6 Great Movies That Criticize Religious Faith

There are a number of documentaries that highlight some horrifying abuses perpetrated by members of the Christian church and its various hierarchies. Those are worth seeing and discussing at great lengths, but they have more to do with the politics and policies of institutions than the faith itself, I find. For my purposes, I’m more keenly interested in movies that talk about aspects fundamental to the believers themselves, that pop up time and time again throughout an array of traditions. One such issue, which is enormously complicated, is the concept of passing on your religious faith to your children.

Jesus Camp tackles the inevitable creepiness of this practice. Having been to my own version of Jesus Camp in my adolescent years, I can attest to the ease with which one can be ingrained with a sense of normalcy in an environment that, to an outsider, is anything but. This documentary is effective thanks to the distance with which it handles its subjects, giving it at least a semblance of objectivity, often letting the leaders and images speak entirely for themselves. The extent to which these children are instructed to be so devoted to the religion of their parents is deeply troubling and I’m so glad this movie exists.

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