'JESUS CAMP' SPARKING DEBATE ABOUT MIXING
RELIGION AND POLITICS
November 2, 2006
Becky
Fischer says in the "Jesus Camp" documentary: "The extreme
liberals, they have to look at this and start shaking in their
boots at what these kids will be like when they grow up. I want
to see young people who are as committed to the cause of Jesus
Christ, as the young people are to the cause of Islam."
Fischer runs Kids
on Fire, a summer camp for evangelical Christians that's nestled
in Devil's Lake, N.D.
"Jesus Camp"
follows Fischer and the recruitment and training of three
children Levi, 12, Rachel, 9, and Tory, 10 at the extreme Bible
camp. The 87-minute documentary directed by Heidi Ewing and
Rachel Grady is sparking debate across the country with its
portrayal of evangelical Christians and their political
movement. However, some Christian conservatives, including
Fischer, hope the documentary gets their message out with its
gradual nationwide release since Sept. 15 and accolades from the
Tribeca Film Festival in New York in the spring.
The movie opens
the three-day Pensacola International Film Festival lineup at 7
p.m. Friday on a jumbo screen in front of the T.T. Wentworth
Museum.
The evangelical
political movement is one that Crossroad Baptist Church Rev.
Chuck Baldwin and other local pastors question.
Baldwin is no
stranger to politics. The conservative Christian hosts a
hard-hitting radio talk show and writes a weekly political
column, both of which regularly challenge President George
Bush's policies. In the 2004 presidential campaign, Baldwin was
the Constitution Party's vice president. He also once served as
the Florida Moral Majority chairman.
"There's no
comparison between evangelical fundamentalists and Islamic
extremists," Baldwin says emphatically. "But my concern is
evangelicals propensity to align themselves too closely with one
political party or one political candidate. If you do that, you
lose your objectivity and compromise your convictions for
political expediency. That's the only thing that disturbs me."
Fischer's
statement also disturbs St. Anne's Catholic Church Rev. Jack
Gray. He's the Director of the Office of Ecumenism and
Interreligious Affairs for the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee
and once was Indiana's Deputy Secretary of State.
"I know many
evangelicals and I've never heard of a camp like that," he says.
"It's a little bit on the strange side. Jesus didn't tell us to
take up arms and blow up buildings. He never called for a
Jihad."
Children at the
Evangelical Christian summer camp run by Becky Fischer pray over
a cardboard cutout of President George W. Bush to make this "one
country under God," break white coffee cups with hammers to show
they're at war with the government and chant "Righteous Judges!"
in protest of abortion.
Levi, Rachel and
Tory are seen at home, a bowling alley, going to camp and then
crisscrossing the country from an Evangelical church headed by
Ted Haggard in Colorado Springs, Colo., to praying outside a
Kansas abortion clinic and finally protesting abortion with red
tape with "life" written on it over their mouths, as they pray
outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.
The film also
features Mike Papantonio, a partner in the Levin law firm, a
Methodist and host of Air America radio show, "Ring of Fire."
Throughout the documentary, Papantonio is seen in his Pensacola
radio studio questioning the camp and the Religious Right.
"They're
training Christian soldiers for the Republican Party,"
Papantonio argues in "Jesus Camp." "How does that fit with God's
message? God has a special place for those who mess with kids
and it's not a pretty place."
Although Baldwin
agrees with Papantonio on some points, he takes issue with the
attorney insisting the children are being brainwashed.
"Papantonio
saying that they're brainwashing kids is just nonsense," Baldwin
says. "They're teaching them to love God, stand for Godly
principals and to be involved. Liberals do the same thing
in schools and on college campuses. When liberals disagree with
something philosophically, they call it brainwashing. When
liberals agree with it philosophically, then they call it
instruction."
And Gray,
although he agrees with Papantonio that Christians shouldn't
become beholden to one party, says the fact is that Democrats
have abandoned moral issues, such as abortion.
"Whether you are
evangelical or Catholic there are moral issues—like the right to
life—that you must espouse," he says. "Democrats, for the most
part, have abandoned that concept. Consequently, Republicans
have become more of a safe haven for committed Christians. But I
would not vote for a pro-choice Republican. I'm not going to
stand for it."
In the
documentary, Haggard, who heads the National Association of
Evangelicals, brags that children are fueling a boom in his
churches and that evangelicals would hold a lot of control in
U.S. politics.
Evangelical
Christians are estimated to number 75 million in the United
States. It's estimated 25 million Evangelicals voted in the 2004
presidential election with 80 percent voting Republican.
"There's a new
church like this every two days," Haggard boasts in "Jesus
Camp." "It's got enough growth to essentially sway every
election. If the Evangelicals vote, they determine the
election."
Baldwin scoffs at
claims like Haggard's and calls for caution among Christian
conservatives.
"Karl Rove and
company are manipulating many evangelical pastors," he says.
"They're using church leaders for their agenda. Ministers and
religious leaders have become the sheep of the political
shepherds. Instead, they should be the watchmen over the
political establishment. Otherwise, they lose their power and
credibility."
duwayne@inweekly.net
