Jesus Camp. Just watched it. Talk me down people...

[sixstrings75]

This was the MOST horrifying movie I have ever seen. I was totally engrossed. I tried watching it a few years back and I just couldn't - it was too hard.

I rented this on the week-end and so far have watched it 2-3 times.

Becky Fisher is a monster. No more, no less. I believe she is so ugly, inside and out, that when she says she 'gave her life to jesus', it is because no one else could stand her presence for 5 minutes. I'm serious with that assumption. I believe this is what drives most believers. They suck at life, they fail at everything and they cannot belong or join any societal groups or norms. Their jesus and their church are all that they have and all they need to join this group is their batshit crazy beliefs. It is simple, doesn't require any thinking or effort and most of all, finally, they belong to something, anything.

I would have loved to talk to those kids - try and reason with them, show them they are being brainwashed. Anything to help them get out of that environment. They had a cardboard cutout of GWB and they were praying to it, touching it. They don;t even know their own religion - what's the first commandment again???? Something along the lines of not worshiping anyone but god - do they not see their hypocrisy???

Wish I never would have seen it now.

[lazarus]

1. brace yourself

I went to Camp Victory Bible Camp for several weeks each summer through my teen years. I always won the Bible drills, fully bought into every fundie thing they preached.

(Granted, this wasn't quite as political, as we weren't worshipping Reagan or anything, but it was Alabama, so everyone was just expected to vote Democrat locally, Republican nationally.)

It last until my senior year, when I got into preaching and really studying the nether regions of the Bible. The first niggles of doubt started in the back of my mind. Then I went off to university and met a guy named R--- D--, my very first atheist. (Very charismatic, I think I switched to atheism out of an unknown-to-me crush. :D ) But then I spent some time (years) on my own thinking about it, took some philosophy classes, and became the unrepentant heathen atheist I am today.

A great number of those kids will grow up to perpetuate the mythology and bullshit, but a larger than you would expect number of them will look back at it as child abuse, which it is.

The rest of my family, parents excluded, are three-times-a-week church-goers, at the least. My favourite cousin, the one I had the most in common with growin up, the most intelligent, is a preacher who believes the 'quiverfull' nonsense and has ten kids. His brother has 9. They're all very religious, but I'm betting a few of those kids are going to turn out more like me, because the parents spend so much of their time focused on god and church the family time is neglected. In these two large families, the older kids basically raise the younger ones, who care for the youngest ones, so how much influence are the parents really going to have?

My cousin and I were still communicating regularly up until three months ago, when he quit answering the phone or returning email for some reason. Nobody knows why, but I have my suspicions. He refused to do the marriage service for my mother when she remarried a few years ago, because she's divorced, and I maybe told the wrong person in the family I thought that was complete and utter bullshit. Haele and I had planned to get remarried on our tenth out there, since our original marriage was in San Diego and nobody from my family could attend, but I won't be asking him to do it anymore, I'll get a judge to come out. Screw their superstitions that tear families apart and destroy 40 year friendships.

[ZombieHorde]

2. That movie is pretty fucked up. nt

[darkstar3]

3. I grew up right next to the town where much of that was filmed.

St. Robert, MO is a scary fuckin' place. Much like Lazarus I too attended church camp once a summer for many years, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that in rural MO, it is not uncommon for children to be told they should witness for christ, just like you saw in the bowling alley during that movie.

No one needs to be talked down after seeing that movie, they need to spread the word about what's going on in these camps. This type of brainwashing is nothing short of a long game power grab.

[lazarus]

4. Yeah, I forgot about the witnessing

that made you stand out even in rural, bible-thumpin' Alabama, if you were the kid in school who did all the witnessing. Everyone professed to believe, but there were degrees.

[darkstar3]

5. Kids all over my elementary school used to ask each other point blank

"where do you go to church?" They didn't even work up to it, as they (well, we) were told it was a great opening question to witness.

ETA: Not that there were many opportunities in a school where most of the kids do that shit...but it was training.

[Mariana]

10. Hell, where I live, adults ask that of other adults

within a few minutes of meeting them. The usual reaction to our answer, "We don't," is not to witness, though. They just don't speak to us at all, which is fine with me.

[darkstar3]

11. That's why I moved away from an area like that. n/t

[Mariana]

13. We're working on it, believe me. nt.

[realisticphish]

7. see, I grew up Lutheran

ELCA, that is. Not those crazy Missouri and Wisconsin Synods...

but I can't even imagine "witnessing" at my church. I think that even the most devout Lutheran would look with horror upon something like that. They're a very self-contained religion. maybe it's the whole German/Scandinavian thing...

[awoke_in_2003]

6. I remember Vacation Bible School...

growing up. It was mostly arts and crafts and ice cream. Of course, I was a methodist in the north. Methodist isn't a real serious religion, anyway :)

[darkstar3]

8. Try holy roller in the south.

Bible camp involved three tabernacle visits a day.

[onager]

9. Another VBS alumni. Southern Baptist.

Same for us. We made artsy/crafty stuff, played outside like recess at regular school, and got ice cream.

I know the Southern Baptist rep, but our SoB church wasn't hellfire-and-brimstone. Every once in a while we would get a small dose of that, but only during special revivals with visiting con men clergymen.

We lived about 40 miles from Bob Jones University, and even some of my more devout relatives call that place "Jesus Tech."

The witnessing other posters have mentioned - now that I think of it, most of the pushy, aggressive witnessing I saw came from Bob Jones students. IIRC, they were required to do it for graduation. They'd stake out a street corner and harass passers-by, but most people just ignored them.

Jesus Camp was a scary movie. Ironically, I saw it in Egypt (on DVD). So when that woman started ranting about "the little Muslim children are taught in school to blow themselves up for Allah," I nearly threw my non-pork pizza at the TV.

If that were true, I should have been blown up long ago. After 2 years in Saudi Arabia and 4 in Egypt.

I was often harassed by Egyptian school kids, but in a good way - they start learning English early in school and want to practice it, if they see someone who appears to be English-speaking. They also wanted to know about Hollywood and Disneyland. And if I had my camera, they usually wanted me to take their picture.

One day I was touring Alexandria's historical sites with my favorite tour guide, a woman named Zahraa (her nom de guide was "Rose," since her name means "flower" in Arabic).

A gaggle of kids came up and asked if I was American. We talked for a few minutes and they ran off. A few minutes later, we saw them talking to their Parental Units. I'd guess it was a big extended family on an outing.

My guide started cracking up laughing. I asked her what was so funny. She said: "Those kids are saying, 'Mom, we talked to an AMERICAN!' Mr. Onager, it's like you are a movie star."

I thought that was pretty funny too, since I don't vaguely resemble any movie stars. Except maybe the late Rondo Hatton.

[Warpy]

12. Braying Becky is a real piece of work

but my guess is that most of the kiddies will remember the campfires and singalongs and camp food and if they let them take walks, being in a new place a lot longer than they'll remember the harangues they replied to like such good little robots.

I doubt that horrible woman will remain that long in their memories. Kids are pretty good at blocking the boring stuff out.

I was sent for two weeks to a religious camp once, the year I rebelled and insisted on leaving Catholic school. I think it was the dying gasp of a futile attempt at sucking me into the wonderful, comforting bosom of Mother Rome. What I remember is sucking at shooting and horseback riding and excelling at archery and fly fishing. I don't remember the religious crap at all, except for being rousted out of bed in the morning by a recording of "Ave Maria" followed by an air horn.