Jesus Camp (2006) Movie Review

The purest of documentaries, this cleverly made film tells its story without any embellishments, allowing the participants to have their say and leaving the viewers to make up their own minds about what they see.

The film follows Becky Fischer, a fundamentalist Charismatic minister who runs Kids on Fire camps in North Dakota to get children fired up for Christian action. Fischer is passionate about her work, believing that "kids are so open" and "usable to Christianity", so she challenges them to take an active role as "an army for Christ" to "fix this sick world".

Along the way, she and her team teach pointed messages against abortion, evolution and global warming, reserving special hatred for Harry Potter, then urging the kids to bless a cardboard cut-out of George W Bush, who they revere almost like a prophet. We also meet three kids, aged 9 to 12, who take this extremely seriously, and are seen at the camp, visiting Ted Haggard's mega-church in Colorado (he stepped down amid a sexuality scandal after this film's US release) and protesting against abortion on the streets of Washington DC.

The filmmakers allow one voice of criticism aimed specifically at the mixing of politics and religion. Christian radio presenter Mike Papantonio comments that the religious right's us-versus-them mentality is dividing the country and ignoring Jesus' clear teaching that Christians should be peacemakers rather than warmongers. Eventually he interviews Fischer on air, and their encounter is extremely telling.

But it's the filmmakers' even hand that makes this documentary such essential viewing. Each person on screen is a recognisably real person, from the sharp children to Fischer and her staff. These are true believers, whether we agree with them or not. And when one child takes the microphone at a meeting and expresses his deeply felt doubts, we wonder how they reacted to this.

Along the way, the filmmakers let everyone express themselves clearly, and as a result, fundamentalist evangelicals will feel that this film is a powerful example of their ministry and social strength. Everyone else, however, will beg to differ, cringing at the militaristic language and especially the emotionally manipulative methods aimed at children who are simply not equipped to discern the truth in what they are being told.