TheMunkeyBoy The documentary itself held me. I watched right through. I thought it wa put together well in terms of keeping me watching but, I really felt it was also edited together without stuff. Like there was certainly bias on behalf of the filmmakers. Yes, the subject matter was disturbing. Religious finatics and extremists of any belief or religion are scary and they ruin so much for the others. And this film shows us that. Which I know was part of the point. But it did come across that they were painting a picture of that greater whole of this particular religion (Christianity in this case) as being this extreme. A good watch, but it just bugs me that I feel like this is pushing an agenda - a different one than the agenda pushed by those depicted in the movie. Irony or hipocritical? Maybe not completely but, maybe a little of both.

planmanosagogo This is a film everyone should see. Think of it as a horror film, but with the events actually occurring. The plot concerns a group of children being brainwashed by right-wing fundamentalists into becoming dangerous fanatics supporting the political right's doctrines of hate, fascism, and xenophobia. As an anarcho-socialist and atheist I strongly recommend this as a demonstration of how right-wing views are inherently dangerous to everyone. An antidote to all of you who fell for the lies expressed in such cinematic rubbish as 'god's not dead'.

ironhorse_iv Jesus Christ! What is wrong with these American Pious? Why are they so disturbing to watch? Directed by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, this documentary showcase, the dangers of paramilitary indoctrination, by visiting an evangelical Christian summer camp in North Dakota called 'Kids on Fire', where children take part in controversial programs designed to strengthen and intensify their beliefs. The camp's founder, Becky Fischer, discusses her mission to indoctrinate youths in the word of God, as if she was running the Christian version of Al-Qaeda. From her own crazy point of view, she's thinks it's safe. After all, it's no different than the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine or CDD. However, that isn't the image, most people see, when watching this movie. Talks about 'army of God' and telling the kids that they should be ready to lay down their lives in the name of God sounds very similar to the same indoctrination that Muslim extremists used on their youth. Indeed, seeing young people being forced into Christian military style reenactment is a bit scary. It remind me of something out of a Hitler Youth camp. I don't think that is what Jesus was saying, when 'turn the other cheek'. Honestly if you ever see Becky Fischer, ask her, that. WWJD? Because I don't think, he would love this. Its gets even weirder that Becky Fischer was OK with showing all this, in the film. Not only does, she say that this film portrayed her camp accurately, but she also thinks, this film would be a good evangelism tool to bring Christians followers closer to God. I really have no clue, what cloud, her mind is flowing on, but she clearly has to be, crazy, or that she never watched the film. Because films like this, make me want to stay away from the Church as long as possible. Clearly, this movie isn't for everybody. Not only does it, fuel negative reactions and more harsh criticism to the Christianity religion from the outsiders, but for normal Christians like myself, I found it to be, very embarrassing and troublesome. Most Christians don't act this way. Yes, some Christians do have a trouble with LGBT communities & yes, they might protest outside of an abortion clinic; but most of them, are not telling their followers to worship a cardboard cutout of President George W. Bush as if a Saint and destroy mugs that represented the government. That's red flags to extreme Christian fundamentalism right there. About them, showcasing the children of the Pentecostal congregation speaking in tongues to Jesus. Yes, it sounds like they're worshipping the devil, more than Jesus, but I found that scene to be, more silly than scary. Let me be clear: becoming excited, emotional, even hyper-emotional with crying, even ecstatic, for praying is somewhat alright, however, I do believe that going with whatever sounds your mouth might utter under this trance is not what the Bible describes when it speaks about the gift of tongues. It's utter nonsense. Nevertheless, I found it somewhat harmless, unlike the next scene, where the children were somewhat forced to pray for forgiveness for being kids. I really didn't like that scene where Becky Fischer mentally abuse them. The camp seems to do that a lot. A very horrible method of making the kids cry and then using their emotional tumult to really cement their message. It's very sinister tactic for indoctrinating child soldiers. If anything, Becky Fischer is more of a hypocrite than the kids. First off, she called them to fast, yet she looks like she ate the whole supermarket for breakfast. Then she calls Harry Potter, an evil warlock that need to put to death, when Jesus was put to death, for nearly doing the same thing, many years ago. Also ghost stories are bad. What is the Holy Spirit then? Another mindless rant, she has is the separate of church and schools. I guess, she never heard that you can indeed pray in school, but it's unlawful to lead it. After all, this law, also protected Christians as well. How weird, would it be, if everybody was forced to pray toward Mecca every two to three hours? Now that would cause everybody to out-roar. Even her straw man arguments about the dangers of science and believing in global warming is full of fallacy. After all, Becky apparently thinks that power outages and equipment failures are the work of Satan. How bat-crazy stupid, can you be, honestly be? That is by far, one of dumbest statement, I ever heard. I think the worst one from her, is her criticizes of democracy because democracy means giving everyone equal freedom. Wow! What a horrible person! It's even more hypocritical and hilarious in hindsight, when the pastor of New Life Church, then head of the National Association of Evangelicals, Ted Haggard is featured later in the film. Ted Haggard's condemnation of homosexuality is ironic, seeing how he was later revealed to be sleeping with male prostitutes at that time period. Also, take notes on the arrogant, mocking tone he talks with the person holding the camera & also the way, he talks to the kid. What a jerk! I'm glad, I'm not the only one that thinks they are asses. Many conservative Christian viewers like Mike Papantonio, a radio host considered these people's rhetoric message and harsh methods way over the top and ignorant. I'm glad, they feature him. So level-headed. The kids in the film were also alright, even if they were a bit brainwash. I can only hope the best for them, growing up. In the end, the film met with so much controversy that led to the closure of the camp in 2007 due to vandalism and threats. Since that date, it hasn't yet open back up. Overall: The film is fascinating, eye-opening, and well shot. It's worthy to be watch. Glad, it was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 79th Academy Awards. So check it out.

cammymadden I only decided to write a review for this documentary because after reading through pages of reviews on IMDb, it seemed to me that a lot of people failed to understand its purpose. Many people giving it 1 or 2 stars because they believe this documentary to be disgusting or cruel or child abuse etc, clearly failing to understand that the entire purpose of said documentary was to highlight these exact problems!I'd been meaning to watch this for a while because I'd heard stories from friends in America about Bible camps and the like, where children are sent for what is realistically brainwashing Personally, I find all religions to have some for of mental torture involved (especially for children) so my point of view is definitely biased. However, this doesn't change the fact that this documentary does an excellent job of highlighting some major flaws with how people teach religion. If you are delusional enough to believe that religion is all good, I highly recommend watching this documentary. When you think that these children are going to spend their lives sheltered from reality, sheltered from learning, sheltered from experience, sheltered from truth: you can't help but think that these children never truly live. One issue with this documentary is that it doesn't really delve to deep into any one area of these camps. It is nothing more than an edited observation of such a camp with the occasional statistic appearing on screen. While this is a downside, it also works as a positive aspect because this documentary is only 1hr 30mins so it doesn't really drag out.