Richard Dawkins atheist summer camp for children has been launched in Somerset to offer an alternative to religious camps for youngsters
Telegraph
Atheist summer camp launched in Somerset
Camp Quest UK, which is being held near Bath, offers 24 places.
Its website claims the camp is for the children of ‘atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers and all those who embrace a naturalistic rather than supernatural world view.’
There are currently six branches of Camp Quest operating in North America.
Organisers said the purpose of the camp was to encourage critical thinking and provide children with a summer camp “free of religious dogma”.
The camp, supported by scientist Richard Dawkins, plans to expand after receiving hundreds of inquiries. The event has been set up by Samantha Stein, a postgraduate psychology student from London.
“It is not about changing what they think, but the way that they think,” she said. “There is very little that attacks religion, we are not a rival to religious camps. We exist as a secular alternative open to children from parents of all faiths and none.
“We aim to provide summer camping holidays and trips that focus on our children’s needs – physical and mental activity, and a lot of fun.
“Our enthusiastic and knowledgeable counsellors will lead the children on a variety of activities which could concern anything from critical thinking and logical fallacies, to the scientific method and pseudoscience, philosophy, ethics, famous freethinkers and world religions.”
Organisers said children were not “required to be atheists” but the camp will “encourage children to think for themselves and to evaluate the world critically”.
Miss Stein said: “At Camp Quest, children aren’t taught that ‘There is no God’. Instead, they are taught to come to their own conclusions, but more importantly, that ‘It’s OK not to believe in a god’.
“We believe that the positive influence of Camp Quest UK will help to develop children into happy, healthy and respectful adults.”
July 29th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
It’s great that Camp Quest is teaching youth to critically examine the world around them and to think creatively and independently. I do hope that a camp that is offered as an alternative to religious camps it is teaching acceptance, understanding and respect for those who are religious.