Written by: Dominick at 12:17 am
A friend of mine was talking on Facebook about how homeschool groups and co-ops are kicking families out of their groups if they support LGBT rights. This is no big surprise to Ash and I. We’ve been homeschooling Robert since he was in 2nd grade. We have felt the oppression of such groups on both LGBT and disability related issues. In response, someone posted a clip from Jesus Camp, a documentary we had a chance to review, a few years back.
The clip shows pre-teen, Levi O’Brien, talking to his mom, Tracy, who is homeschooling him. In it, she tells him that there is no basis behind science. The entire scene is pretty scary, especially when Levi expresses his views concerning how smart he believes Galileo was for giving up science for God (Apparently, Levi has no idea that Galileo was forced to recant his scientific beliefs and discoveries in the name of religion). This is not the only obviously inaccurate thing Levi is being taught.
The only thing I do agree with his mother on is the fact that I do not believe I, as a parent, should send my son off to school for eight hours a day, when I know I am capable of giving him as good of an education (or better) than the one he could receive at a public school. Of course, I also believe not all parents are capable of this, which is why public schools do exist. I also believe that Science is based in fact, and therefore it is an important subject to be taught accurately, to children.
Anyway, this prompted me to do some digging to try and find the brainwashed Jesus Camp kids. It took a little digging, but lo and behold I found most of them on Facebook, and you will never guess who else I found?
Despite the Kids on Fire camp being shut down due to public reaction from the documentary and vandalism on the property, Becky Fischer is keeping up with her young “soldiers” through Facebook. She has also been schooling a new group of children, to be soldiers in the last days army. This is through the School of Supernatural Children’s Ministry.
Her hardcore message is best summed up in her own words, so here they are:
If the text is too small, click on the above image to see a bigger version of it!
You can find out more about what Becky is up to and find more of her “prophetic words” on her Facebook. The scary part is that over 2,000 people subscribe to her BS.
Becky’s most promising student was Levi O’Brien. He was just a pre-teen with a rattail when he was featured as a child preacher in the film. Not much has changed from then. Now, Levi is 18. He still screams and yells when he is preaching. His messages are still somewhat incomprehensible. He no longer has the rattail (that we can see), but he is using his Facebook as a platform to spread his uneducated, close-minded message about Jesus and God.
Levi believes his God is the only God (and his God did not create other religions). However, Levi’s FB has a lot more opposition to his constant messages of faith than Becky’s does. His 400+ friends constantly debate the validity of his words. His mom, Tracy, even hops in on one post to back up his claims, by stressing just how accurate The Bible is and how it is used as a school textbook in many places. All in all, the message of Levi remains the same.
You can check him out on his Facebook here.
Despite being kind of mousy and a loner, Rachael Elhardt had very specific beliefs about religion. She was the girl who believed she had to convert people to her fundie style of Christianity or they were going to hell. Despite her outspoken nature on religion, she has opted to keep her Facebook private. As such, we can only assume she is still a crazy Christian because she remains friends with Levi and Becky. You can at least see a picture of 16 or 17 year old Rachael on her Facebook page.
Decidedly absent from the Jesus lovefest on FB is young Tory. If you remember, she is the one who was a dancer. She was a part of the children’s praise dance team at Christ Triumphant Church who was afraid of dancing for the flesh. Tory questioned her faith more than once in the documentary and spent much of her time on film bawling her eyes out. Of all the kids, I felt bad for her the most. I have tried to find out what happened to Tory and whether she still attends Christ Triumphant Church (which by the way has been endorsed, or at least it’s head pastor Alan Koch has, by Becky Fischer).
I would like to believe that these kids have learned to think for themselves, but sadly, despite the negative press for Jesus Camp, they continue to hold these steadfast, terrifying beliefs that their religion is the only way and all others must be converted to their thinking.
Technorati Tags: Jesus Camp, Levi O’Brien, Rachael Elhardt, Becky Fischer, Where are they?, Evangelicals, Christians, Soldiers for Jesus, Kids on Fire, Facebook
Filed under: GLBT Rights,Homeschooling,Religion
25 Comments »
The children are still young. Levi can still become the next Sam Kinison … just hopefully not as self destructive. Thank you for taking time with your investigation and putting up this web site.
I just finished watching this movie as well. I had seen the preview for it many years prior but never got around to watching it until today. It’s sad because I do believe these kids were brainwashed and it’s very hard if not impossible to un-do.
Anyways, like any religion they each have their own extremists and these kids are modern day christian extremists. Luckily Christianity is a peaceful religion which doesnt necessarily condone violence.
I just watched Jesus Camp last night, and it was a really heartbreaking experience for me. I was homeschooled as a kid, and although my parents were not particularly right-wing or anti-science, we did attend several Evangelical churches at various points. These churches had a profound and somewhat traumatizing effect on me as a child, and it was very difficult to watch the same BS being fed to a new generation of young people at such a mentally and emotionally vulnerable time in their life.
Thanks for posting this brief update on some of the characters in the film. It may encourage some of you to know that, although I was heavily influenced by communities like that portrayed in Jesus Camp during my childhood, I (as well as my brother) have freed ourselves completely of that world view and are now not religious at all. We were lucky, in that our parents were not nearly as crazy as other people in our churches and homeschool communities. For a kid like Levi, whose parents are in on it as well, freedom of thought will be hard won. I’m glad to hear he has facebook friends arguing with him.
I really appreciate the update. I had not seen that movie b/c I was not a Christian at the time when it came out. Very sad that people think that represents Christianity at all or anything like the Jesus of the scriptures. Thanks for the update and please dont judge us by our worst kind (if they are a kind which I would say not).
I do have one question that seems to keep coming up about the movie and that is about brainwashing. Even in the post you made, you said in a negative sense that these children still hold the “terrifying beliefs that their religion is the only way and all others must be converted to their thinking”. I dont know anyone who believes their opinion is wrong. I would hope they would change it. So I am having trouble understanding why people are so blown away by people having beliefs that they try to convince others to believe. In particular, people who have opinionated blogs. Im seriously not trying to be a punk. I just dont see the difference. We all believe our way is correct and the only way, even if that way includes within it a multitude of ways. I dont see the difference. Maybe you could shed some light there.
Anyways, thanks for the update and I assume this post will be helpful for some time as people straggle across that terrible movie like I did.
Very interesting. And Levi’s FB is interesting too… though his girlfriend’s page is even more interesting. She likes a lot of stuff that tells me that she’s probably a pretty good (some may call it bad 
) influence on him. “Mythbusters”? “House MD”? Check out her likes. She seems to be fine.
In the interest of full disclosure: I’m a “born-again christian” myself. Just not of the kind portraited The quotes mean I have not really that much in common with what you USians understand by that term. I do go to church (sometimes more often than at other times) and I do pray. And believe in a lot of the stuff “they” believe in. Loves Jesus Camp (the movie). Loved especially that talk radio host! Hated the homeschooling bit (not that I hate homeschooling on principles, just miseducation).
Really, Emily sounds fine from her FB comments and her likes. And she sounds and seems to be quite stable in here likes/believe not to be influenced *too much* by Levi’s mom (I saw Tracy comment on a pic of Emily’s…)
I met Tory today while visiting Christ Triumphant Church. Apparently she still attends. She seemed kind of quiet but also very nice.
@Greg – Thanks for your comment. I think the big issue is that when these kids are trying to force their beliefs on others they do not give up. Further, they also refuse to accept people saying they are sorry or not interested. Instead, they cast judgment on the people by telling them if they do not change they will be going to hell. They believe it is their job to convert others to their way of thinking.
The difference with an opinionated blog is that people have choices. People can choose to read or not read what I say. If they do not agree, they can shut the page down or they can respond by commenting their disagreements. I only believe we should try to change the beliefs that affect the well-being of others. Most beliefs are harmless towards others and as such, I can respect differing opinions. These kids are led to believe there is only one way and anyone differing in their belief is not to be respected but also to be looked down upon and even castigated.
I hope this makes more sense?
Oh, also, about brainwashing. Brainwashing means these kids do not have the ability to think for themselves. I am proud to say my beliefs come from research, life experience and my own thoughts on matters. My beliefs differ from my ancestors before me in some ways, but are similar in others. A brainwashed person is not given the freedom to learn and thus make their own assessments about their beliefs. They grow up believing exactly what those who are brainwashing them want them to believe. The saddest thing is these kids often do not learn to think for themselves.
A great example is the homeschool curriculum, which is obviously inaccurate due to our knowledge of actual science, but these kids truly believe it is right because they have been brainwashed to believe it is right without even questioning its validity. The awesome thing about scientific theories is we have the option of questioning them and testing their validity ourselves. The option of testing such validity is taken from these kids. They believe what their brainwashers want them to believe is fact.
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In response to Greg’s comment ” I do have one question that seems to keep coming up about the movie and that is about brainwashing. Even in the post you made, you said in a negative sense that these children still hold the “terrifying beliefs that their religion is the only way and all others must be converted to their thinking”. I dont know anyone who believes their opinion is wrong. I would hope they would change it. So I am having trouble understanding why people are so blown away by people having beliefs that they try to convince others to believe.”:
Greg, not everyone who believes in something thinks that it must be force-fed to everyone else. It is entirely possible to believe in something without thinking others should as well. I am pagan, and just about any pagan will tell you that there are many spiritual paths, and that each person much choose the one that is right for them. If I have a place to go, often there are tons of ways to get there. I might have a preferred route, while someone else might prefer to take an entirely different one, and that’s fine. It’s all about respect for various ways of thinking and viewing the world. Blessed be!
I just watch this scary movie last night. I can’t believe that a grown adult is purposly having kids believe that they need to go out and start wars on goverment and everyting else. Are you kidding me? I can’t believe after that movie about that camp, that she is still gettin POSITIVE reveiws and people agree with this madness. I took a look at their facebooks like you said and also gave Becky Ficsher’s website a look and oh my God she needs help in the worse way…. Using kids like that and not really forcing or making them ALL believe that. I’m sure some agree with her veiws but I’m sure not all of them did before they brainwashing anyway.
This is why I converted to Deism. These are terribly brainwashed to thinking in such a twisted way. My God Jesus would not accept this bullshit.
Watched this film today, and my take on it that floored me while watching was how similar the indoctrination of the kids was to what goes on in Islam. Truly frightening in the points of congruity.
For those with an interest, Netflix also has Islam: What the West Needs to Know available for instant viewing, and is a real eye-opener as to the blinders Western leaders have on concerning that religious belief due to lack of understanding of the fundamental tenets and how they are required to be practiced.
The fact that Becky is still allowed to teach and brainwash people is disguisting.
John Lewis, I think you can’t compare Muslim countries (which are sitting on top of mounds of oil and being invaded and raped by ‘Western leaders’) and these suburban white Christian kids. These white kids are being bombed daily. Besides, the movie you refer to is a rightwing peace of crap from Zionist apologists who are in bed with the likes of thse Jesus Campers.
Regarding brainwashing…these are CHILDREN. They were essentially “born” Christian. They had no chance to develop any type of thinking other than their dangerous fundamental thinking. If we withheld all religious teaching from children until they were 18, and enforced a requirement to pass a physics and a biology class in high school- religion would disappear in two generations, and be viewed just as mythical as Greek gods (which is what the other religions are…. kinda like “The Hangover 2″- same story, different locale).
What Becky Fisher and her minions do to those kids is a form of child abuse. Her schooling of a new group of children, to be soldiers in the last days army is a mirror image of the Hitler Youth in Germany in the 1920′s.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/hitler_youth.htm
http://www.setop.net/history-2/hitler-youth-thought-control-and-brainwashing-in-nazi-germany.html
There’s a lot out there on the subject to be googled up. There are so many similarities I’m convinced that Becky got her ideas directly from Hitler’s manifesto.
I felt so bad for those kids in Jesus Camp, it made me cry for them.
Thanks Dominick for taking the time to put this up.
I just watched the movie for the first time, one week ago. it was sad to see that. Its great that you found some news about the kids.
ist crazy when you know that they worsiph Bush–he was the war-lord–there where never atomic bombs in Irak, all was a lie.
and the scene with Ted Haggard……brrrrrrr
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhcScBdnEhY
Pearl–you can stop crying. Go to Levi’s or Luke’s (his bro) fb and see for yourself how they are doing. They are both well-adjusted, happy, productive members of society.
Tracy, Are you being sarcastic?
i would love to know what happened to the young blonde haired boy who stood up and said he sometimes questioned his faith, he is seen later in the film reading a book against a tree. He looked so tortured by guilt for his thoughts, it was heart breaking.
Notable quotables from “Jesus Camp”:
“Pres. Bush has brought credibility to our Christian faith.” Becky
“Giving everyone equal freedom is going to destroy us.” Becky
“I think they’re Muslim.” Rachel (after approaching three older black guys who told her they were for sure going to heaven. HILARIOUS!)
I enjoyed “Jesus Camp.” It was an accurate portrayal of right-wing, conservative evangelical Christians. And they would agree the portrayal was spot on! They DO believe that Pres. Bush was a great president. They DO believe that equality equals destruction. They DO believe that ending abortion will bring revival to America.
I loved the cutaways to Mike Papantonio as a way of balancing the perspective. He self-identified as a Christian, serving as a beacon of light for the loving, thinking, true representation of Christianity. We’re not a homogenous group. Many of us live and believe in the God of expansive love. Unfortunately, that’s far less salacious than the “Save the Babies”/”Kill the Fags” nut-jobs to whom the media constantly passes the mic.
Tory Binger’s FB profile. Mostly private but you can see her pic.
I don’t know how much time you spent poking around Becky Fisher’s KidsInMinistry.com site, but if you haven’t seen them already, to get a better idea of where she’s at you should really look at some of her videos she has posted on the site. Specifically, the videos where she has others who have entered her fold (folds?) are particularly interesting. One is of her and some woman who acts totally wired sitting in what looks like a Denny’s restaurant, and they are both engaging in more of the same talk about recruiting small children to be soldiers etc. They are both very hyper, and the other woman gestures wildly and keeps making these “whoosh” sounds…She looks like a stripper that Becky met in a dive bar and brought back to her motel room for company.
Another video has a former small town alcoholic tramp discussing how Becky Fisher saved her during a tent revival or something like that. This woman can actually be seen briefly in Jesus Camp, sitting at a table with a group of kids in the cafeteria scene.
There are also some other videos of Becky Fisher alone, in which she discusses how she’s keeping up with everything and it’s business as usual etc. Unfortunately for Becky, these videos look like they are filmed in some random parking lot, and she looks like she’s been livin’ on the streets.
Obviously I have chosen to find humor in these videos, the reason being that Becky and her ilk really do upset me deeply. By “ilk” I do not mean Christians—TRUE Christians—I mean those folks out there who claim to be Christians yet carry out business such as that which Becky Fisher is doing. These people have an agenda that is not very Christian at all, and are dangerous.
It looks like Tory didn’t join Facebook until 2011, after this post. Also, the link for Levi has changed … don’t know why. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003295510023&sk=wall
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Here’s the thing, we all as humans have unsatisfied needs for more. More of what??? We don’t know so we live life satisfying that need with material things that don’t hold to our satisfactions long. Yes for the some time we are “satisfied,” or we tell ourselves we are and go buy more things, make more friends, or whatever it is to keep us from being/understanding we are unsatisfied. We all will come to a self awareness halt one day and ask ourselves; “Why am I not satisfied?, Why am I here, and What am I suppose to do?” These are the make it or break it questions in a faith sense. It’s either you believe in God or you break off and believe nothing/ “a higher power” (just as long as God isn’t the in the full picture). It’s sad that people have bad experiences with “Christians” converting someone’s mind into believing God which can cause one to misunderstand truths to God. Please have an open heart and understand God isn’t the cause of your bad experience. Man is the cause. Do not mistake man’s inability to teach God’s goodness and grace to be the liability to your belief in God or why God should be at fault. If you are still doubting God or believing in God, I challenge you to think this over without being biased.
What kind of being tell’s you to Love others, be patient, care for one another, forgive others, share, be truthful, don’t hurt others period? In all asking for you to be pure. What kind of being dies for not just one or two people, but for the world?
Imagine the love in that person to have laid down His life for the entire world…?
Didn’t your parents and your grandparents all learn these things. Did you know that these morals came directly from the Bible, from the mouth of Jesus? Doesn’t lying, cheating, and stealing kick in the gear to pain & unsatisfactory? If your understand what I am talking about please don’t be defensive I’m just asking for a re-evaluation of God. Have you ever really seek with all your heart, mind, and soul for God through the Bible? Or a quick prayer?
I challenge you to seek for God unbiased through the Bible and prayer for the first time and see if He’s the God you thought he would be. (New Living Translation) Start in Matthew.
“Jesus Camp” does a really good job of showing how you have to indoctrinate the believers while they are young … or they may not grow up to believe.
It does beg the question, Would people believe in the doctrine once they reach adulthood and beyond?
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I just watched that movie for the first time. It’s so sad, because Levi seemed like such a smart kid with a good heart. It’s too bad he got brainwashed…
I’m really curious to know what happened to the blond kid with the bowl cut who was questioning the existence of God. I bet he’s an atheist now.