Non-religious camps teach kids about ‘freethinkers’

[Tom_Joad]

If I had kids, this would be the camp I'd send them to:

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...

Camp Quest is a not-for-profit backed by the N.Y.-based Institute for Humanist Studies, a think-tank supporting the non-religious humanist philosophy, which emphasizes science, evolution, compassion and critical thinking.

Full article here

[eljay]

It's refreshing to read about a place that encourages children to work with facts and to think for themselves instead of submitting to indoctrination.

[Luis_A51]

Sounds like a great place. I hope there are places like that around here when I have kids.

[runnin']

This sounds like a knee jerk response camp rather than anything else. What's wrong with a camp that has absolutely NO agenda save giving the kids a good time?

[eljay]

Originally Posted by runnin'

This sounds like a knee jerk response camp rather than anything else.

As far as knee-jerk responses go, a camp that "emphasizes science, evolution, compassion and critical thinking" is a damned fine one.

What's wrong with a camp that has absolutely NO agenda save giving the kids a good time?

Absolutely nothing. How odd, then, that Jesus camps exist at all...

[hugh]

I don't need to send my kids to a camp to encourage critical thinking, however, I think its an interesting offering.

[Tom_Joad]

I think it's beneficial for kids to see that there are others who share similar values. It can get very uncomfortable when they are facing pressures from friends, school, and community life in general to subscribe to the same notions as everyone else. At a time when the urge to belong is extremely powerful, this can put a lot of stress on kids.

Hearing it at home is one thing, but being exposed to an environment filled with others of the same mindset is very reassuring and a confidence-builder. They can see that they are also "normal" and that their opinions and values are just as valid as those with differing outlooks.

I think the camps are great primers and I almost wish I had kids to send...almost.

[runnin']

But kids also need to develop critical thinking and awareness that isn't honed in an atmosphere that only supports one philosophy over others as this camp encourages. This is no different than a bible camp in that regard. Or 3 hrs of TV a day.

BTW school and community life in Canada are certainly not religious where only around 33% of the population goes to any church. So sharing similar values with 66% of the population shouldn't expose a need to isolate kids from the 33% religious. I'm not sure what there is to be afraid of.

Camp should be for fun, not indocrination of any kind.

Edit: whoops, I just noticed my numbers were off on church attendance, which I corrected.

[eljay]

Originally Posted by runnin'

But kids also need to develop critical thinking and awareness that isn't honed in an atmosphere that only supports one philosophy over others as this camp encourages. This is no different than a bible camp in that regard.

Faith requires the suspension of critical thinking, not its development, refinement and application. The two types of camps cannot, therefore, be the same.

At the end of the day, no matter how much a Bible camp attendee examines the information regarding Satan as a talking snake or Methuselah living to be 900 years old or Jesus walking on water and resurrecting from the dead, the only way he can resolve the incongruities between religion and reality is to abandon critical thinking and embrace "faith".

Camp should be for fun, not indocrination of any kind.

I agree. And since teaching children to use reason and critical thinking to understand the world around them is the antithesis of indoctrination, the camp in question is the perfect place to send kiddies!

[vancouverisland]

Instead of calling it freethinking, why don't they call it the "agnostic to atheist" camp?

I went to "Pentecostal" summer camps as a child. Although I am still a Christian, it is very unlikely I would send our child to one. Annually relinquishing control and influence of our child for a week at a time for the sole purpose of having people who consider themselves authorities on all things religious indoctrinate him, while showing him some fun activities is not going to happen. Heaven forbid he shows some disagreement with these folks, they would spend hours trying to "break him".

Frankly I consider the camps I went to as a child as borderline brain washing, complete with frenzied activities, lousy food (almost food deprivation it was so horrible), peer pressures, emotional discussions, and lack of sleep. Along with several hours of preaching every day. By the end of the week, us rebellious ones would break down and start behaving ourselves. Often we would only behave ourselves starting on the last night...but hey, job done.

There was a lot of fun involved, and I made friendships that have lasted for decades, so it wasn't all bad. But these same friendships can be made at "secular" camps...

If my son is going to a "Bible Camp" we will all go as a family, and preferably to one that has a nightly cocktail hour for the adults...

Do these exist?

All that being said, I hope all kids have fun at summer camps, whether religious or anti-religious.

[eljay]

All that being said, I hope all kids have fun at summer camps, whether religious or anti-religious.

Amen.

[que3jxp]

And since teaching children to use reason and critical thinking to understand the world around them is the antithesis of indoctrination

Not that I entirely disagree with this but I do hope you see the reality of "One Man's Patriot..." cutting into this. What you stated is philosophically nothing but your opinion, albeit shared by a lot of people.

Otherwise, I agree that there is more of a "Me too" scent to this camp being started. There are MANY non-religious camps out there that do not go out of their way to draw affiliation with either side. To publicize this camp in the way that it is by its very nature makes it a "religious" camp and those that are going there ARE being indoctrinated. And in all actuality, it will end up teaching people to look down on those that find comfort in spirituality. Yet another form of eliteism or discrimination.

And for the record, the philosophical standard states that we are ALL indoctrinated in one fashion or another. So does the litteral standard as all learning is indoctrination.

[Mole]

However critical thinking will decrease the probability of you ever drinking the cool aid when a charlatan tells you it is time to do so.


This is skill that yo will not get at other camps. teaching you kids to not be a rube is not indoctrination it is fraud proofing.

[eljay]

Originally Posted by que3jxp

Not that I entirely disagree with this but I do hope you see the reality of "One Man's Patriot..." cutting into this. What you stated is philosophically nothing but your opinion, albeit shared by a lot of people.

If you're suggesting that the notion of teaching children to use reason in the pursuit of knowledge is nothing more than another form of indoctrination similar to teaching them to cast aside all reason and accept unquestioningly the most unbelieveable of assertions, and that by supporting reason I am merely favouring one form of indoctrination over another, I see your point.

Obviously - and politely, of course - I disagree.

Indoctrination: to imbue with a usually partisan or sectarian opinion

Reason / rational thought is not a partisan or sectarian opinion.

[HT gearhead]

Atheism is as much an indoctrination as religion, just a different form of faith. Faith in scientific theories, proven and unproven, and a blind acceptance that there is no God because it can't be proven that he doesn't exist. A truly non partisan camp will teach both sides of the issue in a neutral unbiased fashion and not brainwash kids into accepting either side as fact, letting them decide for themselves.

Pursuit of knowledge is always a good thing, spiritual as well as physical. If we believe the universe is only a corporeal physical manifestation then we close our minds to other possibilities. Even Einstein didn't dismiss the possibilities with one dimensional thinking.