Consider This

That's what I imagine camp director, Becky Fisher, telling the new recruits (average age 7 to 12) the first day of summer camp at Devil's Lake, North Dakota. I was first made aware of this camp when Good Morning America aired the story 'Jesus Camp' Pastor Says She Does Not Manipulate Children. I was horrified to see children marching in time while Fisher shouted, "Take these prophesies and take what the Apostle Paul said and make war with them...This means war." During the short interview with Good Morning America, Fisher made no apologies and looked at the footage of her campers like a proud mother hen. In fact, Fisher is so proud that she has helped co-producers Heidi Ewing Grady promote the documentary, Jesus Camp, which focuses on Fisher's Kids on Fire Summer Camp.

In the ABC news clip, made famous by YouTube.com, a camper is shown saying "We're kind of being trained to be warriors in a much funner way." Is it possible to teach war in a fun way, when war inevitably means the suppression or extinction of a group of people?

Mike Papantonio, the liberal Methodist talk show host of Air America, told ABC News on Sept. 28, "Today as we sit and talk about the issue, there are children- what we call 'child soldiers' in Sudan- who carry AK-47s because for some reason they are emotionally led, for some reason it is us against them. They have this belief that their politics are right and other politics are wrong. Well, they are led that way at 5,6, and 7 years old not by reason. They are not even at the age of reason. They are not able to determine right from wrong."Most Americans watch the news clips of Sudanese children carrying guns twice the size of their little bodies for a cause they are not old enough to understand and ask 'how do these children become this way?' Well, lucky for us 'Jesus Camp' gives a window into the mind of a child destined to become a fanatical religious militant.

The documentary focuses on three campers: Tory, 10; Levi, 12; and Rachel, 9. In an article written by Ann Hornaday for the Washington Post, Hornaday stated Tory's mother homeschools her children and teaches them that global warming does not exist. She teaches that Creationism is "the only possible answer to all the questions". Most Evangelists believe the theory of Creationism, which states that the earth is only 6000 years old and that humans existed alongside dinosaurs. Therefore, they believe global warming does not exist because the earth is simply not old enough to be having that kind of problem.

Tory is also shown, in the film, dancing in her room to her favorite Christian rock music. She tells the camera "I have to make sure that that's God. People will notice when I'm just dancing for the flesh." Tory is only ten and she's worried about "dancing for the flesh." These children haven't even hit puberty yet and they are being asked to confront their sexuality. Worse still, these children are being trained to be anti-abortion protestors. While at camp, they are given plastic fetuses that they strap to their hands as they cry for their immortal souls. A speaker tells the children "One-third of your friends could be here tonight, but they never made it."

In the film, Levi declares that he was saved when he was five "because I wanted more out of life." Exactly how do you get "saved" at age five. Did divine intervention prevent him from eating dessert before dinner or drawing outside of the lines? Besides, how often have you heard a twelve year old say "I wanted more out of life. " That sounds more like someone going through a midlife crisis; perhaps someone like Pastor Fisher or her accomplice Rev. Tedd Haggard, who is now snubbing the film because he feels he has been misrepresented.

In an interview given to The Guardian, Haggard said "The war talk is allegorical. It doesn't mean we're going to establish a theocracy and force people to obey what they think is God's law." Really, Rev. Haggard, you're not trying to create a theocracy? Then why all the political talk in what's supposed to to be a religious summer camp? Why are children praying to a card board cut-out of President Bush and shouting for righteous judges? Why are young children attending abortion rallies with duct tape across their mouth with the word 'Life' boldly printed across?
But I guess if Rev. Haggard says that there is no political agenda then it must be true. I mean, he is a child of God and all.One of the most chilling parts of the movie is when Pastor Fisher tells the children "I want to see young people who are committed to the cause of Jesus Christ as the young people are committed to the cause of Islam. I want to see them radically laying down their lives for the gospel, as they are over in Pakistan and Israel and Palestine."

Congratulations Pastor Fisher and Rev. Haggard for shaping the minds of the future suicide bombers of America, mazel tof!