by Rose Creasman
January 22, 2008

Nervous laughter and whispers of shock broke the silence of Crill Performance Hall as PLNU students, faculty, staff and community members watched 2006 documentary Jesus Camp during last Thursday night’s Film Forum.

Jesus Camp follows a few children to Pastor Becky Fischer’s Kids on Fire Summer Camp, which aims to mobilize an “untapped resource of potential dynamos”: children between the ages of 6 and 9. After the film’s release, Fischer was forced to close her summer camp after vandals damaged its rental facility.

Statements including “if Harry Potter had lived in the Old Testament, he would have been put to death” and “children are so open, they are so usable in Christianity” drew shaking heads.

“I’m really glad the cameras weren’t rolling through part of my childhood,” said Karl Martin, chair of the LJML department, as he opened the forum for discussion following the film.

Many students agreed with Martin. For those raised in an evangelical atmosphere, much of the documentary was reminiscent of a not-too-distant past.

“Even though most of it was a little over the top, it was familiar,” said freshman Emily Padilla. “I remember pledging to the Bible and being taught about the evils of evolution.”

The discussion continued for more than 30 minutes, sparking different opinions and reactions to what many considered a troubling film.

“I think Christians do right to separate themselves from sects of Christianity like those in the film,” said senior journalism and political science major Ben Powers.

“I do not feel like I belong to the group of people I saw on the screen.”
Martin chose Jesus Camp after Sylvia Cortez, director of Discipleship Ministries, asked him to organize and facilitate a Film Forum last semester.

“I’m not sure evangelical Christians are their target audience,” he said. “Therefore, to watch the film with evangelicals takes on a dimension the filmmakers didn’t intend.”

Martin believes that the documentary is “absolutely important” for Christians to see, and that it cannot simply be dismissed as an extreme or radical portrayal of evangelicalism.

“I think a lot of us see ourselves in the film,” said Martin. “That’s why it’s particularly interesting for this audience. This is us. What do we do with us?”