Jesus Camp

While I was on KHI an hour ago or so, I found an interesting video (in 9 parts) about "Jesus Camp."

Watch the video for yourself if you want. I am only on part 2 right now. lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXQ8GH1xwxg&NR=1

The question is, are kids who grow up under Evangelical Christian values being "brainwashed" by this? What are your thoughts?

 

Jesus Camp just is one of those topics that makes me...grrr! Yes, I absolutely believe it is brainwashing. Also, it was made by Ted Haggard who used to talk to President Bush...was found out to be with a male prostitute and suddenly 'cured' himself of being gay afterwards. The man was frightening in that he could get 30k people together to rallies and brainwash them, let alone for this Jesus Camp film. I fear people like him and those who run camps like this are making children not want to learn science or about the world they really live in. There's nothing wrong with believing in a religion but when it soaks up people's daily lives and sensibilities, especially children's, I do start to wonder if some of these Evangelical movements aren't just moving towards fascism.

 

It's absolutely brainwashing. But in my opinion Christians can go do their thing. They have the right to brainwash their child. As long as they leave their Christian beliefs and "values" away from political discussions or those involving certain sciences, I'm fine with it. It's when Christians push their beliefs on others that I feel like they shouldn't...exist. XD

Jesus camps are fine with me, I've been going to one every summer for the past 6 years. I actually enjoy it quite a lot, despite me being a hardcore atheist. And really, it's not like brainwashing isn't done in every religion, that's sort of how religion's spread. Spewing lies, only saying the good things about themself, only saying bad things about others, keeping the humble masses ignorant. It's how most religions work these days. In fact the world is better off NOW simply because now even religious people need to be Politically correct or else they're tackled and taized. In my opinion religions today or 60x as docile as they were in past centuries. Which is why Jesus camps don't bother me at all. What can it do other then keep another 1000 kids ignorant, as if 99% of the world isn't. If a person is naturally questioning, if they aren't meant to be a Christian, they won't be. Even if most of these children didn't attend Jesus camps, they'd probably still fall back on religion later in life.

 

I happened upon this when it was on TV. What some of the parents shown were doing to their children amounted to serious child abuse. A child does not know the difference between right and wrong, and certainly cannot form any opinions on what their belief system is going to be. Forcing a child to church every sunday and drumming the parents religion into them is cruel and should be illegal.

I also remember seeing the woman who home-schooled her child. She taught him that creationism is right and everything else is wrong. She closed his mind to everything, raising an ignorant and bigoted child to ruin the next generation.

These people are terrible parents who should never have been allowed to have children.

*phones social services*

 

I've seen this film. It's disturbing. They speak in tounges and sound like they're posessed. They ritualistically reach out to a cardboard copy of George W. Bush, and even more, and worse yet, they force it on children. Scary stuff.

 

It's films like these, that promote those who believe that Christianity is a crazy religion.

Obviously, this is one of the extremes. I've been going to a "Jesus Camp" for several years now. I'm obviously not brainwashed, nor do I believe that everything that is not Christian is wrong. Heck, the camp I go to only does religious things like three times per day. And that's Grace at mealtimes. >_>;;

There are some crazy people out there, and I don't think that the kind of camps your describing are the kind of mainstream Christian camps you'd find out there.

Still, for this particular camp, the people who go there and run it are obviously insane. There's no need to be so fervent about Christianity with children. They're too young to understand the concepts, and are probably only attending the camp, because their parents believed that it was the right thing for them to do.

Also, Bunterx while it might seem wrong to everyone else to raise a child that way, to that mother it must have seemed like the right thing to do. While I also think that it's stupid to raise an ignorant child, we cant judge the way she parents her child. >_>;;

 

I don't know if I agree with that. That child is being brainwashed, disassociated from society and not allowed to seek knowledge. That is a form of abuse and since it's happening in this country, I do believe it to be our concern. DCFS constantly picks on poor families to keep kids out of gangs etc...so why isn't this also a form of something done wrong? Both are brainwashing, filling a kid's heart with hate and fear, hurt the child in years to come and make the kid seem stupid and well, we know how successful most of these people will be who don't just do work for the church and spread the 'good word' to others.

I do agree that going to religious camps 'usually' wasn't something bad. I had been to a couple myself growing up and we really didn't have much Christianity forced down our throats. They just told us things about the regular stuff they give to kids like Noah, David and Goliath, Jesus stories etc...but there was nothing like what was done here. We had a good time singing songs, doing games and some crafts etc and it was fun.

This is clearly the Evangelical Protestant Christian movement which I really do find is fascist and is forcing kids to become brainwashed, as well as teenagers. I have seen -nothing- good come out of the evangelical protestant movement and these are always the people telling others to go to hell, bashing on gays, calling everything a sin and they are the sorts that smile when they say God is punishing people for sins and saying for soldiers in Iraq to die and that Hurricane Katrina was God's message.

Some people that belong to the religion are fine because they are laymen believers but the leaders, the activists and the people forcing their kids to lives like this...which is what -this- Jesus Camp is, it's rotten. These people also paint the religion so gloriously and are into the 'Born Again' philosophy. Bush is also one of them and who listened to major advisers in the Evangelical Protestant movement and look where that's got us. I winced every time he said that we were righteous and God was on our side blah blah. They denounce evolution entirely and encourage people to listen to Christian music all the time and ignore the music of other genres...books they should read are controlled etc. It to me seems very appalling and I think more people ought to know the truth. When Haggard made this movie it was to show how it worked to conform kids...those kids were -crying- and wailing to be forgiven for sins and promising to not do anymore. That is just wrong. The movement is fascist and seeping into politics to the point where we have to know what president they are going to be backing this time. Why should we care? Because they are allied together and can draw crowds of more people than any rock star could. They -tell- people who to vote for and like sheep, most of them will. The movement is growing and these leaders are so determined that so many things are sins that we won't have a voice left if they continue to gain power, nor will our children learn anything as groups of them try to chase out science teachers from schools out west and in the south. Books like Harry Potter are always threatened.

Mind you, I don't hate Christians and think most are pretty decent people and also they regard me as such. I'm surely not going to just judge people based on their religious choice though it may curb what we talk about because there are other things to chat on than that and we are more than just religious beliefs. I just -know- this group is leading people down a nasty road and no one is doing a thing about it but just laughing at them on the news when they appear and saying they 'aren't Christian' or 'what a stupid Christian', depending if you are religious or not. I definitely don't want a kid to be brainwashed as much by Evangelical Protestants just as much as I don't prefer them to be talking to the Bloods down the street and joining. This group entirely gives Christians a bad name and I wish more groups would do something about it.

 

well, if its one thing i detest

is this, im in a protestant church, and i think this is wrong, ive been to camps

and all we did was what repliku said,

in fact, why do most churches bash on gay people?, didnt jesus, go to everyone , even prostitutes?

instead of raising fingers to jugde we should , be more careful with how we raise our children, brainwashing them , with things like this , isnt going to let them learn anything

we should highly encourage our children to ask, and be curious.

 

Exactly. I remember going on HUGE Christian trips to water parks, the Dells, and other fun area's. We'd meet 3 times a day (morning, evening, before nightfall), and we'd really only have testimonies, talks, fun activities, etc..

It's almost as if they feel they need to completely bash in and force these things down on kids to compensate for something.

Also, probably one of the coolest parts of those trips were the songs. I don't care if they were "praise and worship," they were just awesome. xD Plus the bands were cool. We got to see Skillet twice, in fact. :3

 

......yo

yep, its brainwashing, hate Jesus, love religion!

 

awesome

yeah, thats exactly what im talking about.

i mean, it was fun, not brainwashing

though, its a shame to see some camps do this.

 

Really the ones that are doing this are like this Jesus Camp ran by Ted Haggard back when. They are headed by Evangelical Christians that are really into the religion more than the 'message' that should be delivered to kids. It's a shame really, but at least those who had good memories where they weren't bullied like that can recall it and we can hope it doesn't just become a faded thing no one can enjoy at all in the future.

 

God, I watched this when it was on expecting to hear something educational. In the end it didn't seem factual, it seemed like a group of people recording a group of fanatcis at their worst moments, interviewing the worst parents and kids of the bunch. It was more of a programme that says, 'This is what happens if you become Christian' message. Fair enough that this group of Evangelicals are too extreme to live in a proper society, but I feel more sorry for them than hate them.

All these kids, and most likely the parents and other people who participated in the camp, were taught from a young age a complete devotion in their relegion. They know no other way of living, completely isolated from society, they have to live their way because their are too scared of discovering something bad if their were to ever give up their relegion.

I don't hate any devoted christians or anyone one completly elegious, because of the pure fact most of them are nothing but victims thanks to their family passing down that relegion for genrations, I feel more sorry they are merely victims with no personnal choices thanks to what their ancestor's believed.

 

Fascists. Mother-screwing blasphemous fascists.

God, it's people like this that gives secular Christians who don't let faith blind them to reality a bad name.

 

That was too fasist and extreme for my liking. I hate that there are people in the world that still think that way.

Come on, there's free-will for a reason, people!!​

 

I never liked the idea of "Jesus Camp". It just makes the real Christians who'd never publicly get on television and start this mess a bad name.