Free «Jesus Camp » Essay Paper

This documentary takes extreme stands. The ministry leader Becky Fischer illustrates clearly that their ministry needs to take extreme sides in sensitive issues. My major concern about this is that the ministry teaches children who are not of age to think a certain way. Although a great deal of good values is taught to the children, some harmful ideas are also instilled in them. The ministry’s stands on abortion, global warming, the origin of Earth, and homosexuality absolutely mislead the children.

The ministry has charismatic evangelical roots. It exhibits ethnocentrism against fellow Christians and Muslims. One of the members shown on the video, a young girl Rachel, believes that non-charismatic churches are dead churches. The ministry insinuates that it teaches its children Christian doctrines because the enemy (the Muslim fraternity) too is vigorously teaching theirs about Islam.

Religion affects socialization. For instance, the children at the camp socialize due to sharing each other’s religion. The education in this ministry depicts some groups as outcasts. As a result, attendees see Muslims and homosexuals as outcasts. This achieves discrimination against such groups. The attendees of Jesus Camp “do religion” in a fundamentalist way. They distance themselves from modern theologies such as the causes of global warming and the origin of man through evolution, both of which they disregard completely. They seek solutions for everything in faith.

The attendees also see some paraphernalia as sacred. They have a flag to which children pledge allegiance to. The Holy Bible is sacred to them as well. Apparently, the attendees insist on praying aided by objects. For instance, when they pray for president Bush’s decision, they lay their hands on his picture. Terming the ministry as a cult would be harsh. However, the ministry has characteristics of a religious sect. This is clearly seen in the idea of forming an army of God. It is arguable that this ‘army’ is analogous to the Jihad armies.

This movie does not support secularization. It is against scientific explanations of the origin of our planet and the human race. It only seeks answers from religion. Overall, the documentary promotes fundamentalism.