teen mania

this is a documentary, done by msnbc, about teen mania ministry.  now, i don't have any experience with teen mania and their honor camp, but when i was doing youth work i did help promote the local acquire the fire event rallys and attended at least one of their sales pitch event for pastors, to help sell them on the atf events.  the doc is 44 minutes, so you may want to watch it in sections, or break off some time to check it out.



to be honest, as i watch this doc, it frightens me.  it frightens me that i could have possibly sent a kid to this crap.  thankfully, i didn't.  this stuff that has nothing to do with Christianity, the love of Jesus, or living out the will of God.  it also really pisses me off how easily people get hooked in.  well intentioned, good Xian people being tricked into a dangerous situation.

now, i wouldn't necessarily say the atf events are a bad thing in themselves. i think you can experience God's presence at something like this.  i also think they can be very manipulative.  and the honor academy and their boot camp mentality seems very unbiblical to me.  seriously, what is that, navy seal training? how does that help you grow closer to God?

"the honor academy is not for everyone." - ron luce.  you know what, it's not for anyone.  it is a cult situation masked in Christianity.  luce's defense disgusts me because it's not an answer.  it's a spiritualized response that masks what is going on.  it blames those being abused for not being spiritual enough, or as Christlike as they should be.  the reality is that not everyone swallows the lie, and that sort of answer avoids what needs to be addressed.