Summer Camp a Piece of Heaven for the Children, but Please, No Worshiping

[earthboundmisfit]

This is very refreshing to see - I must say I didn't realize till recently that most summer camps ARE religion-based...

NYT:Summer Camp That's a Piece of Heaven for the Children, but Please, No Worshiping
By SUSAN HANSEN Published: June 29, 2005
~snip~
Providing a haven for the children of nonbelievers is what Camp Quest is all about. As the camp's official T-shirt announces, it's a place that's "beyond belief." More precisely, it claims to be the first summer sleep-away camp in the country for atheist, agnostic and secular humanist children.

Nearly two million American adults openly identify themselves as atheist or agnostic, according to a 2001 survey by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. As a group, they face more than their share of bigotry, said Edwin F. Kagin, Camp Quest's longtime director, and their children are often made to feel like outcasts.

Many of the two dozen campers who attended this year's session last week recounted experiences of being called names and otherwise harassed. For instance, Travis Leepers, 17, from Louisiana, reported that just about everyone he knows has expressed concern to him about his soul and has tried to convert him.

~snip~

Sounds like a wonderful place!:)


more at link:
www.nytimes.com/2005/06/29/education/29camp.html?ex=1120708800&en=906e34a4b0ed52cb&ei=5070&emc=eta1

[onager]

1. Of all the headlines they coulda used...

Naturally they have to work in a not-so-subtle jab at non-believers with the "Heaven" angle. Without that cutesy-poo angle, the head could have been shorter, and therefore better. Asshats.

Thank you for posting this, though. It's encouraging.

I (barely) remember a problem a few years ago, when the Christers got all outraged and tried to pull the campsite for one of these organizations.