I’ve been thinking about it a lot over the last couple of days and I realize that there are things we can do about it on an institutional level. First off we need to be aware of the phenomenon. 25% of the American population is Evangelical Christian. That is a huge voting block. As a group they want more Christianity in government. They do not believe in a separation of church and state, they are not tolerant, and they are angry that religion has been ejected from the public school system.

Second we need to realize the code-language they employ. School vouchers sounds like a good idea – people should be able to choose where their children go to school. But the school voucher issue is being pushed mostly by Evangelicals who are fearful of the public school system and want to be able to use public monies to send their children to religious schools. This is an end-run on the separation of church and state.

Ultimately I have to believe that the tactics of indoctrination and isolation used by Evangelicals will render them powerless. Ours is a nation of tolerance and if our children aren’t raised to understand that there are different systems of belief then they will flounder when they eventually enter into main-stream society. I think a lot of those kids may eventually reject what they’ve been taught at such a young age. How can a ten year old kid feel empty and that he or she is in need of salvation? These feelings only exist because their parents and mentors are encouraging them to feel that way. But what happens when these kids hit their teens and the hormones start kicking in? What happens when they think they have been saved and then they feel empty? And what happens to these kids emotions when their role models who are so judgmental eventually reveal themselves to be imperfect moral arbiters?

The televangelist Ted Haggard appears in the film and the kids are thrilled to meet him. There is no mention of his subsequent fall from grace – it was revealed that he had taken crystal meth purchased from a male prostitute.

Kids are kids – they shouldn’t have to think about abortion and sin and sexuality. These are adult issues and kids will grow up and have to deal with them soon enough. In the mean-time let them indulge in a bit of innocence while they still can because once innocence is gone it does not come back.