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.
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.
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