Jesus Camp

[Gwendolyn]

At the risk of a debate, I am curious about what others have thought. We just watched it and all I can say at this time is "wow." I will leave it at that.

[PrincessFiona]

We just saw this last night and I spent 1/2 of the movie with my jaw scraping the floor.

Holy Balls......I think that is child abuse to be perfectly honest.


kris

[Tenacious_D]

I hope I don't offend anyone but the film frightened DH and me...

[rainbabies]

holy crap. i just looked it up and watched a clip.

http://www.jesuscampthemovie.com/

[Vanquisher]

Haven't seen it.

Should I see it?

[Rapunzel]

Just watched the clip.

Well, my kids would probably NOT be welcome at such a camp (because those are generally the type of people who think we are "cultists" ). And, I found a lot of it very far away from my own religious experience. I mean LDS are downright boring compared to all of that!

However, if these people are not teaching children to be violent then I can't see true harm in it. Are they indoctrinating children? You bet! But, public schools indoctrinate children as well. And, I think this is a polarized reaction to that government-sponsored indoctrination.

Now, it may be that they ARE teaching children to be violent or break the law - if they are then that IS disturbing and I WOULD call it child abuse.

Saw this movie awhile back, so don't remember too much, except for my favorite line:

A mother is homeschooling her young son, and she is basically teaching him propaganda garbage, but her young son replies, "I'm glad Galileo chose God over science." Mom then smiles in agreement.

What???? Ummm... did Galileo really "choose"? I don't think so. This kid needed a history lesson, pronto. Secondly, the teaching of religion and science were not separate in this family. Religion was their "science". It was sad, because I found it tantamount to child abuse.

Oh, another favorite line, was when that overly zealous camp leader lady was castigating her audience for not taking care of their bodies and becoming fat (or something like that). Good gravy, that lady was no fitness buff, herself, not even close!! What a hypocrite!!!

And, I believe they were worshipping George Bush, not Jesus. Evidence for this was when the kids were running around, chanting at the cardboard cut-out of GW. It was soooo Lord of the Flies!!! I was creeped out, and I am even a member of the Republican party!

Overall, good flick, but a little long and slow. The movie was an expose of the encroaching politics in religion, I guess. But, when was religion ever about religion and not politics???

[Gwendolyn]

DH and I are still talking about it. I guess I had some similar and some different responses. I grew up as a pastor’s daughter in the most liberal synod of the Lutheran church, but the school I attended was more conservative…more along the lines of a typical Catholic church. Then I went to a Catholic high school. I have had many religious experiences in the Christian faith.

I feel like much of what I saw was extreme, but most of it was not unfamiliar to me. I have never been to a church that prayed in tongues, but I actually don’t have any problem with different forms of religious ecstasy. It is no different from whirling dervishes spinning around…just maybe more creepy to people on the outside. The film made it look like they were a bunch of freaks with camera angles and music.

What did bother me was much of what still bothers me about “church” now. The crap the parents were teaching their kids at home was truly heartbreaking. The way they were socializing the kids to fill certain roles was disturbing. For example; the little girls were called up to talk about abortion and were encouraged to evangelize to individuals…take care of community and family. The boys were encouraged to speak to the full congregation and assume full leadership roles. Finally, what could be characterized only as child abuse was the self-hatred these children were forced to accept. If anywhere else in daily life a child was called a liar, a fake, a phony, dirty, disgusting and forced to admit to being all of these things in front of a large audience…I mean come on!!!

What really got me…was that I don’t agree with the idea that this is abnormal. All religious experiences I have had, including attending Mormon study groups, utilize these tactics. Perhaps not to the extreme, but remember, this was at camp. Maybe their church is not this extreme every Sunday either.

I was disturbed, for sure, but I am still trying to sort out what got under my skin. It is too easy to simply say..."oh they're freaks."

[Rapunzel]

DH and I are still talking about it. I guess I had some similar and some different responses. I grew up as a pastor’s daughter in the most liberal synod of the Lutheran church, but the school I attended was more conservative…more along the lines of a typical Catholic church. Then I went to a Catholic high school. I have had many religious experiences in the Christian faith.

I feel like much of what I saw was extreme, but most of it was not unfamiliar to me. I have never been to a church that prayed in tongues, but I actually don’t have any problem with different forms of religious ecstasy. It is no different from whirling dervishes spinning around…just maybe more creepy to people on the outside. The film made it look like they were a bunch of freaks with camera angles and music.

What did bother me was much of what still bothers me about “church” now. The crap the parents were teaching their kids at home was truly heartbreaking. The way they were socializing the kids to fill certain roles was disturbing. For example; the little girls were called up to talk about abortion and were encouraged to evangelize to individuals…take care of community and family. The boys were encouraged to speak to the full congregation and assume full leadership roles. Finally, what could be characterized only as child abuse was the self-hatred these children were forced to accept. If anywhere else in daily life a child was called a liar, a fake, a phony, dirty, disgusting and forced to admit to being all of these things in front of a large audience…I mean come on!!!

What really got me…was that I don’t agree with the idea that this is abnormal. All religious experiences I have had, including attending Mormon study groups, utilize these tactics. Perhaps not to the extreme, but remember, this was at camp. Maybe their church is not this extreme every Sunday either.

I was disturbed, for sure, but I am still trying to sort out what got under my skin. It is too easy to simply say..."oh they're freaks."

Ummm.... Mormons don't tell children they are "liars, fakes, phonies, dirty, disgusting, and forced to admit this in front of large audiences." We also don't "pray in tongues" - unless we use a foreign language understandable by the rest of those listening (otherwise it's really just gibberish).

By "attending a Mormon study group" did you mean you attended Seminary (usually early-morning - before the start of the school day for high school students) or Institute (religious courses offered to college students)? Since I am personally acquainted with both organizations (and, my mother teaches in one of them) I can definitely say that the things you described above are incredibly far removed from the LDS CES (Church Educational System). In fact, Mormons are waaaay more boring than what has been described occuring in this movie.

Even at Young Women's camp (ie the Young Women is the youth organization for girls aged 12 - 18) NOTHING we do approaches what has been described here. Same goes for Boy Scouts (the activity arm of the LDS church for boys aged 12-18). At our camps we learn to make campfires, pitch tents, and other "outdoorsy" things. The children's organization of the LDS church (ie the Primary) doesn't have camps. We have Primary activities several times a year that revolve around doing crafts and learning history. Like I said, we're kind of boring....