Fanaticism Rides Again!

OK. I'm watching, or rather listening to, once again the powerful documentary 'Jesus Camp'. I don't want to believe that there are so many people that are living in the United States, who actually believe that indoctrinating their children into hardcore religious belief is a good thing. One of the main people focused upon, a children's minister by the name of Becky Fischer, believes that her focus should be on the children because the enemy focus on the children. Huh? What enemy? She then goes on to mention Islam. Oooohhhhh I get it! Islam is the enemy of Christianity, or rather her particular sect of Christianity. I could get into the whole turn the other cheek argument, but someone would likely shoot holes in it. Seeing as how I'm not very 'up' on the bible, I have to wonder if God has proclaimed Islam to be an outlawed philosophy. After all Ms. Fischer seems to be into following Gods word.

Another thing that gets me about the documentary is the whole Harry Potter debate that she brings into the sermons at the youth retreat (AKA Jesus Camp). Apparently he's a warlock. Now I had to look it up in a dictionary to be sure, because the popular definition in Pagan circles says a warlock is an oath breaker. The Oxford dictionary I picked up says the archaic term means sorcerer or wizard, but also goes on with the old english definition of traitor. So she's half right, but I'm arguing semantics. The point I was alluding to is this: with all the fire and brimstone she was spouting for a fictional character, what would she do if she found an actually occultist in her midst? Would she start "praying in tongues" as she does in the video? Not only that some of the praying that they do seems rather like casting a spell. After all they do ask for the presence of the Holy Spirit (summoning) to cast out the Devil (banishing) from their AV equipment. Not only that but near the end of the film their standing outside of a building in Washington DC (I confess not to know what it is, just that it seems to be federal in nature) praying to influence the minds of lawmakers towards a pro-life stance on abortion. Now if influencing the events of the physical world through occult methodology such as psychisms and summonings isn't extremely similar to spell craft, I don't know what is.

There's also a point in the film where a Mother and her two sons are at the table engaging in homeschooling. OK. Sure. Homeschooling is becoming a more popular idea in North America, and all the resources to effectively teach our children are available. But wait. The Mother states two things that are in her teaching resource material: 1) Creationism is the only thing that can explain everything. 2) She refers to a part in her material that states science doesn't explain anything. What? Well how did the semi-conductor come about? It must have been divine intervention. That scanning electron microscope? Delivered by Angels. ABS and the waffle iron? Sent to man to help him become more righteous! No. Last time I checked someone conceived these things in their own mind, creating them with their own thoughts before putting the information down for others to help develop. Something complex usually becomes a collaborative effort, including religious philosophy. Now inventions aside, the whole creationism thing, which is a religious theory to explain the beginning of existence. How could this possibly explain how all these thing came about in 6000 years? Dinosaur fossils, preserved plants, trilobites, and a plethora of flora and fauna all left here for us to discover and ponder. Did God decide that this was a test of our faith by leaving these things here for us to find? How did everything change? The flood that Noah survived with 2 of each creature wiped out everything, but he didn't save the dinosaurs...... hhhmmm. They must have been dead before the flood then, and he saved all that was left. And if that's the case what killed them, according to modern Christian teachings that is. Just food for thought.

So how is it that Ms. Fischer justifies indoctrinating children into a hardcore belief system? She believes that her religion has 'the truth'. I my mind that's inherently dangerous to tell a child. Truth after all is an absolute, and how can you apply truth to such an abstract thing as religion? Most children would believe what she says because she's an adult for starters, and for seconds she's extremely confident in her beliefs and she exudes that. The kids are going to look to her and say "Hey, she's knows what she's talking about!" But even with these things in her favour, is she right? Are her beliefs a universal truth meant for everyone? It's my belief that she is wrong. Both in concept and morally for dragging children into this 'war' as she calls it. Something so complicated as a belief system is (once again my personal belief) is an intensely personal experience meant for the individual only. Personal faith means nothing without self examination, and internal journeying. You have to ask the questions you are afraid to ask yourself. For instance I was a Catholic, and was raised on its value system. After I turned to Paganism a few years back I began to explore other faiths, including Satanism. Even with my former religious indoctrination, I could still identify with some tenets of the Satanic faith. Now that's not to say I believe in Satanism, far from it. I do have my own belief system that I apply to the Pagan idea of multiple Gods and Goddesses. I let my conscience guide me, as well as my heart, and not some book written by an individual who was likely not me. I walked my own path, not someone else's, and my journey still continues so I continue to evolve my personal beliefs. Part of the problem with Christianity/Islam/Judaism is that any evolution that occurs with them is generally into radicalism and fanaticism. Again dangerous.

So where does that leave us? Generally with a nation of youth's growing up to become leaders in their communities (at least some of them will) and possibly have enough potential to guide a nation. According to Ms. Fischer her faith doesn't really interfere with her political leanings, although in one part of the film her cohorts have a life size cut out of President Bush, and they're telling the kids to pray over him for a more righteous nation under God. So now these religious leaders are generating a group of not only zealots, but extreme right religiously motivated political activists. Wow. Were these kids ever kids to begin with? From the sounds of it they were born to be soldiers of Christianity, with no reasonable choice to believe what they want, or from the sounds of it, any real inherent trust given to them freely by their own family. The child is given an indoctrination which says 'this is the truth', rather than an education which says 'go find the truth'.

I refused to have both my kids baptized into the church, just as I don't talk to them about my religious practices. Once again it's my personal belief that faith is intensely personal, and must be examined from a personal standpoint. I will not teach my kids about Paganism unless they ask, nor will I teach them about Christianity unless they ask. Objectivity would also be required to allow them to understand the pros and cons of any faith they inquire about, which would force me to learn more.

So to help conclude this loooooong entry, I will make the statement that I did not write this to tell the world that I hate Christianity, for I don't. I did write this in response to the social problem of fanaticism, which is one of the worst sicknesses facing our world, and the documentary 'Jesus Camp' shows how pervasive it is.

Freeman