media journal entry #3

Without a tape deck or CD player in my car I am often listening to the radio. Next to the Internet, this is my biggest source of mass media daily. Lately I have been frustrated, saddened and over all confused as to the commercials streaming most frequently. There is no doubt we are suffering an economic crisis, however every other commercial these days has the facade of a rescue scheme however seems to go right along with our reasons for deficit. I can't count the number of commercials advertising quick-fix tax refunds and complete removal of credit. U.S. society runs on short-sighted, short-term rewards and the streamed remedies are seemingly only perpetuating this mentality. The commercials and fright remind me of how easily manipulable the human brain may be and our tendency to settle for cop outs. Cop outs similar to those advertised over the radio where the real beneficiaries are the companies putting out the ads.

I watched a documentary tonight entitled Jesus Camp. The film revolves around an Evangelical Christian minister who spends her life preaching to children and running a Jesus camp called Kids on Fire. The children interviewed gave testimonies in regard to how they were saved from their previous lives of sin, the oldest interviewed aged eleven. The children are not only completely transfixed and mesmerized by the minister but actually proceed to independently spread "God's word". The documentary depicts startling statistics such as 75% of home schooled kids are Evangelical as well as 25% of the U.S. population. Other interviews had practicing Christians discussing how Evangelicals have the power to sway the vote and unite the nation "under one God". The documentary also depicts children and parents believing adamantly in creationism, and showing frustration in the instruction of evolution in schools. Parents and children are also shown at school (at home) discussing the petty nature of global warming and how it "isn't really even that big of a deal" says the main child in the documentary. The film repeatedly presents families shrugging off science and declaring how science removes Jesus' meaning from life, thus promoting intelligent design.

I can compare my experience with radio commercials and human tendencies to fall for commercial rescues with the lives depicted in Jesus Camp. I find those prepared to let another credit company take care of their bad credit and those who disregard found truths in exchange for scripture are manifestations of manipulated minds. As disrespectful as it may sound, I feel like I witnessed the realities of two cults today, one I experience on a daily basis: the credit cult, and one that has the potential to undermine our democracy: the cult called Christianity. I find it so sad that a minister would devote her life to indoctrinating the minds of children, in a way removing the free will so widely acknowledged by their savior Jesus.