I wanted to write something Easter-themed for today’s blog post, but after typing “easter,” “bunny,” and “rabbit” into all of my streaming apps and finding nothing even remotely appealing to watch, I decided to search “Jesus.” That was when I came across 2006’s Jesus Camp, which despite its acclaim, I’d never seen.
Just a couple of weeks ago, President Donald Trump said he wanted to have our country “reopened” by Easter, saying, “So, I think Easter Sunday, and you'll have packed churches all over our country. I think it would be a beautiful time.” Watching Jesus Camp for the first time in 2020, I was surprised by how much the film resonates with the current moment, especially when it comes to the role Christianity plays in politics.
Though it was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 79th Academy Awards and was well-received critically, Jesus Camp was a very divisive film at the time of its release. The film presents what directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady felt to be an objective look at an evangelical summer camp for kids, but some members of the Christian community felt the documentary cast Christianity in an unflattering light. Others in the evangelical community thought the representation was accurate, while secular audiences were outraged at what they saw as child abuse — not on the part of the filmmakers, but on the part of the camp and its pastor, Becky Fischer.
Becky Fischer is not evasive about her agenda. She is specifically a children’s pastor, and she is open about the fact that her summer camp, “Kids on Fire,” is meant to prepare the children of her ministry for a “war” in the name of the gospel. She emphasizes that a large percentage of our population is made up of children, reasoning that they are the most efficient demographic to target in spreading the word of God. When she preaches to them, she uses simple sentences and a variety of props: stuffed animals and brains made of jello, Ken and Barbie dressed as Adam and Eve. She tells them that she knows that they engage in sin when they’re with the other kids at school, and that begging for forgiveness is the only way forward. Before her, children fall to their knees, weeping.
For what it’s worth, I do see this as fairly objective filmmaking. After all, there is no narration, and the filmmakers are completely absent on screen. We don’t hear their voices or see them, and we don’t have the sort of one-on-one interviews typical of many documentary films. Private moments with the subjects of the film feel more like the interviewee is simply sharing their thoughts, stream-of-consciousness style, than being asked leading questions by the filmmakers. Much of the footage in the film was recorded during sermons, where Fischer and others spout their ideology in language easy for children to understand — except for the moments when they’re speaking in tongues, of course.
again: unprompted footage
The only thing holding the film back from true objectivity is its framing device. The film begins in a recording studio with Mike Papantonio, lawyer and co-host of the progressive radio show Ring of Fire. Papantonio speaks with a caller about the dangers of the religious right. A Methodist himself, Papantonio emphasizes the importance of our government’s separation of church and state to maintain a functioning democracy. Eventually, we cut to Papantonio on a call with Fischer herself, and the two of them debate her motivation behind recruiting children for her cause, which Papantonio sees as manipulative indoctrination. The fact that the movie keeps returning to Papantonio and in some ways gives him the last word is the only decision Ewing and Grady made that truly gives their film a point-of-view. Otherwise, it’s up to the viewer to decide how to feel about the information being presented.
I’ll admit that as a deeply secular person, it was hard for me to watch this movie with any kind of objectivity, because the beliefs of the evangelicals in this movie are beliefs that I simply do not share. It’s hard to relate to people who are so radically different from me. I believe that women should have the right to choose. I don’t believe that having an abortion is equivalent to “murdering a child,” and I don’t believe that it’s wrong to be gay. There is no possible way I could twist my mind into believing those things. My brain won’t go there.
Still, I accept that some people do have those beliefs. They choose not to practice the things they consider to be sinful, and that’s okay with me. What I don’t agree with is the choice to force those beliefs onto other people.
That’s where the evangelical community gets into hot water, especially the parts of it we see in Jesus Camp. Papantonio calls Fischer’s methods indoctrination, and Fischer doesn’t disagree — she even says at the beginning of the film that children are the most “useful” part of the population when it comes to spreading Christianity because they’re “open.” By “open,” of course, she means trusting. Gullible. Vulnerable. When you take advantage of the willingness of children to believe in the authority of adults, when you use that to mold their unformed minds into the shape of your liking and convince them that a pit of fire awaits anyone who disobeys the Bible, that is manipulation.
how dare she
Fischer’s goal is not just to spread her belief system to these children, but to weaponize them. "I want to see young people who are as committed to the cause of Jesus Christ as the young people are to the cause of Islam," Fischer says at one point. "I want to see them radically laying down their lives for the gospel, as they are over in Pakistan and Israel and Palestine.” We see these kids standing obedient and still as a minister literally tapes their mouths shut with thick red tape, the word “LIFE” printed across each piece in sharpie. We see them handing out pamphlets to strangers at bowling alleys, asking people on the street “Where do you think you’ll go when you die?”
It’s deeply disturbing to watch these children open-heartedly embrace all of this, because it is presented to them not as belief or possibility, but as fact as immutable as the alphabet or simple math. More disturbing is knowing Fischer’s agenda is to spread her belief system from child to child with the hope that it will branch out, inciting something like a wildfire — or a pandemic. But as much of all of this bothers me, what bothers me more is a moment late in the film which takes place at an evangelical megachurch. After delivering a sermon about how terrible homosexuality is, preacher Ted Haggard (who’s Wikipedia page is great if you’re seeking an ironic laugh) speaks directly into the camera about the influence of the evangelical community. “If the evangelicals vote,” he grins, “they determine the election.”
This is where the film really came full circle for me, and when I understood the real purpose of the interspersed scenes of Papantonio. This film shows us not just how children are being weaponized for the sake of evangelical Christianity, but how Christianity itself is being weaponized — has always been weaponized — for power. Right-wing politicians use their so-called Christianity to gain automatic support from religious communities, who then vote them into power, where they continue to use their “faith” to make important decisions for a country full of people with a much wider range of beliefs. Like Papantonio argues, a separation of church and state is crucial for maintaining democracy. Fischer says democracy is “flawed and designed to destroy itself because we have to give everyone equal freedom,” as though giving everyone equal freedom is a bad thing — which in her mind, I guess it is, because freedom means the freedom to choose any belief system other than hers.
Right now, our nation faces an unprecedented threat in the form of a global pandemic. It’s an especially troubling time to watch the parents in Jesus Camp homeschool their children with unsanctioned textbooks, teaching their kids about the mythical nature of global warming and other scientific truths. Leading the task force against the virus is Vice President Mike Pence, a noted evangelical Catholic who is known for signing a number of faith-based bills that would restrict LGBTQ rights and women’s rights, and advocating for public schools to teach creatonist beliefs side-by-side with established science. When we put a man with an apparent disdain for science in charge of a catastrophe little else but science will solve, the argument for retaining our separation of church and state seems all the more urgent.
After the release and reaction to Jesus Camp, Becky Fischer announced the closure of Kids on Fire Camp due to concerns of vandalism on the property. However, she continues her work as a children’s pastor, and she even uses the film as a tool to publicize her ministry. In 2016, The Guardian conducted a series of “where are they now” interviews with some of the subjects of Jesus Camp, and if you’ve seen the film, I highly recommend the read. If you haven’t seen Jesus Camp, it’s available to stream on Hulu, and I very much recommend giving it a watch.
happy easter? lol