Monday, April 09, 2007

Jesus Camp

After keeping my distance for some time I finally broke down and decided to watch Jesus Camp and in so doing my apprehensive suspicions regarding the films contents were not only confirmed, but, furthered immensely. Jesus Camp is the most effective horror film of the year, never mind the fact that it is a documentary and there are scenes of hysterical, albeit unintended, irony and humor.

The first scene which offers to us the main documentary character, Pastor Becky Fischer, displays Fischer working herself, and subsequently the crowd which is mainly comprised of young children, into a hysterical frenzy wherein she proclaims, in part, that “We got too many Christian grown ups who are fat and lazy. They don’t want to give up their evening meal, they don’t want to fast for a three day fast or a forty day fast,” which may be the most ironic statement in the entire movie - excluding for now the ringer of hypocrisy Ted Haggard - for Pastor Becky is grotesquely obese and seems to not only refuse to give up her evening meal, but, seems as though when off camera she does nothing other than gorge her repugnantly fat and hippopotamus-like face. After ranting and raving like Joseph Goebbels at the Weimer rally, Pastor Fischer claims that “President Bush brought some real credibility to the Christian faith” after which I was forced to pause the movie in lieu of my inability to cease laughing uncontrollably. If the Christian faith must resort to President Bush for “some real credibility” then it is clearly but a short time until the Christian faith collapses in on itself for lacking anything which can even be remotely considered anything of the same species as credibility.

Apart from the laughable insanity, of which I have just provided a few examples, the movie contains, what must be considered by conscionable human beings concerned for the communal well being of children, moral abominations and a fundamental example of an ethical crisis. For example, the documentary follows a little ten year old girl whose passion is dancing, she clearly loves to dance, but, due to being so grossly warped by her parents maniacal Christian faith, this little ten year old girl says “When I dance I really have to make sure that’s god, because people will notice when I’m just dancing for the flesh and I do that sometimes, I must admit that and I really need to get over that.” After she said that I was in utter shock and had to rewind the scene and watch it again in order to regain myself, it honestly made me nauseous. There is absolutely no reason, no reason whatsoever, that any parent should indoctrinate their children with such poisonous dogma, such nefarious self-degradation and guilt. This girl is a prepubescent ten year old and her parents have no business of indoctrinating her with such overt sexual repression and guilt before she is even sexually developed; such thoughts, quite simply, have no business running through her mind. To instill in children such loathsome sexual repression, before they have even begun to reach sexual maturity, is far beyond depraved and immoral, it is tantamount to psychological terrorism.

While I am on the subject of psychological terrorism I must mention some of Pastor Fischer’s evil comments. While pacing back and forth in front of an auditorium full of young children like a tiger with mad cow disease, Fischer, while discussing the subject of sin, yells “while I’m on the subject let me say something about Harry Potter. Warlocks are enemies of god…had it been in the old testament Harry Potter would have been put to death!” While this is no doubt true, the Pentateuch is essentially a verbose index of death sentences, it is of the most reprehensible actions to indoctrinate young children with such life-negating, violent and hostile fear-mongering, it is, again, a fundamental example of psychological terrorism. Preaching vengefulness, hatred and murder are not subjects for which young children should ever have to be subjected to, shame on this crypto-Nazi of a Pastor.

Fischer, her insatiable appetite for terrorizing the youth not yet satisfied, goes on to tell the young children “you’re one thing when you’re at church and another thing when you’re at school with your friends. You’re a phony and a hypocrite,” after which a number of the children begin to cry, a little boy actually collapses to the floor curling up into the fetal position shaking with convulsive tears. This is child abuse to an unfathomable level and should not go unpunished.

As a rather explicit illustration of the exclusionary, superiority and neo-fascist dogmas instilled within these children a boy explains in one scene “Whenever I run into a non-Christian there’s something that always doesn’t seem right, there’s always something that makes my spirit fell yucky.” Of course he is wrong to ascribe his feeling of unease to his “spirit,” for the source of his unease is surely the fear-mongering indoctrination which he has been gratuitously fed by his parents and elders who teach him that all non-Christians are evil, sinful, on their way to hell and some – such as the literary character of Harry Potter, for instance – are so evil that their murder is warranted; yet another example of the child abuse and psychologically inflicted trauma which is on display all throughout the film.

There is another scene wherein the lunatic Pentecostals amass a substantial group of young children only to teach them that abortion is murder and that they, being “god’s righteous judges,” must put an end to abortion. They then work the children into such a hysteria that some have tears running down their face as they shake, tremble and speak in tongues; speaking in tongues being a recurring phenomena in this film, which, the first time I saw it, made me laugh so hard I was forced to pause the movie. Near the end of the, I don’t even know what to call it, (rally?) the children pump their fists in the air and chant “Righteous judges!” over and over again. I can only imagine that this is what it must have been like to attend the Nuremberg Rallies.

The portion of the film which covers Ted Haggard – “Big Gay Ted” as gay columnist Dan Savage refers to him - may be the most vertigo inducing experience in all of film, Haggard being the former leader of the National Association of Evangelicals and the former Pastor of the mega-church New Life Church who resigned his duties after the scandal wherein it was exposed that he paid a homosexual prostitute for methamphetamine and sexual favors. In part of his sermon he claims that he has “…a ten year rule about dating. If you married someone thirty years older than you, I hope he dies so you can get his money,” after which he began to cackle like a warlock himself, it sent chills down my spinal column. Then, the climax, which is perfect, shows Ted Haggard being interviewed and saying, in true Jack McFarland effeminate form, “It’s a fabulous life!”

There is a scene wherein Pastor Fischer is sitting in her home salivating over the footage that had thus far been obtained and she then begins to foam at the mouth, saying “Some extreme liberals, they have to see this and start shaking in their boots…the intensity that you see in these kids, there’s no doubt they have got be watching this and going ‘oh my goodness’” I hate to disappoint, but, I was not shaking in my boots over the extreme and sick indoctrination of these children with exclusionary and hostile dogmas, I am merely concerned that the repugnant treatment of the children is going to lead to serious neurosis and trauma, I worry about their futures and their psychological well being. These crazed Pentecostals are raising a generation of psychological cripples, of guilt ridden, anxiety riddled, delusion driven, fantasy intoxicated cripples. These children are going to face serious psychological pathologies, traumas and abnormalities when confronted with the real world later on in life and I fear for them; I cannot even imagine what it must be like to be a five or six year old forced to the brink of emotional collapse – in almost every scene the children are brought to tears - by ones parents and elders all in the name of a false mythology.

In summation, the only right way to end this review, is to quote the crazed comments of a little girl who says “My dad says that when the missionaries are about to go somewhere dangerous they jump around yelling Martyr, Martyr, Martyr! It’s cool.” Obviously, in the heart of America, pathological parents and fascist Pastors are raising a generation of children who will subsequently become either psychologically disturbed and emotionally broken or the Christian equivalent of Al Qaeda militants.

31 comments:

Karen said...

Go to www.choosejesusrightnow.com & click on BUMPER STICKERS.

Anonymous said...

I will pray for ya, you lost miserable soul.

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with you! Amazing (yet not surprising) how one poster seemingly condones this child abuse by electing to pray for YOUR lost 'soul'! If that is not an example of how religion breeds ignorance, nothing is! Holy crap!

JDHURF said...

anonymous said:
I will pray for ya, you lost miserable soul.

This is one of my favorite lines from the religious; that they are going to pray for me. Hey, if you really want to waste your time talking to yourself regarding an anonymous blogger on the internet, knock yourself out. However, I would suggest that you go to my archive and read my post entitled Prayer is Selfish Beggary in order to understand why what you are doing, praying, is so thoroughly helpless, selfish and ultimately ignorant.

anonymous (not related to the first anonymous) said:
Amazing (yet not surprising) how one poster seemingly condones this child abuse by electing to pray for YOUR lost 'soul'! If that is not an example of how religion breeds ignorance, nothing is! Holy crap!

Exactly, implicit in that substance-free post was an acceptance and approval of child abuse, shame on that poster.

Thank you both for stopping by and commenting!

Yulacu said...

I would have to agree. Jesus Camp is a horror film. One thing I did notice was how motivated the kids were. If only we could bottle that stuff up and give it to kids in the public school system - minus the dogmatic indoctrination.

Anonymous said...

I would suggest that you go to my archive and read my post
Why should I read that. You head is bloated with pseudo intellectual smut

JDHURF said...

the alpha,
Yes, I agree, that sort of energy – when harnessed properly – could be the force for tremendous good, if only it were applied correctly.

Thank you for stopping by and commenting!

JDHURF said...

anonymous,
If you wish to engage my positions with arguments I am all for it, I very much enjoy differing views and the debates which necessarily ensue. However, if your only interest is to behave on my blog as if it were a school yard, waging vacuous ad hominems and slurs, then, well, suit yourself. It only proves that in lieu of an actual argument you have no qualms with resorting to fallacious arguments which are at once both iniquitous and absurd. If you insist on shaming yourself, I will not stop you.

Stardust said...

I would suggest that you go to my archive and read my post entitled Prayer is Selfish Beggary in order to understand why what you are doing, praying, is so thoroughly helpless, selfish and ultimately ignorant.

jd - Prayer is Selfish Beggary is my favorite of all your posts and I use the phrase quite often. That's exactly what it is. Few people would believe in their gods if there wasn't some kind of imagined reward involved.

Stardust said...

Jesus Camp and Becky Fisher are more frightening than any horror movie I have ever seen...because she and her "mission" are very real. I feel sorry for the brainwashed kids at her mercy and the mercy of their fundamentalist parents who take them to this awful person. She may have temporarily shut down Jesus Camp, but her church is alive and well.

JDHURF said...

stardust,
I am very happy to hear that you so enjoyed my post on prayer! We certainly agree entirely regarding neo-Nazi Fischer being an embodiment of the worst attributes of the human species, she’s a child abuser.

Thank you very much for stopping by and posting!

Anonymous said...

yOu people make blogs beliitling GOD and see what happened in viginia tech.

JDHURF said...

anonymous:
You should be ashamed of yourself for invoking the VT tragedy as a non-sequitur argument for god. That is absolutely abhorrent and shameful.

Stardust said...

yOu people make blogs beliitling GOD and see what happened in viginia tech.

It's irrational to believe that a god would kill people (most of whom were god believers) at random while atheist bloggers are still sitting safely in their homes.

Stardust said...

Like I stated before, Becky Fisher may not be doing Jesus camp for now, but is still at the brainwashing of young minds.

Kids in Ministry

Anonymous said...

Hey, Hurf!!

You haven't written one single blog entry that wasn't excellent.

Jesus Camp scared the bejesus out of me. Your piece sums things up wonderfully. My favorite parts of the movie and your blog deal with Ted Haggard.

For gay people, the only hell that actually exists is the closet. I know that from experience.

Gay people who are afraid to come out deserve compassion and sympathy, because in most cases, it's the hardest thing they'll ever have to do. But there is NEVER any excuse for closted gays to hide their identity by lashing out at honest gays. I applaud the openly gay dude who outed that bastard.

Sorry to get off on a tangent. I just wanted to make that important point. Great blog!!

Fergul Menhaden said...

Glory be to God!

Only a prevert like yourself could subvert a fine movie displaying the passionate love of children for Christ. You obviously ain't saved and are a homo.

The good Rev Haggard was framed by the Zioist Hollywood Gay Conspiracy that wants to yank the unborn from every womb and let the terrorists and black welfare queens have it all. Camp's like Rev. Fisher's only help keep America right and protected from your foul Clinton loving faggotry.

And you can knock your president, but he is anointed by the Lord Himself and is in that way infallible. You just are too dim to realize our President's Plan is an extension of the Lord's will to bring Jesus to the dirty sand people of the world and give them light.

Get an education heathen. Go to www.godhatesfags.com and read what Christians really think.

I will pray for your soul.

Anonymous said...

Fergul Menhaden,
It is so sad that some people never grow up with age. Go learn some compassion and love before you hit the grave.
Zionists are million times better for this world then all despising, un-compassionate brutes like Dr.Laura, Ann Coultre, ted haggard, Fischer, haggard and snake oil merchant Bush.
Oh yes the world does not revolve around America. Christian-America cannot sow neem and expect to harvest mangoes.
FYI- religion is not a industry.

Anonymous said...

Since when did people with two brain cells care about what christards think? Go shove. godhatesfags.com site up your rectum. Thank You.

JDHURF said...

eli:

I agree with your comments, they were insightful and important. Ted Haggard represents, in a way, everything that is wrong in the U.S., everything that is wrong with fundamentalist religion and is, himself, a very loathsome and miserable human being; taking his inner insecurity, anxiety, fear and anger out on other gays, what a piece of shit.

JDHURF said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JDHURF said...

fergul menhaden said:

Only a prevert like yourself could subvert a fine movie displaying the passionate love of children for Christ. You obviously ain't saved and are a homo.

My, aren’t you the raving madman? Firstly, I am not perverted, I took offense to the blatant sexual repression being heaped on young prepubescent children. An actual example of perversion is the sexual repression that I spoke of. Secondly, Jesus Camp was not a “fine movie” for the reasons I explained in detail in my post. Thirdly, no, I do not believe in Jesus, god or the phantom-like specter Christians refer to as the “soul” and thus am certainly not “saved” in the fundamentalist definition of the term. Lastly, I am actually not homosexual, I am infatuated with women almost to a fault, certainly heterosexual; not that there is anything in the least bit wrong with homosexuality.

The good Rev Haggard was framed by the Zioist Hollywood Gay Conspiracy that wants to yank the unborn from every womb and let the terrorists and black welfare queens have it all. Camp's like Rev. Fisher's only help keep America right and protected from your foul Clinton loving faggotry.

Jesus tap dancing Christ. After having read this I checked out your blog site and I have the impression that you have created a sarcastic, albeit very vitriolic, account; you can’t mean what you say, you seem to be a caricature of fundamentalist Christian conservatives. Is this true? Otherwise you are clearly a neo-Nazi and your ravings on the comments board here, as unbelievable as this may be, might surpass Pastor Fischer’s pathological ravings; you sir, have now taken the Nazi baton from Fischer who, herself, plucked it from the rotten grave of Joseoph Goebbels.

And you can knock your president, but he is anointed by the Lord Himself and is in that way infallible. You just are too dim to realize our President's Plan is an extension of the Lord's will to bring Jesus to the dirty sand people of the world and give them light.

Clearly this is for the lulz, no?


BTW - Israel and Zionism has nothing to do with Haggard being a self-loathing gay.

JDHURF said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JDHURF said...

fergul:

One more thing. I pointed out the clear and obvious fact that Israel and Zionism has nothing to do with Ted Haggard being a self-loathing gay, but, what I failed to mention, which is equally true, is that what is responsible for Haggard's self-loathing insecurity and hatred is, as is equally obvious, fundamental Christianity.

Nails3Jesus0 said...

Hey JD,
Nice blog, but I would excpect nothing less from you.
Just read your blog about Jesus Camp. I've only seen snippets of the film and now I'm sure I don't want to see it.
Btw, I read fergul's blog and he is for sure a caricature of a fundie.

JDHURF said...

nails3jesus0:

Great to see you here at my home blog and thank you for the kind words!

I'm still unsure about fergul. I was rather convinced that it was a satire and then I spent around a half hour to an hour reading his blog and came out unsure. Let us hope, for the sake of the human race, it is a satire.

MC Fanon said...

JDHURF,

Your blog is a rarity when it comes to the internet; it contains lucid, cogent, intelligent posts and evidently has for some time. I can't say I agree with much, if anything you post but as on PCF, you're an excellent writer and I find a lot of it interesting.

I may drop in and comment when I feel compelled from time to time but for now, I just thought I would say hi.

-Dave

Unknown said...

I see that whenever someone decides to start blogging with lucidity and common sense, the blind herd, followers of the most harmful dogmatic fairytale in human history, feel compelled to stand up and vomit a nearly senseless chain of bytes on the net in the form of comments. How sad...

But jdhurf, you keep up the good work! *thumb up* :) I'll link you on my blog.

Anonymous said...

I saw this movie and experienced close to the identical reaction as you did. It surprises me today how many intelligent people actually believe in God and how large of an effect this entity that only exists in a poorly developed third eye has such a huge effect on the world. Humanity has along way to go before we achieve any type of broad class consciousness or human conscience as a species. The existence of archaic notions like the belief in God is a testament to that.

Anonymous said...

I just discovered your journals and all I can say is thanks. I am 40 yrs. old, grew up in a Southern
Baptist school and Evangelical church and home, and am only now beginning to recover from some of the mental/spiritual abuse that destroyed my self-esteem,logical thinking,and overall spirit. I spent many nights waking up in cold sweat after dreams of HELL.I wasted many hours praying for unrealistic goals,miracles,and problems to be solved when I could have thought them through on my own.I always suspected-even in the 5th grade-that Christianity and the Bible could not possibly be true,yet,if there was a one in a million chance that I could "burn" forever by turning away - then I must try and try again to feel "born again" and see if the Holy Spirit would,maybe this time,show me a sign that He entered into my heart. I remember once in the 7th grade feeling relieved that athiesm just might be a possibility.(You mean that there actually is NOT a sadistic,genocidal,hateful,perfectionist God out there who "loves me for who I am, if only I do this,this,this,and .......this and avoid this,this,etc...I hated myself for 32 years for simply being human.I had deep hate for myself even after I "gave up" on my faith 20 years ago.I had an underlying sense of dread and fear (probably of the Hell to which I still subconsciously knew I would be going)which finally began to change after seeing Jesus Camp.I laughed at the absurdity of it all as I yelled at those Christian "leaders" and felt pity for those poor children who will either 1.Accept what they've been told without question and grow up to raise "crazies" of their own who live in a sheltered and ignorant world or 2.Suffer a lifetime of guilt,shame,remorse,and poor self-esteem for doubting their parent's absurd beliefs. I have spent the last 3 years researching the origins of Christianity (which,they,of course never teach in Sunday school,Bible studies,or camp)from a historical-critical perspective and I finally feel "free". Somewhat lost,but free. I would hope that more people like you who speak kindly,logically,and sensibly could get through to more of these folks.Unfortunately,the leaders will destroy your good name before you get a foot in the door.Somehow,you will become "controlled by Satan" and your "charming words" might make sense,but don't believe him children.The devil is cunning. The children who need to hear the actual Truth...well,you won't be able to get close to them and they won't in any way be allowed to research "secular"(i.e.satanic) material on the net or any other medium.I know, I remember not being able to watch the Star Wars trilogy (until I got to college)because of it's Satanic views (i.e.the dark side of the force) and new age views (the jedi force).Anyway, I am one of the lucky ones.I have a Master's Degree in P.T., 2 bachelor's degrees in the sciences from respected institutions,am successful,and pretty much a "normal"human being and it took me years to get over the abuse.I know exactly what these people's mindset in like.Would love to help you spread the message sometime.JH

JDHURF said...

Very tremendous personal story J.H. It’s always a true blessing, in the secular sense, to hear of an individual who, many times alone and isolated from the in-group they are familiar with, through independent critical thinking, is able to free their minds and themselves and it’s even better if anything I have ever written helped in any way (either in the process or after the fact).

It's really incredible the amount of psychological abuse/terrorism and indoctrination these extremist groups lay upon the innocent, it's a real travesty and immoral to no end.

You are more than welcome to help out if you want, simply create a blogger account and create some posts. Email me when and if you do, I’ll link to your blog from mine.


Fraternally

JDHURF