This movie doesn't portray anything new. For those who have been around this brand of American Evangelical-Fundamentalist Christianism, it's nothing shocking. It's just sad.
Unfortunately, a large and growing segment of American Evangelical-type Fundamentalists and conservative Christians are unwittingly locked in the mentality of a Sovereign God who has been demoted to a good-versus-evil struggle against a personified power of Evil. This movie portrays a not-uncommon camp for children where they are indoctrinated or reinforced in these beliefs.
Life for these people is reduced to a dualist black-and-white view of the world, of material objects, and of every action as being either "of God" or "of the Devil." This burgeoning sub-cult of Christianity fails to realize that their beliefs are not the historical, nor the Biblical, nor the Judao-Christian view of God as Sovereign, the Lord God Almighty. God is demoted to the willfulness of a human, yet with supernatural powers. And in this movie, children are trained and indoctrinated through emotionally-charged events and experiences where fervency rules, rather than the Sovereign Grace of the God who they profess.
Sadly, most people of this persuasion are both strong-willed and forceful in their single-minded quest to "destroy the Devil" in this good-evil battle, and since the 1970's days of Jerry Falwell's "Moral Majority," they are increasingly active in political movements with the goal of shaping America in their image. Anyone who is not of their mindset is suspect as a deceptive agent of Satan.
This movie is a powerful illustration of this mindset. The indoctrinating and candy-coated mind-programming given to these children could easily be placed in many settings where any religious-political group is attempting to shape young lives. The movie could easily portray the early rise of Nazi youth, or Islamic freedom-fighters, or Amway salespeople, or even a high-school pre-game rally.
Wherever "us versus them" is a mentality, the tactics portrayed in this movie would be applicable. As one child says in the movie, "We're being trained to go out and train others, train others to be God's Army."
Unfortunately, there seem to be few camps for children which offer an emphasis on humility, discipleship, compassion, or learning that the God of Judao-Christian tradition is Sovereign Lord who has already conquered sin and death-- not one who judges children and decides whether they are going to heaven or hell on a moment-by-moment basis of their actions, turning Salvation on and off like a light-switch.
Unfortunately, a large and growing segment of American Evangelical-type Fundamentalists and conservative Christians are unwittingly locked in the mentality of a Sovereign God who has been demoted to a good-versus-evil struggle against a personified power of Evil. This movie portrays a not-uncommon camp for children where they are indoctrinated or reinforced in these beliefs.
Life for these people is reduced to a dualist black-and-white view of the world, of material objects, and of every action as being either "of God" or "of the Devil." This burgeoning sub-cult of Christianity fails to realize that their beliefs are not the historical, nor the Biblical, nor the Judao-Christian view of God as Sovereign, the Lord God Almighty. God is demoted to the willfulness of a human, yet with supernatural powers. And in this movie, children are trained and indoctrinated through emotionally-charged events and experiences where fervency rules, rather than the Sovereign Grace of the God who they profess.
Sadly, most people of this persuasion are both strong-willed and forceful in their single-minded quest to "destroy the Devil" in this good-evil battle, and since the 1970's days of Jerry Falwell's "Moral Majority," they are increasingly active in political movements with the goal of shaping America in their image. Anyone who is not of their mindset is suspect as a deceptive agent of Satan.
This movie is a powerful illustration of this mindset. The indoctrinating and candy-coated mind-programming given to these children could easily be placed in many settings where any religious-political group is attempting to shape young lives. The movie could easily portray the early rise of Nazi youth, or Islamic freedom-fighters, or Amway salespeople, or even a high-school pre-game rally.
Wherever "us versus them" is a mentality, the tactics portrayed in this movie would be applicable. As one child says in the movie, "We're being trained to go out and train others, train others to be God's Army."
Unfortunately, there seem to be few camps for children which offer an emphasis on humility, discipleship, compassion, or learning that the God of Judao-Christian tradition is Sovereign Lord who has already conquered sin and death-- not one who judges children and decides whether they are going to heaven or hell on a moment-by-moment basis of their actions, turning Salvation on and off like a light-switch.