this should stir debate

[boomboom]

Just watched "Jesus Camp" I'm an envangelical, and I thought it was a disturbing picture of brainwashing. No child needs to learn about sin before they even know what sin is...do y'all agree?

[sakabatou]

1. Since they don't really understand it

It's very easy to mold their minds. I wonder what they will be like in 10 years.

[Kutjara]

2. The idea seems to be to lay a firm foundation...

...of guilt, self-loathing and free-form anxiety early. Then, when the kids are older, they can attach "real sins" to the preexisting misery framework. That way, they will go through life never being happy or fulfilled unless firmly clamped to the theological teat of their church. The church can thereby ensure a steady and reliable stream of income for generations to come.

[patrice]

3. I don't know if it's going to stir debate tonight.

There's a big fight going on between various candidate-partisans in other threads.

.........................

The Catholic Church taught us about sin from the time that I was 6. It is said Catholics have an over-developed sense of guilt, and thus less joy. I wonder if there's a connection.

[papau]

4. I agree with you - learning about the Bible as history and as a call to love one

another is more than enough until the teen years.

[varkam]

5. I'm confused.

And maybe this is just because I haven't been religious in quite some time - but how else would a child get to know what sin is other than by learning about it?

[boomboom]

7. A child, in my opinion, and I'm childless

should be taught scripture, not political issues. It's taken me a lifetime to learn. I think the Lord wants all believers.....and if you achieve that 5, 15, 25, 35, 45, then praise Him. I just tend to think we should actually be able to tie our own shoes before we weep for our repentance. I'm being a cynic here. I shouldn't be. I am di regarding the innocents here, those who die before they have a choice.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. I agree. I finally saw it last weekend...

those people are crazy! :scared:

[Az]

8. The truth of religion is that it often tries to get children

Long before they begin to develop their own view of the world. Once they have their own notion of how the world works it becomes exponentially more difficult to foist another view upon them.

One of the problems the more fundamentalist beliefs are facing these days is that there are so many things being taught and discovered each day that undermine their beliefs that they have become increasingly marginalized. They are honestly finding their way of life threatened by many worldly forces. And they are struggling to survive. Many of us may simply wish they would go away but they will do what they can to survive and attacking the forced they see arrayed against them is one such way to do so. Thus there will be more and more reactions such as Jesus Camp.