Jesus Camp

Oh that is the worst movie and so many people agree with me that the people who run the camp are emotionally abusive to the children. It’s horrifying to me. What’s worse is they originate from my state, which is no surprise given that it seems the worst of the worst of Christian behaviours is right here in the Belt Buckle of the Bible Belt, where the A of G HQ is. It’s really sad to see such things and the preview alone upset me, so I never saw the movie or showed it to my sons. I have spent 18 years keeping them away from such trauma and I saw no reason to rent it because of that. The problems in the Episcopal church I left 3 years ago, when I finally realized I put no stock in the Bible or any holy text, are nothing compared to that.

It’s sad to see this is still continuing..

The camp shut down after the movie came out. Just FYI in case you didn’t know.

Mriana,

Is there anywhere you’ve written about your story? I’d like to read it.

How exactly is it legal to offer an entire movie for free online?

Siamang said,

May 12, 2007 at 4:30 pm

Mriana,

Is there anywhere you’ve written about your story? I’d like to read it.

It’s in the works. I haven’t actually written a book about it yet, but bits and pieces of it are on various boards- I think the Roddenberry board is the main one where there are bits and pieces of it, with one article as to how they and Bishop Spong both showed me something different. I think my experience with Fundamentalism as a child was mentioned briefly in that 5 page article. The article was originally written for Hope Humanists Ministries, a Spiritual Humanist board, but it ended up else where. lol I’ve grown a little since I posted that article on the Roddenberry board too. As I was working on an article for the Showcase feature on the main site, I noticed that one posted on the board should have been polished more before I posted it though.

Oh I’ll take that back. CFI forum has a rough version (unpolished) of my story with more details posted on it, I was more open given the audience and a little more vocal about my feelings concerning the religious extremism I experienced as a child. The Roddenberry influence, as well as Bishop Spong’s influence, and I THINK the Sea of Faith was mentioned there too. What I didn’t say, was that as a Religious (Christian) Humanist I was slammed even more by the Religious Reich, which drove me further into Spiritual Humanism.

Both of them mainly focus on how Humanism and the Roddenberrys influenced me, but the reason as to why they were influencial is there too. The one on the Roddenberry board has more of the spiritual growth in it than the one on CFI does. CFI has more of the emotional issues caused by Fundamentalism behind the why I was so heavily influenced by the Roddenberrys and Humanism.

I make this distinction, using the adjective before Humanism, because there area differences, though minor, between Secular Humanism, Spiritual Humanism, and Religious Humanism. I can post the links to them, but if I post both links at the same time, it will have to wait until Hemant gets around to approving them before it’s posted.

Tell me which version you want or if you would like to read both since there are some differences and I’ll post one or both.

BTW, I think the Roddenberry board and Hemant’s Blog are the one’s where I mentioned why I was stuck with an abusive father for so many years, which was due to the religious influences imposed on my mother concerning marriage. So, like I said, bits and pieces of it are here and there, besides a few more details in a couple articles.

I saw that movie, and I was not so much shocked (I’d expected as much from evangelicals, due in part to my experiences at a fundamentalist Christian school) as disgusted. Particularly horrifying is when the woman says, after being asked why she feels she “must” use such disturbing tactics of indoctrination, claims that she is “forced” by the circumstances, since “everyone else” was doing it (I seem to remember a veiled reference to Islamic fundamentalism, which is particularly ironic considering the ultranationalism of Fisher and the others at Jesus Camp. To these people, anything goes.

You say madrasa
I say Jesus Camp
Jesus Camp–madrasa
madrasa–Jesus Camp
Let’s call the whole thing off!

Suggestions to see that movie should be accompanied with warnings. It was one of the most emotionally upsetting things I’ve watched and took me days to get it out of my head. Yes, you should see it. Just don’t plan to emerge unaffected.

Unless you’ve already lived through something like this, I don’t think it’s right to avoid watching unpleasant things because they disturb us. (If you’ve lived through it, you probably should not watch it because it could trigger post-traumatic stress.) Remember, you’re just learning about this. People actually have to LIVE through crap like this, and much worse (Afghanistan, Darfur, Auschwitz, etc.)

I used to avoid reading about things that disturbed me and kept me awake at night. But I realized that is a terrible way to dishonor the people who have been and are being mistreated. Now I try not to use avoidance as a way to make my own life more pleasant.

Use the discomfort and pain you experience when watching things like this as a guide to show you what action you can take to fight against these disturbing things and to help the victims.

Such movie is just plain crazy. I watched the trailer and it disgust me. To use George Bush as a role model for being a good Christian is just scary. I live in the South where there are many such places and churches that conduct themselves in such manner. It shows how far apart Christ’s teachings and the so-called Christian teaching comes out to be. The former taught compassion and love for all humans no matter what he or she is and the latter believes the opposite.

The parents who sends their kids to these camps are more ignorant than ever. It shows how this country’s fanatism is “somewhat” similar to the ones in the Middle East.

The parents who sends their kids to these camps are more ignorant than ever. It shows how this country’s fanatism is “somewhat” similar to the ones in the Middle East.

I agree Div Gopal and it’s very sad. I can’t understand why anyone would want to do that to their child even. The problem is whatever we call it, even if we call it abuse, the government’s hands are rather tied in such matters due to separation of Church and State. So what can we do about it?

[...] Well, Camp Quest is targeted to children of non-religious parents… but I suppose Norris has a point. It’s not like there are Jesus Camps anywhere. Or churches that target services at children who are too young to be able to make their own decisions about anything. [...]