You have heard of "Jesus Camp"? How about "Atheist Camp"??

[AsahinaKimi]

Camp offers 'godless alternative'
An atheist summer camp in Somerset is offering children aged seven to 17 a "godless alternative" to religious camps traditionally run by the scouts and church groups.

BBC News:
Some of the 24 children arriving at Camp Quest in Bruton seemed a little young to be tackling the weighty concepts ahead of them.

The summer camp, designed with the children of atheist parents in mind, has a slightly daunting mission statement.

It is "dedicated to improving the human condition through rational inquiry, critical and creative thinking, scientific method… and the separation of religion and government".

Certainly the Murray boys - John, Julius and Leeroy, aged nine, eight and seven respectively - were focusing on the simple pleasures of living under canvas for five days and taking part in traditional activities like climbing, canoeing and rafting.

story continues: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8172844.stm

also here in audio on BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8171000/8171833.stm

[mzteris]

1. not "atheist"camp

but rational thinker camp


"Campers are taught that ethical behaviour is not dependent on religious belief and doctrines, that religious belief and doctrines are sometimes a hindrance to ethical and moral behaviour, and that irreligious persons are also good and fully capable of living a happy and meaningful life."

[ihavenobias]

6. Exactly.

Something tells me that a documentary on this camp would be far less insane and inflammatory than Jesus Camp was.

[kimmylavin]

15. Sorry - just a question.

Are you saying that the documentary was insane and inflammatory?
Or the people in the documentary?

I'm just asking because I actually admired that film for being as even-handed as it was - the insanity came from the subjects, not the filmmakers.

That's all. Thanks for letting me pester. :hi:

[ihavenobias]

16. The right wing Christian fundamentalist nuts were insane.

As was their brainwashing of those poor kids. And I agree, it was a fair movie, although funny enough I heard a right wing Catholic fundamentalist on the radio sometime back arguing that it was biased to make religious people look crazy.

[lapfog_1]

2. Whatever happened to "fun camp" or just "camp"

as we would call it when I was a kid. You go for a few weeks in the summer, you get to hike and paddle boats and swim and play games with other kids, there were camp guides (teens that supervised), there were meals and chores. And the girls camp was on the other side of the lake or down the trail or whatever.

Why does it always have to be "indoctrination camp" now?

[mzteris]

4. because most of them

are peopled by children of religious families and they inject that type irrational thinking into everything they do, up to and including, saying the "blessing" before they eat without even thinking about it.

[Eric J in MN]

5. I went to a Jewish summer camp in the 1980s. NT

NT

[Hello_Kitty]

8. Probably because public schools don't fund them anymore

I don't know how it was elsewhere, but the camps I went to were actually run by the school district. They were just straightforward outdoor ed stuff and crafts, no indoctrination. With public ed budgets being cut to the bone, I imagine people have to turn to churches and organizations with an ideological bent for camp. Also, the Boy Scouts got taken over by religious groups (by the LDS Church big time here in the West) after they lost their federal funds because of their stance on homosexuality.

[Auggie]

3. No one is ever too young for rational inquiry, critical and creative thinking

Right on!

[SharonRB]

7. The husband of one of my friends at work

runs one of these "atheist" camps for a week or two during the summer.

[Walk away]

9. I went to LRY's Homestead. Agnostic camp?

Uber liberal Unitarian group with camps for radical, political teens. Sex, drugs and alternative music!

[Towlie]

10. Florida Atheists and Secular Humanists (FLASH) are doing something similar in Fort Lauderdale.

http://www.freethoughtflorida.com/

[Ian David]

11. My daughter is going to one next summer.

I just wish they had one for adults, too.

[Walk away]

12. Well, we can all go up to the lake and visit my Dad.

He's an Atheist with a cabin and four acres upstate. We can roast weenies and and make lanyards, he won't mind.

[Ian David]

13. That sounds cool, too! n/t

[qb]

14. Very cool. Now I wish secular scouting would catch on.