I saw an add for a movie called Jesus Camp on A&E over the weekend. So, I recorded it, and I watched it today.
The film was a documentary about a pastor named Becky Fisher and her summer camp, Kids on Fire. You can use google to find plenty of articles on the movie and the camp, which has been shut down by Fisher after she experienced some backlash from the film.
Fisher seems to believe that it is not just okay for Evangelicals to indoctrinate their children into Christianity, but that it is necessary. She gives the argument more than once that "other world religions are indoctrinating their children." So, Christians should as well.
We have a seven month old son and will most likely have a few more kids, and this is something that I struggle with. I feel that my wife and I have a duty to consistently model our believes to our children and that we should "bring them up in a Christian home", but I don't want to force my religion down their throats.
Do I want my kids to come to know and follow Jesus? Yes. However, I don't want it to be the case that, "Dad says we should do this. So, we better do it."
I want them to come to know that there is a God that loves them and cares for them despite their faults. I want them to know that this God desires for them to love him in return. That he desires that love from them so much that he came to this earth in the form of a man named Jesus. I want them to know that this Jesus lived a life that we should use as an example. And, that eventually this Jesus gave up is life and sacrificed more than we can imagine to make it possible for us to connect with God, now and forever. I want them to recognize the importance of this sacrifice, and I want them to see this as the reason that they should follow the example of Jesus' life. I want them to know that it will not always be easy, but that they are not alone. That in some way that is not easy to understand or explain, that this God is right there with them giving them promptings on how they should live.
I'm not sure how I get my child to see and believe all of that without force feeding him. I guess the first step is making sure that I stay on track and follow those promptings. Check back with me in twenty-five years and I'll let you know how it went.
Labels: church, entertainment, family, movies
posted by Shannon Smith @ 1/02/2008
3 Comments
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3 Comments:
You didn't comment on what you thought of the movie. I've always wanted to see it, but Erin is never willing. The clips I have seen are strange, to say the least, but I was hoping that you would give a critical opinion of the movie as a, seriously, practicing christian.
Honestly, I thought the movie was bad. Not really the content, but just the entire movie. I kept waiting for the point, but it just never came. I thought they were going to have a message that they were trying to get across, but in the end it seemed like they were just trying to transfer information.
Maybe you weren't asking for my opinion of the artistic quality of the film. Maybe you wanted to know what I thought of the content. If so, here's that...
I mentioned that I thought the lady was trying to indoctrinate the kids. I think that is unfair to the kids and to Christianity. I felt like her message was more political than anything. It lacked love. It was something along the lines of...
Pray that the government would be Christian. Pray that the government would stop abortion. Pray that Pres. Bush would select a judge that will support the "Christian" point of view.
So, I was bored and annoyed by the movie.
Thanks for the interesting thoughts, Shannon.
This is a whole thought process that I haven't had to think through yet...
But I've been reading a lot in the Old Testament, and it seems like there's a consistent pattern where, if a parent teaches a child to love, fear, and honor God, and models that lifestyle, the child will eventually walk with Him...
Or like Solomon said, "Raise up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
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