I don't think so..what do you mean? What documentary?

was it jesus camp? i watched it a while ago and it scared me, the kids were chanting along with the leader simply because they were told to.. and they didnt seem to understand what it was that they were saying or professing to believing in.

You're sure to find some cultish groups anywhere; don't think that it's typical. On the other hand, some large-ish minority of Americans take the Bible literally, which means they believe people were created as-is ~6000 years ago. Some people might argue that that's something akin to believing in or buying into a system of thought and being unaccepting of opposing evidence.

Just because you see one programme showing one very far right group behaving like that, don't assume that is the norm. I am sure it is not. If the christian right was succeeding in brainwashing American kids, there would be no juvenile crime, would there?

I don't know about brainwashing (not that it would surprise me) but I have heard about groups literally scaring children into accepting Jesus. They set up a huge maze and basically decorated it out to look like Hell, to the extreme. Then sent all the kids through the maze telling them that if they didn't want to spend eternity in a place that's even worse than the Hell they portrayed, then they better accept Jesus! It's disgusting and the reason why I, as a Christian, can understand why so many people hate Christians. Groups like that help give us all a really bad rep!

i saw that documentary too - and think it was so bad. I think they are totally brain-washed, and it bordered on child abuse :(

Definitely not. You are free to send your kid to any camp you want and teach them what you want. The real brainwashing is the athiest ideas the kid are being brainwashed by in the public schools. People love to find any fault with Christians. Proving the point ~Nobody kicks a dead dog.

Indoctrinating and inculturating the young is not brainwashing. It's just normal parenting and child-rearing. ("You've got to be taught To hate and fear, You've got to be taught From year to year, It's got to be drummed In your dear little ear You've got to be carefully taught...You've got to be taught before it's too late, Before you are six or seven or eight, To hate all the people your relatives hate, You've got to be carefully taught!") The public school curriculum in the US today (and for the last 50 years) has had as its main/primary objective, NOT teaching kids "the 3 Rs" (which is considered purely secondary to the school's main function), but making them into "good citizens" -- which is to say, the NEA's idea of what a good citizen is. If the kids of America only heard and believed what the PC gulag of America's public schools would have them believe, they'd all come out filled with every squash-headed liberal fluff-bunny notion, like we can all live pefectly lovely long healthy eco-friendly lives, drinking Starbucks to our heart's content, in a world without strip-mining, off shore drilling, heavy industry, herbicides, and pest control (hunting); and how Western Civilization, white heterosexual males and Christianity are responsible for all the evils in the world and have never contributed anything positive or beneficial. As for the documentary you saw, assuming we saw the same one, it was a grossly one sided and distorted picture of what was going on, AND the producers deliberately picked what was the worst example they could find, and still did much to make it look worse than it was. For the record, the camp's a joke: yet another private enterprise by one-more self-appointed lone ranger Christian who thinks this is how to prepare the next generation for the Culture War. The camp has been roundly criticized in Christianity Today and various other notable evangelical publications. Unfortunately, the Culture Wars of the 90s galvanized more than a few of not-too-bright, not-too-deep people into zealots, who have taken it upon themselves to save Western Civilization and the next generation, but really haven't got a clue how to do it, and often unwittingly embrace certain notions and practices that really belong to their adversaries, while attacking and undermining many people, institutions, practices, and beliefs essential and even foundational to the cause they think they're fighting for... for example, though they may SEEM to think the liberal secular left is the great enemy ... just introduce "the Catholic Church" into the issue, and you'll find the rabbid little yokels sounding much like their culture war adversaries or worse. And God forbid you should suggest there's nothing wrong or sinful about alcohol. (and "shhh, we can't talk about sex ... it might lead to dancing.") Finally, if you really want to get them off their supposed prefered targets of secularism and evolution, and have them turning on each other with greater verve than they ever showed for fighting their enemies, just mention Harry Potter.

You know, I find it disconcerting how readily people accept outrageous propaganda. This is an excellent case in point. From what I have heard of this "documentary", it takes rather isolated examples of extremism and then tries to say that it is normal behavior for a large group of people. This is typical behavior by extremists on the other side of an argument. People have been using these kinds of tactics to discredit their opponents, rather than taking them on intellectually, since long before the invention of the motion picture. These kinds of documentaries have been used to slander various groups for a long time. I am not point fingers as any one group here. Extremists of all types have been guilty of the same thing. The truly unfortunate thing is that people actually takes such films seriously. When will people learn to not be so trusting of something just because it appears in a "documentary"?

All parents are guilty of "brainwashing" their kids..all politicians are guilty of "brainwashing" when they use their spin and lies to influence people's thinking..all religious groups "brainwash" to the extent that one must accept the dogma and believe as the members believe in order to belong..I don't think the Christian right is any more or less guilty of brainwashing than any other group with its own agenda..they are all alike..the goal is "groupthink"..they don't want any independent thought, questioning or troublemakers. :)

I just watched the film Jesus Camp. Holy bible thumper batman, Becky Fisher and the rest of these people are frickin wackjobs. Ya know, I don't care if you choose to believe in god, aliens, frogs, or purple pop cans, that's your right and I respect it, but I also insist that people respect my right not to. I do believe Jesus was a real man who lived a life we would all probably be better off trying to emulate. I don't believe he was the son of a god and I don't think he did either, at least until right before he was killed and by that time he was probably starting to believe a bit of his own press. I don't believe in the resurrection, or the immaculate conception, or Humpty Dumpty, or Mother Goose. These kids don't have a choice, they are put in that environment by their wackjob parents and are brainwashed into being wackjobs when they grow up. I have a 16 yr old. I want him to be exposed to all kinds of different religions and theologies so he can make an educated decision. He happens to have been born with some common sense, believes in the theory of evolution and is an atheist.

I believe we all brainwash our kids, into believing what we do.

Perhaps, but then there are lots of groups who are far worse who do the same thing. The Scientologists and the neo-fascists, to name just two. Being "guilty" implies illegality, but this sort of thing is a major conundrum for law enforcement, since it sits right on the gray area between freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of association, and many other civil rights.

I believe that all oragizations Bible camps or not for profits or whatever play on peoples emotions - it is called marketing - look at any marketing material and it is written to make you feel a certain way

Yes, it is brainwashing. I grew up being taught that there is a hell and it always bothered and scared me. Then when I was in my 20's I finally saw and realized that all religion is made up by man. Christianity derives from Ancient Egypt for example. Just study up on it all and all the answers against religion fall right into view. So, when I look back on being taught to be scared of hell, I think that is a terrible thing to do to a child or an adult. The problem is that no one is taught this in church about where christianity really comes from. I would have never dreamed a while back that I would eventually answer two of my four biggest questions in my life ; One is where did everything actually come from before the big bang, two is how far out does the universe go and is there anything beyond it? Three is, is there other forms of life out there besides on earth, and that answer is pretty much a yes after scientific studies, and the fourth is, does "god" really exsist? And I know now after studying up on it, that "he" does not. So I've answered two of my four big questions already, and thanks to being "brainwashed" for many years I had to wait till I was andult to break away and answer it for myself. Religion is brainwashing .

Many parents brainwash their kids, not just the Christian Right. That doesn't make it good, it just makes it common... I would define "brainwashing" as "teaching children WHAT to think about crucial life issues, instead of teaching them HOW to think". The role of a parent should not be to simply clone their world-view onto the child, it should be to empower the child to become an independent, fully aware, fully intelligent adult... someone who makes up their own mind without bias, someone who studies all sides of a topic before making crucial choices, someone who is not a mere puppet of parental programming. I'd much rather have an adult child who is mature and disagrees with me than to have another member of my Borg Multipersonality Lifeform.

Let's start with the word brainwashing. Brainwashing is a technique used on prisoners of war that involves isolation and deprivation along with a psycological assault that breaks down the personality and causes a break with reality. So no, I don't think the Christian Right is locking kids in little cells and precipitating a psychotic break. There is a big difference between teaching kids and brainwashing. As to your documentary, I haven't seen it, so I can't comment. It appears that some of the others have, and have answered that portion of your question. But lets remember that TV sells advertising based on being able to keep you in your seat long enough for the advertiser to sell you something. To do that, they have to shock and titillate. So they aren't going to show you the average Christian family. They are going to chose the most whacked out cult they can find and try to make you believe it is the average Christian family. The bottom line is, if anyone is trying to brainwash in the sense you are using it, it is probably channel 4.

Brainwashing is done by many groups, and society in general. I'm sorry to tell you this. Society in general rewards certain beliefs and punishes others. I agree with Hasn'tBeen that anything that teaches children WHAT to think rather than HOW is a problem. The Christian Right in America certainly have an active and well-funded brainwashing campaign that is disconcertingly effective. A large portion of Americans (not just children) will repeat the Christian Right's message as if it were fact. Our politicians even do so (although I think that they actually know better and do it for political benefit). It is very disturbing the number of Americans who will tell you that the United States was founded on Christian beliefs and values, for instance, when this is not factually true, and is blatantly incorrect. (Democracy is a pre-Christian Greek and Roman concept, the Ten Commandments and the Bill of Rights are in many places diametrically opposed, and there is not a single instance of the word "god" in our Constitution. The ideas were spawned by Enlightenment thinkers such as John Locke. I could go on and on.)