At the beginning of Jesus Camp, the video is introduced with a radio announcer who introduces the ideal role of Christianity in politics. The announcer believes that if Christians around the country get together and make a stand on this movement, Christ followers can form together to make a powerful impact. In the director’s interview, Pastor Becky does not believe politics have a substantial role in Christianity, she says “I don’t consider myself or what we do with the kids as overly political”(Ewing 11). It seems odd that Pastor Becky allowed the film to be portrayed the way it is if she did not see her summer camp as a political endorser. Pastor Becky also mentions that the Spirit of God will call Christians to be involved in politics on the will of God, which slightly contradicts her original point (Ewin 16). Pastor Becky’s camp has a set section on Jesus and politics; some of the guest speakers discuss topics such as the president and pro-life. Some of the other participants in the film answered questions about politics in a Christian home, the answers varied from “should be active” (17) to “I never thought of myself as politically active” (24). 

    Thomas Jefferson would not have approved of Jesus Camp based on his thoughts about the role of religion with politics. In the First Amendment Jefferson pushed for having freedom in religion, this was achieved and with this idea comes allowance for politics to be free and not tied down in a religious bind. In Virginia, Jefferson made an act which has stated “civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions”(Jefferson). This statement backs up his ideas for why the constitution should give the right to freedom in religion. Henry Giroux noted that Bush “did more during his two terms in office to advance the agenda of right-wing evangelicals than any other president in recent history” (Giroux 271). This assessment along with the ideas illustrated in the movie, it seems to providing a lead to the idea of religion being able to make a change in politics. Whether this is true or not is something that cannot be proven. The movie does have a cult-like feel, making the idea of religion playing a role in politics seem insane.

     Thomas Jefferson established the Wall of Separation, to establish a separation between the world of politics and religion.  This made it freer for people to practice their religion the way that they wanted to.  In the Jesus Camp documentary, the argument for the importance of religion was based on its relevance in political discourse.  While the documentary didn’t really comment on the liberal side of Christianity (with the exception being the radio host and his interviews), it did touch base on the conservative.  The youth minister in the film had a lot of faith in George W. Bush and a lot of the politics that he established.  Author Henry A. Giroux comments on that and talks about how George Bush was recognized for how much he did for right-wing Christianity in politics (271).  I think that Jefferson would have had a problem with this because what Bush was said to have done is the complete opposite of what he wanted.  Giroux also points out how Bush pushed for open dialogue about fundamentalist Christian values in politics (273).  Another comparison that can be noticed between Giroux’s article and the information in the documentary is the use of Christian extremism (277).  The youth in the Jesus Camp documentary were being trained, in a way, to approach their religious beliefs more actively and more radically then it had been done before.  These young children were talking about become “martyr’s” for Christianity which is really intense.  I could not even imagine kids their age who would honestly say that they were willing to die for something.  Because of their values, I feel like they were missing on the opportunity to grow up and make their own decisions.  It seemed like a lot of the kids in this documentary were just following what their parents had done before them and I think that is because they weren’t given the opportunity to explore anything else.  In my opinion, this documentary is important because it shows us where the future of politically based Christianity is headed, in terms of conservatism. 

The film Jesus Camp shows an entirely different perspective from Jefferson’s belief of separation between church and state.  In his letter Wall of Separation, Jefferson says that the government should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” which demonstrates his feelings toward a clean boundary between government legislature and religious doctrine.  However, in the film the focus group, Kids in Ministry International led by Pastor Becky Fischer, shows clear intentions of indoctrinating the children with conservative Christian values.  This really bothered me in the fact that this ministry is taking children and introducing them to these values at such a young and impressionable age.  While I am in no way against children going to church and embracing their Christian values (should they choose to do so), I am very disturbed in the fact that it seems the children are being forced to accept these beliefs as their own.  Children are very susceptible to what they are told is right and wrong and are, in my opinion, too young to make their own informed choices about many topics.  To me, it seems that these beliefs are being presented as the only way to think and the children are blindly led to believing and accepting them because it is what they are being told is correct. 

Throughout the film, Fischer that she is “training” the children to be tomorrow’s “Army of God” and that they should show the same radicalism as that of what we have dubbed “radical Muslims”.  She states that the children should be willing to throw down their lives for the sake of Christianity.  In one portion of the film, Fischer states that her Christianity is “right” and that it is up to her and the children she is training to go out and spread the “truth”.  Giroux states that when absolute morality is mixed with politics, “zealots [are produced] who believe they have a monopoly on the truth” and “that it also fuels an intolerance toward others who do not follow the scripted, righteous path” of their organized religion.  This is reminiscent of Fischer in the film because of what I stated before and in the fact that conservative Christians gained political influence during the presidency of George W. Bush who, as Giroux states, has “nourished and strengthened” many conservative Christian viewpoints.  The children are led to pray towards a cardboard cutout of Bush because he is the “right” person who will help restore Christian values in the political realm.  I believe that electing an official based purely on his or her religious belief is a dangerous and counterintuitive concept in the effort to build a strong, tolerant, and stable government.

In “Jesus Camp” the idea that religion and state should be separated is evident when listening to the radio talk show, but not the Pentecostal preacher.  Throughout the film it becomes quite obvious that the Pastor of this specific camp pushes the idea that America should be a Christian nation.  This position is clearly seen in Giroux’s article, and he even cites the Pentecostal Church as being one of the main groups that support this position.  The interesting thing with this pastor, Becky Fischer, takes the idea from a level of support for the government to have Christian morals to a point of Christian rule, a theocracy.  This is also very different from Jefferson’s ideas of the wall of separations.  This concept of “to each his own” is obviously lost to a group like the one shown in “Jesus Camp” because of Fischer’s want to make an indoctrinated generation.  An idea she expresses in the last scene flat out.  This bugs me.  As a person thinking of going into Protestant ministry I have always understood Evangelical Christianity as a free choice conversion.  This implies that the person must be able to understand what it means to have faith in Christianity is.  This cannot be done if a person has been indoctrinated.  Along with that, I also think it is strange for them to target the government but then to hail an official as the messiah.  This seems strange to me as it sounds counterproductive.  I know that from Revelations there are passages on the evils of a government and that the Epistles have passages on serving the governments.  This does seem contradictory and to be honest I do not know how to fully deal with it but it does not make sense to one minute condemn in the government then the next praise the people running it.  In the end I find myself wondering why I have such an aversion to this specific group.  I have always tried to hold to the idea expressed from 1 Corinthians chapter 1 that we, as Christians are all followers of Christ.  This concept is not held by Fischer’s group; especially by the girl who liked to dance as she said that there are dead churches as well as God “might” come into an active church.  It almost feels that the sola Scriptura is lost and replaced by pastoral doctrine.

Giroux would view the film, Jesus Camp, as evidence of how Jefferson’s principles of separation of church and state and freedom of religion are comprised in today’s society.  Giroux echoes Jefferson’s principles towards religion and politics.  Giroux’s article cites how both parties Democrat and Republican take their understanding of the Scriptures and form it to their party ties to view the world and issues.  In Jesus Camp, Pastor Becky sees children as a great weapon for the future.  She says that parents should indoctrinate their children, a particular ideology to view the world.  This ideology is emphasized in the Levi’s mother and him during their science lesson.  She says to Levi that “science doesn’t prove anything” because her ideology’s borders don’t allow science to habit there.  She never really gives evidence for the disproval of science just pure ignorance of the fact it exists.  Her ideology and her children’s are formed by recycling history and the beliefs of the 1st century church.  The families and individuals in the movie are considered with an enemy and constant threat of immorality in the nation.  They replicate the Gospel of Mark speaking of martyrdom for God’s glory and living out the call by going to war.  Their discourse is embedded in Christianity and at a very narrow polarized way of life in which everyone who doubts like the little boy at camp is considered the enemy.  This is evident by the fact of praising the George Bush cut-out.  The New Testament says that government is flawed, so people of morality have to get the right guy in.  That right guy occurring to this group is George Bush.  The movie is set during a crucial time as well to help redirect the nation on the moral path again according to this group and its their duty: the appointment of a Supreme Court Justice.  They want to put one justice in that will reverse Roe v. Wade (i.e. all those talks and cries about children’s fault they are for causing abortions).  One feeling I had after the film is are they no different than the jihadists?  Faith through understanding or natural law is forbidden in this group, so Jefferson would be an enemy and not pleased about the intolerance of this Christian group that constantly mixes religion and politics together.  Paul on the other hand, would be right at home with this doctrine (Romans 6).   

Jesus Camp shows is an overt cross over between religion and politics. The filmmakers address this point through the eyes of a Christian camp for children, where along with teaching religious warfare; they “worshiped” George Bush, believing him to be chosen by God to do His work in the capitol. This is the exact opposite of what Jefferson meant when he talked about a “wall of separation between church and state. The woman in charge of the camp states that they are breaking down the separation of church and state, piece by piece. This idea does not coincide with Jefferson’s ideals at all. He would be very upset to find that people in a religiously free country were trying to instate a theocracy. Similarly Giroux would feel that religion should be completely separate from politics, and that theocracy should be Should people start voting based on religion, and not on who is best for a job, political disorder starts taking place. I believe that politics and religion should not mix. Voting for someone based on their religion is not a good idea, no matter the religion. When a leader of a country is being chosen, it is more important to look at their past actions, and what they have stood for, as well as their stand on the issues that are important to you. There are plenty of people in this world that claim to be Christians that are not, or at least don’t act like Christians. The documentary raised a few issues for me. I was born into an Evangelical family, and while a lot of our beliefs were the same as the individuals in the video, we were never as radical or speaking in tongues, or as militant sounding. So I had mixed feelings on the way that the beliefs were portrayed in the film. However, I do not believe that religion and politics should be mixed. A president should not be “worshiped”. As far as the parents homeschooling their children, there is nothing wrong with homeschooling. The issue comes when people trade the Bible for science. It is not smart to teach your children that evolution does not exist on some level.  

The video Jesus Camp demonstrated strong views of religion in politics from many different “sides” or forms of belief. The radio announcer stated that there is a “new brand of religion” in our country: one with the entanglement of politics and religion. He then goes on to ask “what kind of message is that for our children”? When I heard this I was taken aback and wondered why it mattered so much that religion had a hold in politics. After watching the rest of this video however, I came to the realization that religion within politics may not be such a great idea after all. The idea that Jefferson put forth about the separation of church and state seems to be the best way to handle politics still today. As we saw in the video when religion is brought into a political arena, the message that is trying to be portrayed gets tangled up and causes uproar for some. I was very surprised when the children were told to destroy the government (crushing the cup) because it was an enemy of God. This was strange to me because the children were then taught that it was important to get into politics. This can be seen when the children’s minister is teaching them about abortion and how they can get hold of the political reigns and put an end to it. I was confused by these teachings because earlier in the video the minister was talking about keeping politics and religion separate but later on she states that she is teaching kids how to get into a position of power in order to teach the world about what is “right”, and that “children don’t learn anything by choice”. She basically states that she is creating an army to take over the world and press her beliefs onto everyone else. The final conversation between the minister and the radio announcer brought into light just how difficult it is to keep religion and politics separate but also how crucial it is to the way America is run today. 

Jesus Politics (Film's Website)