movies

[rhd323]

This afternoon, I saw Jesus Camp. I had resisted for awhile, but then my curiosity won out. And it was the last week it was playing at my favorite Albany theater.

I think I am still processing it. Fundamentalists are fascinating to me in some ways. They scare, confuse, and disturb me a bit as well, but they’re also rather interesting in a detached sort of way. I have enough trouble understanding peoples’ beliefs in God, let alone a group’s total rejection of science in exchange for the Bible and prayer. Children speaking in tongues, being willing to die for God, crying over legal abortions . . . that last one really sort of touched a nerve. People are, of course, allowed their opinions on such an emotional issue. However, I did have a bit of a problem with the adults in the film 'training' the children to oppose abortion and pray for it to end. Young people crying . . . does an 8 year old girl even really know what an abortion is?

Before they get to the Bible camp, they enter the homes of a few of the families who bring their children there. They are all home schooled, of course. There was one pretty telling scene between a mother and her son. He's got a textbook open (Creationism and the physical world . . . or something like that) and she asks: Did you get to the part yet where they say that science hasn't proven anything? The son laughs. They then proceed to discuss how God/religion answers all of the questions while science leaves so many of them uncertain. Telling and troubling, to someone like me.

The militarism practiced and taught in the particular camp featured in the film was also . . . well, troubling. I can't come up with a better word. (Scary? Disturbing?) There was frequent emphasis on the notion that 'there is a war going on' - and the children must choose sides. At the end of the film, in an interaction between Becky Fischer (founder of the camp) and a radio talk show host, she basically admits that the end of democracy is one of her goals. The adults make no secret that they are targeting (using, as one of them expressed it) children because it's easier to impress ideas and beliefs upon them.

I was hoping the camp had a website, but I can't find one at the moment.

UPDATE: This is Becky Fischer's website.

I just hope the only job offers when I'm on the market are not in Colorado, Missouri, North Dakota . . .



Switching gears, however, I can't hardly wait for this movie to come out. It is based on a graphic novel, 300, written by Frank Miller. First of all, I loved Sin City and have really enjoyed any graphic novel I've picked up that Miller had some involvement in. The story of the 300 - which is the focus of that Pressfield book Gates of Fire - is pretty amazing. The trailers for the movie look incredible. I love the semi-realistic feel, not unlike the visuals in the movie version of Sin City. I'm anxious to see the final outcome.

Comments

[jessacord.livejournal.com]

I wanted to see Jesus Camp as well. It was here in the Bay area for about a month or so and then it moved out of the local theaters to make way for other movies. Militant religious fundamentalists here in the US aren't very different from their counterparts in groups like Abu Sayyaf. It's a pity they don't see it that way, but of course they see their way as righteous. Using children because they are "easier to impress" is abhorrent. Exposing children to ideas in religion because you want them to grow up to be adults with good morals is a totally separate idea. When a group tells its impressionable followers that they are being trained to fight a war, that is what they eventually end up doing. Rhetoric like theirs leaves only violence as its outcome. And I always thought that a true democracy was supposed to be about exercising choice and free will. From my very distant days in CCD (Catholic Children's Detention school, haha), I seem to remember God giving humans free will -- isn't democracy the best way of following that teaching?

300 looks like a great movie....highly stylized but extremely violent. I'm not sure that I could watch it if it approached Sin City's level of violence; I had a really hard time watching some of those scenes.

[baristababe.livejournal.com]

What was interesting, is that the leader of this camp - Becky Fischer - likened what she was doing in the US to fundamentalist groups in other countries. Part of her reasoning was something like this is what they're doing over there - Muslims start training children at a young age, placing guns in their hands, and so on and so forth. As far as she was concerned, they had the training part right. But, of course, SHE (and Christianity) has the truth. She didn't fail to mention that part, of course.

And I couldn't have said the rest of what you said any better myself. :)

Ah, yeah - 300 will definitely be violent. Not that war deaths are pretty any century, but they're particularly nasty in my mind when we're talking about spears, arrows, and axes . . . And from what I understand, the casualties just piled up during the battle.

[painkillereyes.livejournal.com]

I have a similar fascination with documentaries focusing on Christian Fundamentalists. Hell House is another movie to check out. There's also a TV series on the Discovery channel called "Only in America" - their episode on country preachers was pretty incredible.

[baristababe.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of the other movie or TV series . . . so thanks for the tips. I'll definitely have to check them out.

[wyntermoonwolf.livejournal.com]

I was raised Christian but now am agnostic. What I can't fathom is how a lot of them believe that they can do anything they wish in order to spread their faith or to strike down "the evil ones" (not Christian).

I believe the words are "Love one another", not "Love one another only if they're Christian".

I have a label for these kind of people: Sheeple.

[baristababe.livejournal.com]

I know - I think that's part of what fascinates me. How the Christian 'philosophy,' if it can be called that, has been morphed into this other strange thing where all non-Christians are evil and should have horrible things done to them . . .