Jesus Camp

Tonight, People for the American Way held a free screening of Jesus Camp, a documentary about young children going to an über-Christian summer camp in North Dakota. Some of these kids were as young as 7 or 8 years old, with the bulk of them in middle school. The preacher who runs the camp, Becky Fischer, talks about how various Islamic militant groups indoctrinate their children to lay down their lives for their religion, and advocates for a similar approach in Christianity. The difference between those future Islamic radicals and her future Christian radicals: "We have the truth." Spoken without the faintest trace of irony, her words are chilling.

In the camp, pastor Becky prays over the audiovisual equipment, asking Jesus to prevent Satan from causing a power failure — or a PowerPoint failure! The children are later shown praying to an idol (a lifesize cardboard image of President Bush), writhing on the floor in the grip of the Holy Spirit, and weeping for the millions upon millions of little friends who aren't there at camp because they never got to be born. One boy tells about how he was "saved" when he was five years old, because he felt his life was empty and he wanted something more. Another boy, not much older than five himself, weeps as he wrestles with his feelings of being a charlatan because his faith is not as solid as he feels it should be.

We're a month from Hallowe'en, so it's the season for scary movies. Go see Jesus Camp and think about what will happen if these Christian nutbags continue to amass political power.

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