David Byrne on Jesus Camp movie –
” …the next step will be learning to fly planes into buildings”
A new documentary that follows a bunch of kids through an evangelical summer camp is creating waves:
[…]
Naturally, the kids being so young, there is no questioning of any kind ? they simply accept what grownups Fischer and the others say ? they get pumped up, agitated, they memorize right wing and Jesus slogans and shout them back obediently. They become part of a support group ? a warm, safe, comfortable feeling for anyone, for any social animal, for you and me. No one strays or gets out of line even the slightest bit. (More on peer pressure later.)
There were some perfect sound bites ? at one point Pastor Fischer instructs the little ones that they should be willing to die for Christ, and the little ones obediently agree. She may even use the word martyr, which has a shocking echo in the Middle East. I can see future suicide bombers for Jesus ? the next step will be learning to fly planes into buildings. Of course, the grownups would say, ?Oh no, we?re not like them? ? but they admit that the principal difference is simply that ?We?re right.?
In another scene a cardboard cutout of George W. Bush, with his trademark smirking smile, is brought out and the children are urged to identify ? many of the little ones come forward and reverently touch his cardboard hands.
I kept saying to myself, ?O.K., these are the Christian version of the Madrassas (those Islamic religious instructional schools in Pakistan and elsewhere, often financed by Saudi oil money)…so both sides are pretty much equally sick, there?s a balance.” (Although it must be said the Madrassas provide some regular education and literacy where no other option is available, they do community work that is non-religious…and they take in aimless troubled youth.)
[…]
The documentary’s newly acquired distribution company also created waves with a dumbass publicity stunt at Michael Moore’s film festival – first they pestered Moore to screen it, then when he agreed, they put out a press release condemning its inclusion!
Looks like the filmmakers may have learned a few choice fundie publicity strategies while they were out there doing their research.
Jesus Camp, Religion, Christian fundamentalism, Summer Camps, Movies, David Byrne
