Jesus Camp

I just want to head this one off at the pass and say that to a Middle-American audience, there's probably not much of this film that actually surprises. But, my god (ha ha), will this film make a Blue-stater cringe. The pentecostal stuff is the most frightening. Kids writhing on the floor and crying out arameic gibberish. Harry Potter should be put to death, etc.

It's a lot of shock value, though. I admit there's an important point being made. Levi, the charismatic protagonist, says his favorite subject to preach is Faith. Fundamentalists have clung to this concept like a battle standard to the point that our Protestant commander in chief actually has a Divine Mandate, allowing him carte blanche. Faith in God equals Faith in Bush. It's obvious this is wrong.

The filmmakers of Jesus Camp, however, have crafted a sideshow of "jesus nuts," in order to advance their left-wing message. The connection is obvious, and it's spoken very plainly by the super-minister. "If the Evangelicals vote, they win the election." And Fundamentalism is being taught to our Bible-Belt children. It's a one-liner.

The kids in Jesus Camp are doubly exploited. They are trained to become God's Army by their conservative communities, and now they are propped up on display by liberal filmmakers. It resembles Napoleon Dynamite at certain points. I felt bad for the kids. They don't know they're such weirdos! Jesus Camp never quite reconciled the message. All I saw was a very narrow selection of brainwashed kids being paraded around as the sole reason to subscribe to a left-wing agenda.