MovieChat Forums > Jesus Camp (2006) Discussion > Made Me Proud To Be An Atheist

Made Me Proud To Be An Atheist


So many things to touch upon, but top of the list would be . . .

. . . when they had the kids break ceramic coffee cups to vent their anger at the Devil. That's it, train these kids to associate anger and destruction with their faith, so in the future when someone questions Christianity they'll want to hit someone or something with a hammer.

Even more shocking was the kids talking about going to war for Jesus. So much for the peaceful, non-violent teachings of Christ.

Oh, lets not forget:

-The brain jello mold which showed how sin sticks to your brain.

-The totally misinformed home schooling class on global warming and evolution.

-The Ken & Barbie Adam & Eve dolls (with Eve/Barbie modestly wrapped up in a huge leaf).

-The blessing of the George Bush cardboard cut-out.

-The Dad at the bowling alley complimenting his daughter for being "obedient".

It would all be so funny, if it weren't so scary.

"Push the button, Max!"

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you're not special. I felt the same way at first but then I remembered there's at least 30 million of us in this country who feel the same way.

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I agree, this was the scariest horror film I've seen in a long while

Though under Earth and throneless now I be,
Yet, while I lived, all Earth was under me.

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You forgot the image of oh-so-evil Harry Potter being hunted down and killed by a righteous mob in Jesus' name. That was particularly nice.

The thing that bothers me most about the majority of so-called 'Christians' is the hypocrisy. If you believe in the Bible, good on you... but you don't get to pick and choose. For a believer, deciding which laws are important and which aren't or which sin is worse than some other sin isn't your place, now is it? After all, it's kind of an all or nothing proposition.

When I see some Bible thumper preaching about the teachings of Jesus on the one hand while at the same time reviling poor and sick people as 'lazy', hoarding their money (there is that whole camel and eye of the needle thing), attempting to damn (or even physically harm) gay folks while meeting their hetero but married lover and any number of other such things, it just makes me sick.

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There's one part when she's preaching and she yells "down with hipocrisy!!" I watched this documentary for 2 minutes...after she said that I just turned it off. It's more sad than comical because kids are so impressionable.

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Then they go and rape little boys. That Becky girl looks like a bull dyke herself. Probably turned asexual for her "faith", and labels her urges as the devil trying to tempt her faith.

the IRONY is so humorous. It is funny how they call themselves hypocrites for praising god then living in "sin" at school. Then then go on about literal truth deciphered from the bible and evolution being debunked by science, and creationism being absolute truth! It's like Einstein himself, attempting to disprove his theory of relativity by saying god simply told him otherwise, but a hundred times more preposterous. I can't even think of a good enough analogy for how ridiculous these people are, it would be a lot funnier if not for the poor kids. But such is life, happens everywhere in the world, the sad part is that for the first 10 years or so of your life impressions are ingrained so deep they often reside within you for a lifetime.

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I am not an atheist (I am an agnostic, the middle ground between theism and atheism) but you hit the nail on the head.

The salient hypocrisy of religion (nevermind the blatant disregard for scientific fact) repelled me from theism, but the arogance of a lot of anti-relious people being unable to accept that there is plenty that science is unable to explain (dark energy, dark matter, what existed prior to the Big Bang, what happens if you travel outside the "edge" of the universe, the inability to reconcile quantum physics with relativity etc etc) repelled me from atheism. The middle ground makes the most sense to me.

However, I totally agree with your post, irrespective of what your religion or lack thereof is.

In the absence of that which is not, that which IS, is not; - Unknown

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Sweetie this had nothing to do with religion but everything to do with humanity.

People have been doing stuff like this longer than the bible was in print.

Obsession + Delusion x Egotism = Cult.

I'm a christian and I wish people would stop lumping us all together. That's like me basing the billions of men on my bad experience with 6. Now is that fair? I believe not.

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While I have nothing against religion in general...organized religion has clearly been used for centuries to manipulate and control people...that analogy you gave just wasn't a good one.

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Sweetie this had nothing to do with religion but everything to do with humanity.


Condescending much?! Anyway It’s funny what you say seeing as God created humanity and one would assume he’d do a better job of allocating who is best suited to spread his word.

People have been doing stuff like this longer than the bible was in print


Although much of the more morally questionable acts performed by God and in his name also predate the Bible. It’s these very things after all that it documents.

Obsession + Delusion x Egotism = Cult.


Isn’t that religion to some degree? I mean you can’t get anyone more egotistical than the vengeful, spiteful, megalomaniacal bully of the Old Testament that is “the almighty!”

I'm a christian and I wish people would stop lumping us all together. That's like me basing the billions of men on my bad experience with 6. Now is that fair? I believe not.


I’m an atheist and I wish there weren’t Christians that ignore the unsavory parts of the Bible and cherry pick the good ones. While we can’t lump all Christians together as far as what heinous acts perpetrated in Gods name and are condoned, what is a reality is that no doubt, people such as yourself would/could use passages of the bible to condemn these “believers” as not being true Christians. However they can also take different passages and utilize them to say the very same thing about you and others like “believers” like yourself!

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I'm not a fan of her condescending tone either, but I agree with her overall point. While I am glad this doc. shed light on some of the cult-like fanaticism (and even abuse) perpetuated by extremists, I also hate that people could easily take this example & generalize. Unfortunately, sometimes it's human to paint with broad strokes and generalize, so I don't necessarily blame people. Still, as a spiritual person myself, I am often afraid that the disgusting behavior of extremists will reflect poorly on me and my personal beliefs.

I don't agree with the people in this doc. - in fact, I disagree with many aspects of what is purported as "Christianity" these days. Rather, I believe in love and kindness and being a "good samaritan". I never want to be associated with this film, and I hope viewers are able approach it objectively.

Whether we're discussing religion, politics, or some something else - extremism is wrong & rarely a true reflection of the subject. It's sad that these people, though, are what get the most attention and become figureheads.

"The most difficult lie I have ever contended with is this: life is a story about me.”

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I found it really funny that the home school-mom denigrates science, and then proceeds to use a toaster, a radio, and a dish washer. Ah, the irony.

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I was raised a Methodist and went to church and Sunday school regularly when I was growing up in the '80s. Heck I even joined the FCA in high school (this was a PUBLIC high school).

That was long before the Evangelicals and Neocons teamed up to hijack the Republican party. Sarah Palin, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Pat Robertson, Lindsey Graham, Michelle Bachmann and their ilk are stains on American politics, no better than the Islamofascists they condemn.

After watching this very frightening (and more relevant now than it was in 2006) documentary, this former Methodist came up with this bumper sticker: "Today's Christians have Converted Me Alright....To Atheism."

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Good for you, Katz.

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I've never heard of kids camps for atheists, but even if they do exist, Katz5 was not exposed to those, and that was not why they 'converted' to atheism.

More or less my response was because I think it is a preferable/superior way of seeing the world. I realize almost everyone thinks that about their way of viewing it (or it wouldn't be their way of viewing it!), but it still remains that it's also my way of viewing it and so I feel it's fair to congratulate someone on it. I think that's fine so long as you remain open-minded to the right degree.

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My vote history: http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=13037287

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