Ok, it wasn’t even that great of a documentary. I thought the editing was poorly done.

It needs to be seen just to see those actual words coming out of an actual person’s mouth.
It needs to be seen by people who think insane religous fanatics building an army and indoctrinating people doesn’t happen in the US.

I really did think it was a stereotype of the crazy Christians and that there were just a few nutcase out there – but I was startled to learn there are a lot of them out there!

This movie scared me. It angered me. I pittied the poor children being indoctrinated in ignorance and blind faith. I was embarrassed and saddened to watch children not allowed to learn science (evolution, global warming, etc.)

People like this give organized religon a bad name!

The good thing about this film is that it energized me to fight back against their anti-government, anti-science, anti-gay, anti-choice stances and attempts to infiltrate the govt and tell me how to live my life. If they’re spoiling for a fight and creating “gods army”, I think we have no choice but to stand up to them.

After seeing this movie I made a donation to Americans United for Sep. of Church & State and I’m thinking of upping my next donation to Planned Parenthood and any other group that has to fight these kind of people.

Alright, so I am a Christian. I have seen much of what this movie shows first hand (although perhaps not this extreme). Contrary to popular non-Christian belief, however, I find myself on the opposite side of nearly everything these people stand for.

The film was well-done and largely objective, although there was a feeling as to the filmmakers obvious intentions. And while I repeatedly shook my head and laughed at the absurdity of how ridiculous it was, I found myself evaulating myself at the end. I hate what these people stand for; but why don’t I stand for the opposite things with the same fervor? The reason why many people view Christians as all fitting into this extremity of religion is because the Christians who oppose war, who don’t follow the Republic Party, who believe in science, and who are inviting to all remain silent. These evangelicals are preparing for war. When the battle begins (which it probably already has), I don’t want to participate, but I also hope I am not the one who remains silent to their atrocities.

Scary.

That these children are unable to utter a single original thought is the most egregious sin.

I consider myself an evangelical though probably NOT a typical one. (Politically I don’t vote lockstep to the right, I’ll be voting for a libertarian-leading candidate in ‘08 barring any huge scandal or some great late entry into the field..I don’t have a problem with gays having the right to a civil union since I believe that’s a STATE function not a church one…and I probably have a little bit more sympathy with “green” positions than many evangelicals)

I have belonged to churches in the past that believed (and practiced) speaking in tongues, though I no longer do. (I believe the practice is Biblical but I’m so leery of the “prophecy” that goes hand-in-hand with that in most churches that I’d rather just steer clear of it.)

I found myself often cringing at this (the way too strong ties between specific political candidates and the church. I have no problem with praying for our governmental leaders, in fact I believe the Bible specifically COMMANDS we do so, but the “warfare” over the cardboard Bush cutout was creepy.) but I also found myself agreeing at times with this too.

If you have a vibrant defining faith that is meaningful to your everyday life, why would you NOT try and pass that along to the children you love? And why would you not also try to influence others (including children, who are at the camp at their parents’ permission) in that regard?

While I think the “religious Right” too often looks for a political Messiah to “fix” the cultural climate of the country (I think that’s the function of one-on-one change and persuasion not government fiat) I also think many in the secular left feel that ANY religious influence in the public square, be it Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, etc. is “dangerous”.

They have the right to feel that way but I’m baffled that they can’t realize the imposition of a “no religion” policy is in essence telling people they are not allowed to attempt to have their deeply held beliefs represented in public policy, something they themselves complain of in “tyranny of the majority” rants.

I guess the biggest value of this documentary for a committed Christian is to look, from the outside, at how the non-churched might view us. Getting that understanding might help us reassess whether we’re really doing what Jesus wants us to do and whether we might find different less combative ways to achieve the same ends. (For something similar in book form, I’d suggest reading “Jim and Casper go to Church” by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper, a “church tour” by a church growth guru and an atheist.)

I went to a camp like this, as well as school and a church, in my childhood. The emotional manipulation sucked, as you would expect, but give kids credit for having some powerful internal stabilizers: I’m now deeply agnostic with no particular hostility towards religion; other friends of mine with similar backgrounds range along the complete (Christian) religious and non-religious spectrum.

As far as the documentary itself: Of course it has to be selective to make its point, and the disturbing nature of the adults’ behavior in particular is not, I think, too distorted. Overall, it’s a good and accurate film, if its case is a bit overstated.

Having attended a few years of Christian school in the past, what was most disturbing about this is how familiar it seemed. People really do act like this, from the bullying group leaders to the terrified, self-righteous kids.

As a documentary, I wanted more substance from it. Creepy, yes, but there isn’t much information being presented here that couldn’t be acquired from one decent conversation with a Christian immersed in the culture. The personal angles run flat, as no one experiences much of anything. They show the kids, they show the camp, everyone goes home. There is no time lapse to show how anyone may have changed, for better or worse.

It feels as though the filmmakers saw something and were compelled to point at it, but ultimately had nothing to say.

This movie demonstrates some of the brainwashing techniques used on children in evangelical Christian groups during intense “summer camp” sessions. There is nothing wrong with religion or Christianity, but some of the things these innocent kids are programmed to think are insane : that non-Christians are “the enemy” and that science is baseless, for example. I felt pity for them, and also disgust that so many people in this country are like this.

I went into this movie expecting to be disgusted. I’ve heard so many reviews where people claim the children are being “brainwashed” and forced into the strong beliefs. I come from a church where no one speaks in tongues EVER so the scene with the kids ALL convulsing and screaming freaked me out at first. However, as the movie progressed I realized that there was nothing really terrible about the camps or what the woman in charge was doing. I think it is great and showing the kids to remain strong in their faith. I also thoughy it was very powerful that the kids were not ashamed of their faith in any way. You don’t usually look at children as christian leaders, but watching this film showed me that kids can be just as influential as adults and many times people overlook the intelligence and different perspectives kids have about life.

wow okay, so i live in Bismarck ND which is actually the town she’s driving through at the very end of the movie, when she’s going through the car wash and everything…pretty sure i had no idea this existed till it was in our paper and the movie came out and stuff…

i’m almost embarrased that this is going on in my state, she made me sick with how she was seriously brainwashing these poor children…don’t get me wrong, i’m christian, but come on now, give these children a chance!!

i also would like to see a follow up of these children in about 5 years or so…

I like to think I’m a pretty tolerant person and that I can accept people’s right to their beliefs. These kids don’t have a chance though. Shamed and outright lied to they’re completely manipulated from birth. I found that really tough to watch.

In the pinnacle of hypocrisy, the camp director condemns her “enemies” (in her view all Muslims) for indoctrinating youth with messages of violence and later asks her audience who would be willing to die for Jesus to a crowd of emphatic cheers.

For me, the most interesting part was about 12minutes in. The movie’s featured children are being home schooled in ””science”” by the mother who briefly discusses how global warming isn’t anything to worry about. Since when did the church have anti-regulatory branch? The kids later take a break to watch a pro-creationism DVD where some anti-Bill-Nye ridicules the idea that we could have evolved from a primordial sea (“goo” to him).

Also interesting to see Ted Haggard on there before the whole gay sex and crystal meth thing broke.

I don’t know how christianity in America has become so distorted. Faith has nothing to do with condoms, embryos and climate change. Doing good by your neighbor has nothing to do with forcing them to adhere to your values.

Children shouldn’t wear camouflage, be forced to confess their “sins” to an audience of hundreds or “discover” at five years old that they’re searching for something more out there.