This year I’ll be returning to Camp Quest in Michigan for a week of fun with a bunch of kids — including my own. This will be my third time in four years, and I am really looking forward to it.
I went to a summer camp which was supposed to be secular, but they prayed en-masse before every meal. This was as close as I could find to truly religion-free, and those silly prayers bothered me much more than they should have. They pointed out that I was different — three times a day.
Now, Camp Quest has 7 active locations, including one in the UK, and that’s STILL not all. The Center For Inquiry is running Camp Inquiry, which is a “friendly competitor” for Camp Quest. Here’s an article and podcast on CI.
Note that neither of these is an atheist version of Jesus Camp. This is all about freedom of thought and the understanding that being an Atheist is not a bad thing — but there is never indoctrination.
Atheist parents are strongly encouraged to sign your kids up for one of these camp experiences. Either way, your kid will come home with skinned knees, a huge smile, and lots of nonreligious friends. Atheist camp is awesome. C U Soon Michigan!
Thanks Dave!
I’ll just add that parents of campers can make new friends, too! Camp Quest is a great place to meet other nonbelievers, young and (less young).
Locations are in the Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee, Ohio, Michigan, Ontario, Minnesota, California, England, and others coming in the near future. Several camps are nearly full this year — parents should act now to reserve a bunk for their camper. . . . .
Interested parents can contact me by email at campquest-mi@comcast.net, and be sure to visit our website at http://michigan.camp-quest.org. Or see the main website at http://camp-quest.org/
See you at camp!
Len Zanger
(director) Camp Quest of Michigan
Of course they are…
I’m excited about Camp Quest UK, and seeing everyone in Michigan as well!
Camp Quest UK only has 10 places remaining… book now before they are gone!
http://www.camp-quest.org.uk/ or contact info@camp-quest.org.uk
I would have loved to be able to go to one of these camps when I was a kid. I don’t think I would have sought it out for myself specifically, but I know now with the memories I have growing up that it would have been much more comfortable for me to go to a camp that didn’t put me in a position where my atheism was made awkwardly public through my lack of participation in meal prayer and the like.
Dave:
Suppose a theist kid shows up at one of these camps and makes it known that he/she is a believer. What do you suppose are the chances that that kid would be treated as a “free thinker?” Would he/she really be welcomed as a kid with “just another point of view,” or would that child be made a pariah and ostracized in the same manner as Carrie Prejean was?
Wow, one of the rare times when JCC actually puts together an argument rather than a snide remark. He said: What do you suppose are the chances that that kid would be treated as a “free thinker?”
Obvious answer, no one would know the difference unless he tries to convert them or lead them in prayer.
He also said: “Would he/she really be welcomed as a kid with “just another point of view,” or would that child be made a pariah and ostracized in the same manner as Carrie Prejean was?”
Another obvious answer, Carrie Prejean is obviously trying to make a career out of being a sex object, horribly botched boob job, revealing photographs, she wants get rich because guys want to fuck her. Yet she pretends to have the old school values. Haggard style hypocrisy. As far as I’m concerned religious mushrooms like you can have the word “marriage”. But, if you want to defend Carrie Prejeans purity, your hypocrisy is showing as well. She’s a transparent pretentious whoar. Good luck with that.
NeoWolfe
Dave said,
“I went to a summer camp which was supposed to be secular, but they prayed en-masse before every meal. This was as close as I could find to truly religion-free, and those silly prayers bothered me much more than they should have. They pointed out that I was different — three times a day.”
(Smile)So you really do know what it’s like being the red headed step-child among a group you might have assumed would accept you. Well, I’m not atheist, but you’re welcome in my circle.
NeoWolfe
My son, now 25, went to Camp quest when there was just one in Ohio. He still has fond memories of it.
I went to Girl Scout camp when I was young. Before meals we sang “Great big globs of greasy grimy … and me without a spoon.” Sorry you had to endure prayers before eating, Dave. ;>)
jcc – First of all, I don’t think a theist would end up at one of these camps.. Secondly, if they did they probably wouldn’t be treated any differently even if they made their views known.(however, they may be treated differently, as stated above, if they tried to impose their views on the other campers).. and lastly, they shouldn’t be treated as a free thinkers because they are not free thinkers…
What makes you so sure about that? How many theists are members of this blog?
What makes you so sure about that? If theists are demonstrably mistreated here by ostensibly adults, I can only imagine how atheist kids would treat a theist kid…
Impose them, or if they’re simply asked what they are? (read Perez Hilton “just asking” Carrie Prejean what her view on same-sex marriage was).
Oh dear, and it seemed like you were genuinely trying to engage in an enlightened discussion…oh well, I guess for an atheist, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad…
What makes you so sure about that? How many theists are members of this blog?
That is a RIDICULOUS correlation. Many of the theists on this blog (not all but seemingly the most vocal ones) are religious adults who get their rocks off by willingly participating on a website with opinions that are diametrically opposed to their own. I personally am going to go out on a limb here and say that less than 1% of kids who go to camp research and book the camp themselves and I don’t know of any parent who would willingly put their kid in a camp where they would specifically be surrounded by kids who all believe something they don’t. The camps Dave (per his post) and I went to were supposed to be secular and weren’t. My parents would have never put me in a church camp because, well, they love me and they wouldn’t ever want to go out of their way to put me in an environment where I didn’t agree with the very thing that the camp revolved around. Your entire post is flawed logic.
Enlighten up JCC… Do you really think that a theist family would send their child to an atheist camp…? I worked at a christian camp for two years and attended “chapel” every morning and sat through grace three times a day, only to find out that most of the group leaders are atheists, most of whom are 18 or younger. I didn’t treat anyone differently and everyone treated me with respect… However, I can say that if i let my views known to the director I would not have been allowed to work there.. but no one ever asked me, so no harm no foul.. The theisst in this blog are here by choice.. you weren’t sent here by your folks.. And if the parents do their homework i’m sure they would figure out that it is a diety free camp… I could care less about prejean.. Religion is only important at the camps where they are a big deal… I would imagine that a religious child would be too caught up in having fun that they likely wouldn’t be thinking “gosh i miss church..”
Are you demonstrably mistreated here? Oh, thought you were here by choice.. I’m not here to offend anyone… I’m open minded.. I have no problem with theists, as long as they keep their oppinions to themselves… Don’t try to tell me I’m going to hell, or any of the other nonsense that goes along with their indoctrinated beliefs…
JCC, children with theistic beliefs have indeed attended both Camp Quest and Camp Inquiry:
Camp Quest allows kids to fit in without being judged for their religion or lack of it, Brunsman says. He recalls the time a boy who had been raised Catholic attended camp at the urging of his grandfather, an atheist. “As far as I know, he was still Catholic at the end of the week,” Brunsman says.
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2007/feb/25/magazine/chi-0702250445feb25
Brothers Austin, 13, and Jordan Fischer, 12, of New York City, said they were raised Catholic and occasionally attend Mass but are encouraged by their parents to think critically about religion, as they would anything else. “People use God as an excuse for things they don’t know,” said Austin, adding that he believes in God “to some extent.”
http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/395157.html
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