Washougal_Otaku, you don't sound rude at all. Seriously.
I hope you find my answer respectful, and if not, I'm terribly sorry.
I use the word "Intense" in an observational way, too. It's not meant to be derogatory.
First I guess I should explain three of my biggest beefs with religion. The first, and probably most obvious, is when people use it to effect the lives of others, like denying homosexuals the right to marriage because the Bible says so. This includes telling people they are going to hell, etc. It is fine if you believe that, but don't expect everyone else to. It's a simple idea and one I'm sure a lot of you have as well. Another big issue I have is using scare tactics with children. I find it horribly inappropriate and detrimental to social growth that one would teach a child "Sure, little Suzy-Protestant can come over, but since she doesn't believe OUR Bible interpretation, she's burning in Hell". I also have MASSIVE issue when adults wrangle children and use them for their political agendas. Kids should be kids, not billboards for your own beliefs. Yes, children will obviously reflect your ideas, but there is a line that was crossed in this movie.
For a personal example with scare tactics, I went to a Baptist Sunday school while I was reading the third Harry Potter book, and I was told anyone who reads that is going to Hell since it's witchcraft. That messed me up quite a bit, and I wouldn't go near those books for years. It was only in high school when my fellow Catholic friend took me to see Harry Potter that I even had an inkling that these movies would damn my soul. I was horrified when I learned she loved those books.
Back to how I find the movie intense: Catholic Mass, if you've ever gone, is basically the complete opposite of "Jesus Camp"'s depicted Evangelical Church. Catholic Mass is very rigid, very regular, and that is something you either love or hate (so boring if you're a kid). Evangelical church, as seen in the movie, is a lot of shouting, speaking in tongues, noise, and crying. I should also mention that the Catholic Church accepts the Theory of Evolution, while the Evangelical Church seems to strictly be the Young Earth 6,000 years, and if you don't believe that, you're going to Hell. That I have problems with, but, again, the "So long as you don't try to force it down my throat/my relatives' throats" applies so if I met someone with the Young Earth belief, so long as we respected each others positions, I would get along with them fine. We just wouldn't talk about it. It is fully possible to have many churches coexist if it wasn't that people were so determined to be right and get others to acknowledge that they're right.
There are extremists in any religion or atheism, and as a former Catholic, I definitely recognize that "Jesus Camp" isn't at all a correct representation of all the Christian religions. It is, however, frightening that people can get so involved in their belief that they will do crazy things. The Evangelicals depicted in this movie are the type with their fingers in their ears and staunch refusal to listen to anyone else's opinion, belief, or evidence. As it turns out, out of all the children home-schooled in the US, at the time this movie was made (roughly 2003), 75% of those children are Evangelical. While I don't have a problem with the idea of home-schooling, when the purpose of home-schooling is to deny your child the right and ability to learn outside of what you personally believe, that's on the less-okay side of things. A child deserves to grow up and be influenced by the lives around them.
I do highly recommend that everyone watch "Jesus Camp" with an open mind, whether you believe or not. I don't think it will really change your opinion on anything, but I think it's something socially-aware Americans need to know about. If nothing else, I think it's a great example of how unbiased documentaries should be. There is very little outside voices or suggestive editing. All of it is a fair representation from what I can tell.
Also, the documentary "The Most Hated Family in America" is another great one. It's about the Westboro Baptist Church. The big message I got out of them is the Westboro Baptist Church is basically one large family that also doubles as lawyers. Don't feed the troll and ignore them if you see them. Don't look at them. Don't respond. Just pretend they're not there.
