Did anyone see this? It is a special that A&E ran last night. Here's the synopsis from A&E's website:
A growing number of Evangelical Christians believe there is a revival underway whereby young Christians must take up the leadership of the religious right. This film reveals a new phenomenon: an active movement to train young kids to become dedicated Christian soldiers in "God's army." The film follows Levi, Rachael and Tory to the Kids on Fire summer camp in Devils Lake, North Dakota, where kids as young as 6 years-old are drilled in the importance of political activism and radical views. The film is a first-ever look into an intense training ground that recruits born-again Christian children to become an active part of America's political future. Premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on 4/27/06.
http://www.aetv.com/indiefilms/if_films.jsp?index=9&type=characterOn the one hand, is it ever a bad thing that anyone (especially a child) is seeking Christ and seeking to live His Gospel?
On the other hand, it is almost bizarre... to me, it strikes me how politically motivated the whole thing was (a HUGE overemphasis on praying for politics, politicians, government, political action, etc.). The kids sounded to me like robots, programmed to say and do these things (like sitting in front of the supreme court with tape over their mouths that says "life"), but it seems unlikely that they really understand what it's about. Furthermore, they've set these kids up such that they view their beliefs
in contrast and
in conflict with everyone else's. They talk a LOT about liberals "shaking in their boots" when confronted with this movement, about changing the government, abolishing the separation of church and state, etc. One woman on the special said something that perfectly described what the whole special was demonstrating. She said, "There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who love Jesus, and those who don't." I think this is a terrible injustice to the kids, because it breeds ignorance and fear of people whose beliefs are different from theirs.
They also spoke SOOOOOO much (and sang about) the blood of Jesus. They prayed for Christ to "sprinkle His blood" on the campers, etc. It really freaked me out, honestly.
Not to sound narrow-minded or overly sensitive, but I really found it hurtful and almost offensive that this is the way they represent Christ to other people, and that this is the way they regard Christ. The way they talked about Him, etc. was almost sad.
The fact of the matter is that this movement IS spreading rapidly, especially among the youth. We need to be prepared with a response to it as Orthodox, and we need to be able to prepare our children to respond to it, as kids are primarily who they are targeting for their "army for God."
Did anyone else see this? I'd love to open a discussion about it.