Atheist Summer Camp Is Heaven on Earth for Nonbelievers

[rug]

Most summer camps host kayaking, arts and crafts classes and campfires, but what makes Camp Quest Northwest different is that it is literally "beyond belief."

Located just north of Seattle, Camp Quest Northwest is a summer camp for atheists or children of atheists, self-described "freethinkers" or people not otherwise traditionally religious.

"We would encourage them to read, to go to church," said Chuck Wolber, one of Camp Quest Northwest's founders. "The best way to become an atheist is to study the Bible, and I definitely recommend the kids do that."

The secular sleepaway camp rents the area from another camp, and camp counselors used masking tape to cover any signs with religious or deity words on them, such as "Lord," "God," or "Gaia," and replaced those words with fantasy-like words, such as "Flying Spaghetti Monster," which they use to emphasize the imaginary nature of God.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/atheist-summer-camp-heaven-earth-nonbelievers/story?id=17067039

Video at link.

[Ian David]

1. We almost sent my daughter to one of those this year, but there was a schedule conflict. n/t

[rug]

2. It's an interesting contrast to religious camps, or even private camps.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. I've met the couple who originated and run Camp Quest.

Both are very intelligent and very nice. I'd love to work there.

[rug]

4. I wonder what gave them the spark to start it.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. They were frustrated with the lack of camps to send their own kids.

Either frivolous arts-and-crafts or Bible-based.

Look at their website: http://www.campquest.org/

[rug]

6. It started in Kentucky, of all places.

Looks like it's having steady, careful growth.

[sharp_stick]

7. I would have loved something like that

when I was a kid. I was always sent to a jeebus camp because that's all that there was around. My parents never pushed me into it and Dad told me to just ignore the religious bullshit.

We only had chapel for about 1/2 hour a day but there was a grace before every meal and people yammering about how they were saved from horrible horrible hellfire at every campfire evening.

I remember once we had a counselor tell us how he led a burning of ABBA records. i don't know what ABBA did that sent him into a religious tizzy, I think it had something to do with pyramids on one of their album covers. I just remember thinking.. dude you're pretty fucked up.

If it wasn't for the swimming, archery and other activities I would have gone nuts. When I turned 12 I told my parents I was done, not going back.

[cbayer]

8. Sounds great except for the part where they feel the need to mock others.

Would it be ok to go to, say, a Jewish camp where *the godless* were mocked?

I know that there are those that get very upset when atheism is compared to a religion, but it's sure hard not to see this as just that, particularly with the emphasis on *spirituality*.

[eqfan592]

9. Belief vs believer.

FSM is mocking a belief, not believers. So the equivalent would not be a Jewish camp mocking "the godless" but a Jewish camp mocking the idea that there is no god (something that occurred regularly when I was attending a Lutheran school, actually).

EDIT: Also, the only place I saw spirituality mentioned was in somebody who appeared to be arguing that the camp was harmful to children due to a lack of focus on the supernatural. Lets just say I lost a little respect for Columbia University's psychology department after reading that bit.

[cleanhippie]

11. That lady was on a show called "psychic kids" or something.

She has as much credibility as a creationist.


There is no mocking of believers at these camps at all. In fact, staff are specifically trained to keep the focus on science, critical thinking, skepticism, and tolerance. Many of these kids come from families with parents and grandparents who are believers. The LAST thing this organization wants o is trying to do is alienate people.

Its the ignorant among us that see everything that promotes non-belief or skepticism of religious belief as "mockery.".

[eqfan592]

13. I think cbayer views the FSM as a form of mockery...

...at least, that's what I figured she was referring to when she mentioned mockery. But I have no doubt you're correct.

[cbayer]

12. I went to church based camps all during my childhood and we never mocked

those that had different beliefs of those who might have no beliefs.

With kids the distinction between the beliefs and the believer is not that easy to make. If you tell them that FSM is really funny, they are very likely to take that directly to making fun of other people.

That's most unfortunate, imo.

The part on spirituality was confusing, but I think you are right about why it is in there.

[eqfan592]

14. I never said that my school mocked those with no belief.

But regularly I'd hear a pastor or teacher, after talking about god, talk about how they couldn't understand people who didn't believe, or how such a thing was just unnatural to them. Maybe that was just my personal experience, but I've heard believers regularly talk about how "empty" a non-believers life must be, and how foolish they are for not taking *insert god of choice here* into their hearts. Makes me chuckle now to be honest. lol

But all of that aside, I have a feeling that the FSM was far from a primary focus of the camp.

[cbayer]

15. This has made me think.

I have often said that what my family taught me was this -

We will not tell you what to believe, but it is important that you believe in something.

My take away from that was that it was important to develop an ethic, a morality or a set of guiding principles for your life. While I think there was some clear preference as to what form that might take, I was never told I had to have a certain set of beliefs or that there was *one way*.

Even though I was raised in the church (you probably know that my father is a minister), I was consistently given the message that others who were affiliated with different kinds of religious groups or not affiliated at all were in no way of less value or less deserving of respect, love and understanding. I never, ever heard the *empty* description.

[cleanhippie]

10. Just goes to show how uninformed you really are.

How about volunteering at one of the camps for a week, and see for yourself jut how much mocking of believers there is.

[onager]

16. Colbert's take on it...

I'm talking about Camp Quest, a network of summer camps dedicated to sunny day fun from a strict atheist and agnostic perspective. As their catch phrase says, "It's beyond belief!"

Though Camp Quest provides regular camp activities like hiking and horseback riding, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, children also "learn about the canons of rational thought, critical thinking and scientific inquiry." And in one activity, "[Campers] must try to prove that invisible unicorns, as a metaphor for God, don’t exist."

The campers are also given other untenable philosophical challenges, like proving tetherball is fun.

Well, Camp Quest, here's another activity. How about canoeing on a lake of hellfire for all eternity!