Eleanor Ringel Gillespie of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution should have written: "...an ecstatic monster movie, as terrifying as it is funny..." about Jesus Camp. Watching the camp leaders pray in tongues that the AV equipment should work properly and not be taken over by the devil was funny, hearing Ted Haggard preach against homosexuality saying, "I think I know what you did last night. If you send me a thousand dollars, I won't tell your wife," knowing he was later forced out of the church for having a sexual relationship with a male prostitute was hilarious, but the rest was quite disturbing. I'm not usually one to begrudge someone their religion, but raising your children to believe they are prophets and not trust anyone outside of the church seems almost abusive.
Posted by me at April 25, 2007 6:07 AMI have only heard of this movie, but have heard that it is totally out there. full of falsity on every level! i am one who has come out of the charismatic (i call it now charismania) movement. i am sure, were this camp around in the early 80's my mom would have made me go. how freaky!!
the unfortunate thing is that this shows a very strange side of christianity, and should not be thought of as "the norm" in churches. i now go to Berean Baptist in burnsville and have found it just so "normal" and safe! just know that not everyone walks around praying for things in an unknown ecstatic babble!! that isn't even biblical, nor is it the true gift of tongues that the bible talks of. that is a KNOWN language. i have more about that on my blog. anyway, be encouraged that all christians are not that way and not all of us are hypocrites!! :)
You go to a "normal" church because you live in Minnesota. This movie is based on the wacked-out over-religious southern parts of the United States.
Posted by: Jesus at April 26, 2007 10:54 AMNot that I don't agree with you about the South, but the central character of the film, Becky Fischer, is from North Dakota. The camp is/was in Devils Lake, ND.
Posted by: sk at April 26, 2007 11:51 AMIf you liked this movie you would LOVE "Hell House". It is about a pentacostal church that sets up a haunted house to teach Christain morality. A great example is a room where a girl goes to a party and gets raped. The lesson is learned when she goes to hell for killing herself. Fun stuff.
The only thing I didn't like about Jesus Camp was the talk radio guy. Left or Right talk radio sucks. If you can't scream it over guitars it doesn't need to be on the radio.
Posted by: Satan at May 1, 2007 3:30 PMThanks, Satan! I'm definitely putting that one on my to watch list. Even better, both Minneapolis and Ramsey County libraries have it in their collections. I love the library. I figure the library saves me hundreds of dollars on books and movies annually. Which is really handy since I spend all my money on library school tuition. A few months ago I watched a weird documentary about Cane Toads. Would I have found that at Blockbuster? Highly unlikely.
Posted by: sk at May 1, 2007 4:29 PM