Product Description

Jesus Camp directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady directors of the critically acclaimed The Boys Of Baraka follows Levi Rachael and Tory to Pastor Becky Fischer's "Kids On Fire" summer camp in Devil's Lake North Dakota where kids as young as 6 years-old are taught to become dedicated Christian soldiers in "God's army". The film follows these children at camp as they hone their "prophetic gifts" and are schooled in how to "take back America for Christ." The film is a first-ever look into an intense training ground that recruits born-again Christian children to become an active part of America's political future. System Requirements:Run Time: 84 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/MISC. Rating: PG- 13 UPC: 876964000628 Manufacturer No: 10062

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6928 in DVD
• Brand: MAGNOLIA HOME ENTERTAINMENT
• Released on: 2007-01-23
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 84 minutes

Amazon.com
The feverish spectacle of a summer camp for evangelical Christian kids is the focus of Jesus Camp, a fascinating if sometimes alarming documentary. (Shortly after its release, the movie gained a new notoriety when Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, who appears near the end of the film, resigned his post amid a male prostitute's allegations of drug use and sexual misconduct.) For most of the film, we follow a charismatic teacher, Becky Fischer, as she trains young soldiers in "God's Army" at a camp in North Dakota. Some of the kids emerge as likable and bright, and eager to continue their work as pint-sized preachers; elsewhere, the visions of children speaking in tongues and falling to the floor in ecstasy are more troubling. Even more arresting is the vision of a generation of children home-schooled to believe that the Bible is science, or Fischer's certainty that America's flawed system of democracy will someday be replaced by a theocracy. (In one scene, a cardboard cut-out of George W. Bush is presented to the children, who react by laying their hands on the figure as though in a religious procession.) Filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady maintain neutrality about all this, maybe too much so (they throw in some interviews with radio host Mike Papantonio to provide a liberal-Christian viewpoint) and one would like to know more about the grown-ups presented here. Power broker Haggard is the creepiest person in the film, an insincere smooth talker whose advice to one of the young would-be campgoers comes across as entirely cynical. Time will tell whether the film's Christian soldiers will be marching onward. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

One sided but effective
When you're done watching this documentary, you are impressed by how the film makers made it seem like they just pointed the camera and just let it roll. But it's worth watching it again with the filmakers commentaries because then you'll see where the bias is. They really admire their subject, Becky Fisher like one would admire Ghandi or Martin Luther King. You hear words like "she is so smart and passionate and so charismatic." I think some people believed the same think about Hitler and George Bush. Then Heidi and Rachel(filmakers) still gushing would share their observation of Becky Fisher, the child sinister, mmm excuse me, minister who looks like a big fan of "The L Word," how she has so much influence on these kids and how these kids hang on to every word she says. Ladies, did you two noticed the parents with their heavy hands over their children's shoulders while Minister Becky rages on? Well the point is she gets a lot of help from home, the same speil that is coming out of her mouth is the same Bandini that's being taught at home. So it isn't much of a strectch for her. You can laugh and dismiss these kids and the adults behind them but maybe it won't such a joke, because as Becky puts it "others kids in Palestine are being taught to shot and strap bombs around their bodies" for Becky I guess its a good thing and she is following suit. It would have been okay if they just keep it to themselve but what they are teaching these kids is if the person next to you doesn't believe in the same cow poop that you beleive in, then God and Jesus grant you the right to kill that person. You think this is extreme? No, because the little tykes call for war and they believe they are soldiers of Jesus and God. The camp even has chant song about going to war. When you look at recent human history, it seems to follow a pattern of abusing children, (The Industrial Revolution, boy soldiers in the Sudan, rug
makers in India/Pakistan} and The Evangilicals are no different. The funniest thing about this doc is the appearance of Ted Haggard, we all know what happened to him, but I could've told you that he is a closeted Homosexual, he said "Fabulous" about five times with such aplomb, that's a dead giveaway. If you can't take anything away from this doc, you can at least admit it's interesting. My biggest complaint is: No opposing view point other than Papantonio, but he did hit the nail on the head when he stated "they are raising little soldiers for the Republican Right." The DVD extras are worth checking out and also the commentary by the filmakers, which explains why at times this doc appears unmitigated.

Classic RELIGION AS TORTURE
CREATING PRESIDENT WORSHIPPERS. MAJOR PHYSICAL STRESS SYMPTOMS IN THE CHILDREN. TRAINING FOR War like a Gang. Trauma pased onto the next generation in the name of Jesus. No English subtitles, long in a few places. Watch at your own risk.

This is how cults get started
I'm not kidding with my title, these adults get these children who barely know anything about life and start teaching them something that is to them above everything else. Mullet boy as many call him is the scariest individual of all in this documentary. Forget the adults and anyone else helping with the camp, this kid is downright scary. Dead churches are supposedly not visited by Jesus, which is a stupid statement considering not all Americans attend a lively church sermon and throw their bodies around like groupies at a Motley Crue concert. What these people have to realize is that these kids need to make these decisions for themselves, they don't need to be pushed into religion. What they are doing can lead to some troubling consequences down the road. Drug abuse, alcohlism, etc. there are a lot of kids who were brought up in a strict religion setting and some of them have turned to one of those things that I've mentioned above. Bottom line is let these kids be kids and leave the crazy preaching and whatnot to the adults.