“Jesus Camp” is a passionate, alarming documentary about the Christian Evangelical movement and the children whose lives will forever by guided by the teachings they’ve been forced to learn before they’re old enough to make decisions for themselves. It’s also a disjointed, uneven film that includes scenes that are powerfully moving and unintentionally very funny, and will be very difficult for any non-fanatical Christian to bear.

The film offers a startling statistic: Forty-three percent of Christian Evangelical fundamentalists are “born again” before the age of 13; this is seen as necessary in order to receive God’s salvation and good will. Co-directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady follow three of these kids — Levi, Rachael and Tory, all younger than 12 — as they and their families attend the one-week long “Kids on Fire” camp in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota. There they learn more about the word of God, how to preach, are saved and forgiven for their sins, etc.

There’s no doubt that these kids – and their parents – take this very seriously. But how seriously can the lay viewer take the movie when Levi’s mother tells him global warming doesn’t exist, and that “science doesn’t prove anything”? Even more shocking is when a small group travels to Washington D.C. to protest abortion. Their modus operandi is to put red tape with the word “life” written on it over their mouths while standing outside the rear of the Capitol Building on a cold winter day. It’s not a stretch to say that these ultra-conservative, pre-teen Christians probably do not fully understand what they’re protesting against.

One of the funniest moments comes when Evangelical preacher Becky Fischer tells a room full of kids that warlocks are enemies of God, and that Harry Potter would have been put to death had he lived during the time of the Old Testament. Another humorous moment comes when Rachael goes bowling. She prays for quite some time to get a good roll, and then we see in the background that the praying has been for naught: it’s a gutter ball. If praying didn’t help her, why isn’t she mad at God for letting her down? One of the problems with the film is that there’s no real counterpoint or outsider’s perspective to these people’s lives. A Missouri radio host named Mike Papantonio (who is a Christian, but not a fundamentalist) does challenge Fischer on the issue of brainwashing (especially in regard to children), but the film isn’t bold enough to take it further.

There are a number of serious moments as well, especially when you see how deeply these people are moved by their religion. On the first day of camp everyone purges their sins and is forgiven by God, and the genuine tears and emotions are hard to ignore. But again, there’s no real depth here: at no point does anyone explain why and how exactly God does all that they say he does; it’s just blindly accepted that God will always take care of them, and that whatever happens throughout their lives is God’s plan.

As a documentary, the directors choose not to judge their protagonists, instead opting to depict everyone as faithfully as possible to allow the audience to decide for itself. Are these people brainwashed and foolish? Or do they really know something we don’t know? The answer to that question will depend on your perspective going in, and it will be the exact same when you leave.

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