"It wasn�t so long ago that another puritanical youth army, Mao Zedong�s Red Guards, turned the world�s most populous country inside out. Nowadays the possibility of a right-wing Christian American version of what happened in China no longer seems entirely far-fetched."

New York Times Review of "Jesus Camp"


"Jesus Camp is a rare document. It is one of the few honest portrayals of the right wing evangelist's movement. The documentary follows Pastor Becky Fisher and her congregation, mostly children since she's a children's pastor. In the film both Becky, some of the children and their parents are interviewed. The result is a very disturbing film.

For those of us outside of the movement Fisher's approach to children seems harsh and irresponsible, it has all the markings of brainwashing. One of the most disturbing scenes is where Fisher preaches about double morale, letting the children believe they've let Satan in their heart by prayer in church but acting indifferently to her teachings in school. We see children panicking and bursting out into tears; later when the children start talking in tongues some seem to lose it."

-- From an Internet Reviewer

Excerpt from Wikipedia:

Jesus Camp is a documentary about the "Kids On Fire" summer camp, located just outside Devils Lake, North Dakota and run by Becky Fischer and her ministry, Kids in Ministry International. The film focuses on three children who attended the camp in the summer of 2005--Levi, Rachael, and Victoria (Tory). The film cuts between footage of the camp and a children's prayer conference held just prior to the camp at Christ Triumphant Church, a large charismatic church in Lee's Summit, Missouri; a suburb of Kansas City.

...Jesus Camp was screened at Michael Moore's Traverse City Film Festival against the wishes of the distribution company, Magnolia Pictures. Magnolia had pulled Jesus Camp from the festival earlier in the summer after it purchased rights to the film, in a decision apparently inspired by Moore's association with the film festival, with Magnolia president Eamonn Bowles saying "I don't want the perception out in the public that this is an agenda-laden film."

Ted Haggard has disavowed the film and dislikes his depiction in it. Many viewers have come away with the impression that he appears vain and insincere when conversing with Levi. He spent numerous advertising dollars to drive people to his response before a relationship with a gay man caused his ousting. The directors posted a rebuttal in which they state that he was the only one who objected to his portrayal.

In November 2006, Fischer announced that she would be shutting down the camp indefinitely due to negative reaction to the film. [3] According to Fischer's website [4], the owners of the property used for the camp shown in the film were concerned about vandalism to the premises following the film's release and thus will not allow it to be used for any future camps. Fischer has said that the camp will be indefinitely postponed until other suitable premises can be found, but it will be back. [End of Wikipedia excerpt]