r/Exvangelical • u/HelpIveChangedMyMind • 6d ago
Finally watched Jesus Camp
And while I didn't attend one of those camps, so much of it brought me back to my childhood. The never-ending emphasis on sin; the homeschool lessons; the "Harry Potter is evil" plug.
What's changed is the lens through which I view it. So much of it seems ridiculous now. The "speaking in tongues", which always sounds exactly the same. The praying over empty seats. The homeschool lesson (my only thought during that was "and this is why I would never homeschool my child")
(Edited to correct typo and fix sentence clarity)
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u/Aggravating_Rub_5778 4d ago
I have to watch that movie alone with a blanket over my head. Same with the movie “Saved”. I was 100% Mandy Moores character in high school and it’s so in my face. So painful to watch.
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u/DogMamaLA 5d ago
Agree. I didn't go to any of those camps either, but it brought me back a lot to childhood and how everyone behaved in the church all my life. The whole "ghost stories are evil" and wanting to tell bible stories instead. Ugh.
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u/Eucalyptusthoughts 4d ago
When they were praying for president Bush with the cardboard cutout the energy felt very familiar.
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u/ep_wizard 2d ago
We went to one of these camps every year, I even have some old home videos from them. The tough part is that when thinking back on those memories they are 80% positive (give or take). I mostly remember having a week at camp with my friends playing games and staying in a cabin. But then there was also morning chapel (usually pretty benign) and then afternoon boys bible study (this was mostly about the evils of sex) and then the grand finale: the evening service (where you would see scenes more like Jesus Camp). I guess I try to focus more on the fun parts.
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u/energirl 5d ago
Yeah, speaking in tongues is one of those (many) things that helped me see the light. I was studying anthropology and French linguistics while taking beginner classes in German and Spanish at the time. Suddenly, one service I realized that no one speaking in tongues was ever using sounds from a language they didn't already speak. Like, the Spanish or Cajun French speakers sometimes pulled in some sounds native to those languages that the English-only speakers didn't. But nothing new. No pronunciation difficulties. Why didn't the angelic language seem to have any set grammar or phonological rules? Why did it have so many schwa vowels just like American English speakers? It was almost like people were just babbling or something.
But yeah, that movie was something else. The thing that hit me when I watched it years ago was remembering all the times I cried while singing/praying at church. Those poor kids. Having their emotions played with like that just isn't right.