Skeptomania - Paranormal / UFOs, etc.

Raven · Google Meister

This was brought up before, but for those of you who didn't see it yet, it is now on Netflix Instant

http://www.jesuscampthemovie.com/

http://www.netflix.com/WatchNowMovie/Jesus_Camp/70054721?trkid=229102

Yaish · Intel Chief

It's at a place called Devils Lake? That seems ironic doesn't it?

Raven · Google Meister

i thought the same thing when they showed the sign...

asmodee

So, let me get this straight; This a fundamentalist Christian summer camp called "Kids on Fire" and it's at "Devil's Lake"? What do you think the sales pitch is for that? "We're with Kids on Fire at Devil's Lake. We would like to take your child to Devil's Lake and get him on fire too!" Are you sure this wasn't about Antijesus or something?

WTB1

Be afraid for our future if this fanaticism catches on. One scary part is that they've taken it to a focused level by actively training these freaks for politics.

asmodee

Americans still mostly seem to have a need for good Christian values, but I doubt we'll have to worry too much about fundies taking over. They go so far to separate themselves from the rest of the world that they seem strange to normal people.

Raven · Google Meister

Yaish · Intel Chief

Actually, most of the men we consider Founder seemed to be Deists at best. You might argue the Puritans, Pilgrims, Quakers, and some other founding groups engaged in similar levels of fanaticism but they generally tended not to be too political about it.

Raven · Google Meister

Although, was that really because they avoided it, or because there wasn't yet much around to get into...

Yaish · Intel Chief

Are you kidding? Politics as we know it originated in those times. Politics are called 'Machiavellian' for a reason.

WTB1

By coincidence I ran into this...

By not vigorously exposing and confronting the educational injustice that the creationist movement is inflicting upon an ever-increasing number of young people, will we regret our inaction when, as adults, this growing crop of fundamentalists become school board members, military personnel, journalists, teachers, and politicians? If we think the situation is bad now, wait until a creationist who also believes in the prophecies of the End Times has their finger on the trigger of a nuclear weapon. Then the real fun will begin.
--James K. Willmot, Edward Blyth: Creationist or Just Another Misinterpreted Scientist?

asmodee

Our nation's need for political correctness does actually make this a possibility, I suppose. They're not wackos any more. They're reality challenged. Still, I don't see the lion share of Americans voting for a holy roller any time in the near future. The very nature of a fundamentalist is to separate themselves from the rest of the world by some form of weirdness, be it their hair or their clothes, their manor or their incessant need to save our souls by stopping by the house once a week and knocking for two hours until I answer. I just don't think a true fundamentalist could present themselves as being normal enough to vote for while at the same time not risk eternal damnation.

Gren · God Of Oreos

I posted on Jesus Camp last winter. Scary-ass stuff. Child abuse in my book.

asmodee

Good to see you again, Gren.

I was in a VERY fundamentalist church as a kid. I wouldn't say my experience was child abuse, but these people are NOT the people you want teaching your kids. I was young, stupid and suicidal at the time. It was a bad time in my life. I had problems that no other 16 year old in the world had ever faced. Girls, acne, that sort of thing that nobody else ever went through. By the time the talk of "devil oppression" and "your own fault" was over I was more suicidal than ever.

There is definitely brainwashing involved, though I don't believe it's on purpose. At least not at every level. That's why you can't win an argument against a fundie with reason. To question their beliefs is to invite damnation and Jesus will be back any minute now. They literally CAN'T consider your argument. It would mean a trip to Hell to even think about it. It is definitely not a place for kids in hormone overload. Pretty much everything except breathing and preaching is a mortal sin. It can be terrifying at times and, if you really believe all that crap like I did, VERY demoralizing. You think so little of yourself, first, because you are taught to, and second, because you see everything you do as a terrible, horrible sin. You eat too much, sleep too much, don't pray enough, don't thump your Bible enough, didn't preach to the kid that was beating you up, you wondered what a girl would look like naked, lost your temper and did a thousand other things the Christ wouldn't do. It's a tense life in constant mental anguish for a teen who really believes. It's even worse for the teen who doesn't believe but has a really religious family. I remember one kid who grew up know that he was nothing. He was a disappointment and a failure. He was a joke in the church because he wouldn't stand in line like the rest of us zombies. He was blamed for stealing money from the church. It kept disappearing until the pastor's son was caught. No apologies, the talk just stopped. He killed himself about a year ago.

Gren · God Of Oreos

Asmo - See the movie. Emotional and psychological child abuse.