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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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22

Atheist Campers Learn Archery, Swimming, Skepticism

Nonbelievers' kids need fresh air, too

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(Newser) – Atheist parents have it rough: They can't exactly pack the kids off to Bible camp for the summer. That’s changing, thanks in part to establishments like Camp Quest, a humanist-staffed getaway that promotes skepticism. Counselors teach the scientific method and deliver lectures about famous free thinkers. Kids are told invisible unicorns lurk in the woods, and offered a prize for proving they don't exist. The Economist checks it out.

Campers are encouraged to decide for themselves whether a god exists, based on the available evidence. Of course, Bible camp proprietors are appalled. The fundamentalist camp Answers in Genesis decries Camp Quest for giving kids a “hopeless” world view. But humanists say the camp helps kids who belong to a very unpopular minority. In polls, 53% of Americans say they wouldn’t vote for an atheist, suggesting they're less electable than Muslims, Mormons, and gays.

Atheist summer camp is a lot like regular summer camp, only with skepticism.
Atheist summer camp is a lot like regular summer camp, only with skepticism.   (Shutterstock)
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22 comments
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TerrifiedCitizen
Jul 18, 09 12:44 PM CDT
Anyone who has visited Russia long enough to gain a social perspective, comes away with a sense that their youth are lost with absolutely no hope for a better future; one of the reasons for rampant alcoholism and crime. Reply
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-12
IN RESPONSE:
coco-jin
Jul 18, 09 1:10 PM CDT
Oh, good lord.
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0
IN RESPONSE:
lasty58
Jul 18, 09 1:20 PM CDT
Yep, no one can find happiness or success without an imaginary friend.
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+7
IN RESPONSE:
kokuaguy
Jul 18, 09 1:36 PM CDT
How my life might have been different if my parents had been enlightened enough to send me to such a place-- rather than to "Vacation Church Camp" where I was abused by the sons of fervent bible thumpers!!
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+7
IN RESPONSE:
Sayyiduna
Jul 18, 09 1:45 PM CDT
We need a cultural anthropologist to come in here and prattle on for an hour or two about the myriad of things that affect the happiness of a populace, not just religion or the spread thereof. If anything, Russia is suffering from poor socioeconomic status, not a lack of god.
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+10

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