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Photo from secularstudents.org
Camp Quest Texas is a secular camp for children ages 5-13 and this will be the first year it is held in Texas. There are other Camp Quests in Tennessee, California, Florida, Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan, Ontario and the UK. A local mom, Amie Parsons, couldn’t find a good camp for her son, so she decided she would start her own Camp Quest. Because this is the first time it will be in Texas, it will only be a one-day camp, whereas this camp usually lasts for several days in other states. If it is a success it will be expanded upon next year.
The event will be held Sunday, August 30th, at Cathy’s Critters in Princeton, Tx. Your child is not required to be an atheist to get involved, however there will be an emphasis placed on scientific and critical thinking over faith. Registration this year is only $25 and further information about Camp Quest Texas can be found on their website, here.
From the About Camp Quest section:
The purpose of Camp Quest is to provide children of freethinking parents a residential summer camp dedicated to improving the human condition through rational inquiry, critical and creative thinking, scientific method, self-respect, ethics, competency, democracy, free speech, and the separation of religion and government guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.
Camp Quest was first held in 1996. The idea for the project originated with Edwin Kagin. From 1996 until 2002 Camp Quest was operated by the Free Inquiry Group, Inc. (FIG) of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Since that time it has been operated by Camp Quest, Inc., an independent 501(c)(3) educational non-profit. Edwin and Helen Kagin served as Camp Directors for the first ten years of the original Camp Quest, retiring at the end of the 2005 camp session. Six Camp Quest summer camps currently offer programs across North America. Camp Quest, Inc. operates the Texas Camp Quest, and works to coordinate with and support the other independently governed Camp Quest programs
Camp Quest is the first residential summer camp in the history of the United States for the children of Atheists, Freethinkers, Humanists, Brights, or whatever other terms might be applied to those who hold to a naturalistic, not supernatural world view.
Amie Parsons on CBS 11
Comments
Pardon, but Camp Quest has two sides: the public relations politically correct side and the reality of its underbelly.
Try a search for "Atheism Essays Particular to Atheism and Child Rearing"--it is one of the Aug 21st posts.
Mariano,
I'm sorry, but I just don't have the time to go through essays right now and try to find what you're talking about. And the one site I looked at, that may have been related, froze up every few seconds. So if you have a point, please say it.
It's sad that American kids need to have a specifically atheist camp, just to not have religious drivel fed to them along with their meals. Here in Canada our Scouts aren't religious, and neither are a lot of our camps.
Dr. Bock is correct that people's minds are made up already. But until that happens, at about age 25, exposing people to different ideas is still possible.
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