News of interest to former Christians


AddThis Social Bookmark Button
Organizers of an evangelical summer camp for children featured in the documentary "Jesus Camp" are discontinuing the camp because of negative reaction sparked by the film and recent vandalism at the camp site in Devils Lake, North Dakota.

"We have decided to hold different activities in future," Pentecostal pastor and camp organizer Becky Fischer told Reuters.

Fischer was the central figure in "Jesus Camp," a documentary about Pentecostal evangelical Christians, some of whom send their children to summer camp where they pray, "speak in tongues" and are urged to campaign against abortion.

In the months since the film was released the campground was vandalized and Fischer was inundated with negative e-mails and phone calls.

In one of the film's scenes, a cardboard effigy of President George W. Bush is placed on stage before an assembly, so attendees can pray he make America "one nation under God."

The film has no voice-overs or narrative. Heidi Ewing, who directed the film with Rachel Grady, said the aim was to show a slice of American culture unfamiliar to many in America and abroad.

When it was released in May, a Variety magazine reviewer said, "Liberals might also be alarmed by images of 7-year-olds in camouflage face-paint performing spiritual war dances."

Fischer was criticized by some for "brainwashing" the children.

The film also features scenes with disgraced evangelical leader the Rev. Ted Haggard, who resigned as pastor of the 14,000 member New Life Church in Colorado Springs last week after a gay sex and drug scandal.

link

To view The Daily Show report: Click here
 
Anonymous Leonard said...
We CAN do something. Sometimes, what we do WORKS. Oh YES.

Man o man. Is it possible? Is the tide turning? Is this the um...

(Communists spoke of a "Red dawn" when the day would break on which the Communist ideals would come to fruition. What should we have?)

Well, screw it. This is exactly the kind of thing they always flaunt. "Expose the dark things to light and they will flee". Well, guess what... it works!


Anonymous D Laurier said...
One small evil is ended, the sickness of "jesus camp".
Its a begining.

But there are other camps where christian ideology is pounded into children, where christian militarisim is taught, where the evil still stands unchalenged.

It takes more than one documentary film to beat the fundies, they close one camp, and open three more.

The christian cult has long been the master of subterfuge and lies, they know how to create false comfort, WATCH THEM CLOSELY.


Blogger SpaceMonk said...
This has been such a good month, and we're not even half way.
Watching christians, christianity and the religious right going out backwards all over the place.

Woohooo!!!!
So rare.


Anonymous Anonymous said...
Christians; Live in your world, get pwn3'd in mine.


Anonymous King spirula said...
Christians seem to have no qualms about dishing out criticism and judgement, but they sure can't take it.

I've said it before. Hypocrisy. It's the new black.


Anonymous Reed said...
I read this article and I keep thinking of the episode of 'Boondocks' in which Grandpa's old friend from the Air Force dies. Grandpa proceeds to giddily dance around the room, singing "Mo's dead! Dead, dead, dead! Mo's dead!"

One step closer to our goal (:


Anonymous freedy said...
Remember the 80's?Swaggart and The Bakers did little to bring down the
bible nuts of that day.
Unfortunately this will soon pass. Does it even matter to the average fundy to begin with?,......
HELL NO! (it's just the devil attacking the church!!)


Blogger muttmutt1978 said...
the revolution has begun, bout damn time.


Anonymous Drive-Thru Society said...
As a believer in Christ I have not gone by the label of Christian for a few years now because there is so much baggage that comes with that label. And it is not because I don’t want to “suffer” for the cause of Christ either, it is because I used to be like one of the Christians that you would find in Jesus Camp. I am truly a “Recovering Fundamentalist.” Many of us don’t realize that people like Becky Fischer, Ted Haggard, Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson do not represent all of Christendom. There are people like Doug Pagitt, Brian McLaren, >, Lynette Davidson, Ann Pittman, and Tony Jones who are trying to re-imagine what a New Kind of Christian can look like. There is still hope for the followers Christ who are disenfranchised.


Blogger Dave Harty said...
I used to attend a xtian camp, Lakeside, in Mass. Aside from the xtian part, the camp was essentially a summer camp. They seemed a lot more liberal than this place, which is probably why I ended up leaving the religion!


Anonymous Jerry Falwell owes me a blow job! said...
Freedy You are so right! I'm sitting here laughing my ass off!! This will just go down as the devil attacking the church. I would probably be saying the same thing if I was still a christian. The truth is Pastor Ted is just a confused gay man trying to find himself. He is so caught up in living this big christian lie who knows if this guy will ever hit reality. I feel sad for him and all the people he lied to and his family. What a hypocrite!


Blogger boomSLANG said...
There is still hope for the followers Christ who are disenfranchised.

Yes, there is still hope.....the next step is to become disassociated.


Anonymous Anonymous said...
We need to buy and pass around as many copies of Jesus Camp that we can, that way we can glorify the honorable Ted in his finest homosexual bashing hypocrite hour.


Anonymous twincats said...
Freedy: Actually, most of us do realize that those you mention are a minority.
We also realize that they are a very active and vocal minority with an inordinate amount of influence with our nation's leaders.
We also realize that the majority of the moderate or mainstream (whatever they're calling themselves) Christians aren't doing much to distance themselves from these fundie nuts, as if they will be most content to ride their coattails into a 'new Christian nation.'
We furthermore realize how these fundamentalist evangelicals feel about those of us who are agnostic, atheist, pagan, gay or any other belief system they don't understand, like or wish to tolerate (much hostility.)
Lastly, we appreciate how you feel, but please appreciate our concerns, as well.


Anonymous twincats said...
Oops, sorry! That was for drive-thru society, not freedy.


Anonymous Thackerie said...
The funny thing is, pentecostal pastor and camp organizer Becky Fischer was a willing and eager participant in the production of "Jesus Camp" and was later shocked to learn that people found it horrible and disgusting. Seems like fundies have no self-awareness and think of themselves as being normal. Weird!


Anonymous freedy said...
That o.k. Twincats.
Thackerie,..fundies live in a insulated,incestous and narcissitic
realm that defies description.

Yeah,.it's freakin weird alright!


Blogger south2003 said...
liberal christian said: There are people like Doug Pagitt, Brian McLaren, >, Lynette Davidson, Ann Pittman, and Tony Jones who are trying to re-imagine what a New Kind of Christian can look like. There is still hope for the followers Christ who are disenfranchised.

Shit! Another version of Christ-insanity. How the hell am I to keep up?









~If it quacks like a duck, it is a duck~


Blogger south2003 said...
Lynette Davidson blogger:

http://ldavidson.blogspot.com/

Just another hippie movement.


Anonymous Rafiki said...
Do any of you guys think that maybe Haggard actually knows Christianity is a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, but he just kept it up because he was in such a high place of power, with lots of money I'm sure.


Anonymous freedy said...
It's possible,...but I doubt he's at that level of deception yet.

South2003,....Haggard kind of looks like a duck,... am I right?
O well he can't help that.


Anonymous Anonymous said...
Thank God! LOL

Goodbye and Good Riddance!

With the christians having their asses handed to them in the elections and now this... the air is starting to smell sweeter already...


Anonymous Anonymous said...
There are people like Doug Pagitt, Brian McLaren, >, Lynette Davidson, Ann Pittman, and Tony Jones who are trying to re-imagine what a New Kind of Christian can look like. There is still hope for the followers Christ who are disenfranchised.

Enough of this mumbo jumbo already!! Somebody please make it stop!!
Maybe, just maybe, everyone will wake up from the insanity of all religions, and then the world will be a better place for coexistence of all peoples.


Anonymous Leonard said...
That will never happen. Humans, as a species, are predisposed to religion, by a combinaton of:
1) Instinctively following a strong, male leader, just like chimps do. Exceptions are rare.
2) The tendency to see patterns even if they are not actually there.
3) Herd instinct / peer pressure.
4) Fear of death. "I´ll never see her again? No! I can´t accept that!"
5) Ignorance. "Well how do you explain that? We did not just appear!"
6) Egocentrism / Anthropocentrism. "All this exists because of us".
7) The "God Module". Apparently the aforementioned qualities favored the development of this part of the brain, which is, in my opinion, the cause of all religion.

The best we can hope for is a (relatively) harmless religion, like Buddhism, but unfortunately natural selection makes sure the aggressive ones prevail. This is why Christianity and Islam represent half the world´s population.


Anonymous Jessica said...
I do believe society is becoming more self aware and educated through the media, the internet, books, etc...I do have hope that one day and one day soon Christianity will be seen for what it is, a cult. Don't lose hope people...it's happening, I can feel it....


Anonymous Anonymous said...
The power of film and "truth" to change the world! One little film and everything changes!


Anonymous Anonymous said...
What the hell's wrong with religion? True, it has been abused at times, but then so has been everything else- why dont you go attacking the food industry instead for all the wrongs it does? Or your government, surely you can find enough wrongs there?

You people actually sound like it's apparent that God doesnt exist and the Bible is just a bunch of short stories without a point to them.


Anonymous Leonard said...
Uh... yes. That IS what we sound like because that is the case.

And religion is extremely harmful. Man. Imagine if the world had no religion at all - and in that I include all systems which irrationally venerate a person or idea, such as Juche. Or in other words I am saying "Imagine what the world would be like if people used their brains."


Anonymous R. Hoeppner said...
Leonard,

History shows what the world would be like without religion. The world of Joseph Stalin, an atheist who killed 20 million of his own countrymen. Of course he's not alone, there are a number of stellar examples to choose from; like Mao tse Tung, Pol Pot, Kim Jung Il.
I don't think it matters because both religion and non-religion is made up of men, men who are by nature corrupt. The more power they have the more ability they have to fulfill their own wicked desires.
In other words all people have a proclivity towards evil. Of course from your perspective it may only be a form of natural selection.


Blogger .:webmaster:. said...
History shows what the world would be like without religion. The world of Joseph Stalin, an atheist who killed 20 million of his own countrymen. Of course he's not alone, there are a number of stellar examples to choose from; like Mao tse Tung, Pol Pot, Kim Jung Il.

My response: click here.


Post a Comment | Create a Link | Post in the Forums | Permalink



The first 200 comments appear here under the article. If over 200 comments are posted, click on the "newer" and "newest" links on the Post a Comment page to continue reading the latest comments.

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

  Subscribe to this post's Comments (Atom).
Subscribe to every post's Comments (RSS).
Quickly catch up on all recent comments posted on ExChristian.Net on the Recent Comments page.

<< Home