Non-religious camps teach kids about ‘freethinkers’

[ZombieHorde]

ALBANY, N.Y. — When Joe Fox sends his daughters away to summer camp, he’s confident they’ll be surrounded by kids who share his family’s beliefs and values.

Caitlin, 16, and Elizabeth, 10, go to Camp Quest, which in 1996 created a niche getaway for children who are agnostic, atheist, or just not sure what to believe yet.

-snip-

"We really try not to label the kids," she said. "When a kid is eight or 10, asking them to say, ‘I’m an atheist,’ or ’I’m a Catholic’ — at eight or 10 we don’t think that kids are able to make a decision about their world view."

-snip-

Camper Caitlin Fox, 16, said the camp has helped her build confidence.

"Before I attended I used to feel really embarrassed," she said. "I was afraid my friends would reject me if I said I didn’t believe in some higher power."

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Link: http://thechronicleherald.ca/Religion/1059382.html

[Selatius]

1. I was fearing the worst when I read your headline.

I feared it was one of those Christian camps that taught that freethinkers are bad and should be avoided, but this is a welcome change from Jesus Camp.

[Mind_your_head]

2. Very cool!

K & R for "free thinkers"

[Diane R]

3. Wonderful. My son once had a pretty horrific experience in brainwashing at a religious camp.

[Donnachaidh]

4. what a breath of fresh air!

Reading the article gives hope to those of us trying to raise kids without the crutch of religion to muddy their thoughts. It's great hope to see these sort of camps flourishing. It wasn't surprising to read that 53% of religious students polled had negative attitudes towards others who didn't have religious beliefs. We've known for a long time that bigotry and hatred is taught right along with the ten commandments.

Thank you for posting this!

[glowing]

5. I went to a church camp once with my youth group... It was awesome fun.

Less on the religious side; more on the fun side.. We had a bit of bible reading studies.. but sunday church was awesome.. we jumped on the seats and clapped really loud.

The best part of that experience was that our group was paired in a bunk house with a group from a really poor section of Chicago. The group was all black. (we were all from VT and all white--camp was in NY off of some lake in the boonies). (we were all around the ages of 13-16 boys and girls).

Anyway, it was eyeopening and a unique experience to be living with these young women for 2 weeks. It was during that time that I veered away from my church (which I thought was becoming wayyyy too judgmental and hypocritical) and realized the truth in the Golden Rule and Loving Thy Neighbor..

So, good things can come from certain "religious camps".. it just depends on the style and the idea of opening your heart.

[HamdenRice]

7. I had very similar experiences as a kid at Bible camp

It wasn't called "Bible Camp" of course, but in retrospect, I realize that's what it was.

It was during the civil rights movement of the 1960s and my neighborhood was going through a very traumatic busing program. As an African American child I was bussed to a white neighborhood where some members of the community were very, very hostile. It was therefore very important that some white people were very welcoming, and showed that they supported the civil rights movement. Most of the white people showing that support did so through religious communities -- most notably the local Reformed Jewish temple and the German Lutheran Church (there were a lot of German immigrants).

Anyway, I started going away to a non-denominational religious camp that was also making a very serious effort to overcome racial divisions by getting kids of all races together for a summer of fun (and a bit too much religious instruction) in rural Pennsylvania. At a time of great racial bitterness, it was a very important corrective for me and had a great impact on my developing ideas about race relations and racial reconciliation.

Only recently, thanks to the "internets," have I learned about who those people were -- the "ministry of World Impact" which was founded in the mid 1960s and dedicated to an "inner city" ministry. That was back in the days when "evangelical" could also mean "left wing". It's amazing to me the way the right wing completely took over the evangelical movement from the late 1970s onward.

[ZombieHorde]

10. "we jumped on the seats and clapped really loud"

That sounds better for kids than most church experiences that I am familiar with. Usually kids are supposed to sit and be quite.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. I've met the Kagens, a husband and wife team who run Camp Quest.

They're very nice and they're dedicated to the kids 150 percent. The camp focuses a lot on the arts, such as theatre, graphic art, philosophy, and critical thinking skills. Links for more information are below.

http://camp-quest.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Quest

[trotsky]

8. This is a great thing for children from non-religious families.

I know my own kids have gotten more than their share of derogatory comments because we don't go to church, and my son feels really left out because he can't join the boy scouts with his best friend.

[uberllama42]

9. No, no, no! They're doing it wrong!

You're not supposed to teach kids to think for themselves. You're supposed to teach them to hate religious people and stifle their freedom of expression.

How can we be fundamentalists if we don't stick to our dogma?