Last Friday was Friday the 13th. Friday, October 13th. You might expect the release of the latest incarnation of Freddy Krueger on this sort of date. I saw Jesus Camp, and I emerged filled with trepidation. I feared for the future of this world. And I’m not being hyperbolic. It’s the same sort of fear I felt after watching An Inconvenient Truth.
Most of you already know what Jesus Camp is about, so I’ll cut to the chase.
The unchurched and those of you who think that worship is something you do sitting and in silence until you’re asked to sing would be uncomfortable with the level of engagement in charismatic practice portrayed in the movie. In some ways it’s a remarkably egalitarian movement, with women and children preaching in your face “REPENT SINNER!” sermons, clapping hands chaotically on each others’ heads and shoulders and praying loudly in rapid rolling gibberish. Sitting comfortably in an empty theater, I felt the visceral power of this style of worship.
I was tempted to use the word “irrational” to describe this approach to spirituality, but this belies my biases–their world view is every bit as ordered and rule-driven as yours or mine, if not more so. There’s a scene where Becky Fischer, the leader of the Kids on Fire camp, prays over the electrical system and the computers and projectors, she says, “We know what you like to do and YOU WILL NOT prevent this message from going out!” If a computer goes down in the middle of a spirit-packed presentation, it is not a random occurrence or even Microsoft’s fault–it is a sign that the Adversary is striving to stop the Word from spreading.
This is a world view that is decidedly anti-science. There is a homeschooling scene in which the mother teaches, straight from her textbook, a lesson refuting the science behind global warming. Later in the same segment, the talented 12-year old Levi says, “Science doesn’t prove anything,” and “I think personally that Galileo made the right choice in choosing Christ over science.”
This leads to the question that everyone seems to ask about Jesus Camp: aren’t those parents and church leaders just brainwashing their kids? Fischer acknowledges this, but argues that all churches and religions do the same. In fact, she points with admiration to the success of extremist Muslims who instill in their children a willingness to die for God. She wants “raise up children to the Lord” and “retake the land” and “claim America for Christ.” When radio talk-show host asks her, “Why kids?” Becky responds, “Whatever they learn by seven to eight is pretty well set for life.” The leaders show tremendous respect for the spirituality and world-impacting potential of their charges, but there is no encouragement of their natural curiosity, and any exploration or wandering is gently but firmly discouraged.
Every conscientious parent struggles with this. We asked our children a few weeks ago what they thought about children’s classes at the Mormon Church compared to that of the liberal Quaker meeting. Our daughter thought for a moment and said, “In Primary [LDS Sunday School], they ask us questions and expect specific answers. At the Quaker meeting, they ask us questions and want to hear our own opinions. It’s more of a conversation.”
There is no room for this kind of religious exploration in the world of Jesus Camp. There is war going on, and Kids on Fire is a boot camp for Jesus. Becky Fischer is the drill sergeant. They may not be representative of the bulk of American Christianity, but they are a sizable minority and a growing segment of our society, and their power and influence is mightier than their numbers. Their causes–the creation of a Christian state, the injection of Christianity back into public schools, a ban on abortion, the primacy of Biblical literalism over science in determining public policy–are embraced by many, many more throughout Evangelical America and in our halls of power.
My original plan was to write about Jesus Camp in much the same way that its creators filmed it–to let the experience speak for itself. But this has me riled up. Becky Fischer is right; we are at war. Fundamentalist Christians, Biblical literalists, creationists, and American Christianists are absolutely right to fear the scientific world view and the religious and political values of the Enlightenment. And it is our duty for those of us who hold these values (and who hold our world dear) to fight against their onslaught.
