"It's no wonder, with that kind of intense training and discipling, that those young people are ready to kill themselves for the cause of Islam. I wanna see young people who are as committed to the cause of Jesus Christ as the young people are to the cause of Islam. I wanna see them as radically laying down their lives for the Gospel as they are over in Pakistan and Israel and Palestine and all those different places, you know, because we have... excuse me, but we have the truth!"

-- Pastor Becky Fischer

National Public Radio has recently been airing a regular series called “Crossing the Divide” that chronicles individuals and organizations committed to bridging political/social gaps. It's a healing balm that the U.S. generally seems to seek, given the great divide emphasized by the George W. Bush administration and the apparent rejection of his policies evidenced by the 2006 Congressional election. With the current political climate talking more in terms of compromise and the ability to use the democratic process to “disagree without being disagreeable,” viewing Jesus Camp serves as a severe slap to the face that not all is well in the U.S.

Co-directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (The Boys from Baraka) focus their cinema verité cameras on a small group of charismatic Evangelical Christians who are committed to indoctrinating children to Jesus and prepare them to wage battle for right wing political causes. Theirs is not the Jesus of the beatitudes. They come not as peacemakers, but with the sword—to divide between what they consider good and what they consider evil. They home school their children to convince them that their beliefs are the only path to Truth and to disdain any “scientific methodology” taught in secular America—that path leads to the dark side of independent thinking, accepting Evolution, or considering the moral complexities surrounding the abortion issue.

It's the scariest documentary I've seen since Blood in the Face, but that film was about a ridiculous fringe group of crazy neo-Nazis. Jesus Camp represents at least 30 million Americans who consider themselves part of the charismatic Evangelical Christian group shown here. Prime spokesperson Pastor Becky Fischer has absolutely no qualms about brainwashing children; she would consider it more like “brain purification.” Fischer explains that she wants fundamentalist Christians to demonstrate the same type of devotion as fundamentalist Muslims that prepare their children for suicide bombings. Not that she advocates terrorist attacks, but she's convinced that they are raising a righteous army to wage spiritual battle to straighten out this “sick old world.”

Pastor Becky is committed to this end. Every waking moment is spent recruiting children for her cause—the centerpiece being her “Kids on Fire” summer camp held in Devil's Lake, North Dakota. She devotes a great deal of time planning for this “life-changing” indoctrination experience—getting the right charismatic speakers, the most effective visual aids, and having their leaders pray over the seats of the camp to win the kids' hearts to Jesus' army. They even obtain a life sized cardboard cutout of President Bush, so that the camp can collectively pray for him to lead the country to God.

Besides Pastor Becky, the cameras primarily follow three children, who are firmly committed to this extremist movement. Reticent 9-year-old Rachel fervently feels the spirit sufficiently to approach a beautiful young blonde woman at a bowling alley about accepting Jesus. Tory (age 10) is a huge fan of Christian heavy-metal music and enjoys playing Christian combat video games. Most charismatic is 12-year old Levi, who was “saved” at age five and now practices his future career as a young preacher.

The cameras roll unfiltered throughout, the most revealing sequences during the summer camp where we witness the indoctrination direct—Pastor Becky's righteous rage against the evils of Harry Potter, another leader's manipulative use of plastic fetuses to bring his youthful audience to pro-Life tears and action, tearful charismatic moments with children speaking in tongues. It also catches a few glimpses of regular camp life to show how the teachings are incorporated—the silent looks given a Harry Potter look-alike when he admits that he likes the books, a camp counselor explaining that “ghost stories” might be fun but they do nothing to promote what Jesus wants them to do (so lights out).

Two other major characters help present an “outside” view to what we've intimately been introduced to through Pastor Becky and her camp. One is a Colorado Springs church service led by Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelists, who obviously plays to the cameras of what he suspects are “heathen” documentarians. Twelve year old Levi aspires to be like Haggard, who advises him to continue practicing with his “cute kid” routine for as long as he can since afterwards he'll have to rely on verbal content. Haggard reportedly has the ear of President Bush (calling him every Monday), and he asserts that his activist Evangelicals can deliver any election. This is all the more creepy with recent revelations that Haggard hired a male prostitute for sexual purposes and has been relieved of his duties.

Sole balance for this extremism is Air America's Mike Papantonio, a religious talk show host troubled by the Evangelical meddling with the separation of church and state. Near the end of the film, Pastor Becky calls in and provides a provocative exchange that visibly shakes Papantonio. A fitting conclusion since Pastor Becky early on proclaimed that liberals should be “shaking in their boots.”

Ewing and Grady present this disturbing material in the only manner that it can be offered effectively. Their non-agenda evident, those who believe as Pastor Becky will praise the film for finally presenting the Truth directly while more analytical people will rightfully be troubled by what they witness. Jesus Camp may not win the top prize over Al Gore's global warming documentary, but it's a very worthy and well-conceived nominee.