Atheist Summer Camp?

[SubGod22]

Britain Opening First Atheist Summer Camp for Children

[RoyalShock]

If one wants to teach his children to think and not be indoctrinated, one should keep his kids away from Richard Dawkins.

It would be humorous if there weren't real people, especially kids, being taught to hate and ridicule others, which is what Dawkins does best.

[shocky]

I would say that most people send their children to summer bible camp to get even more indoctrinated. Their purpose? Is so their children will think even less than they do already. Remember, you have got to nip that thinking in the bud before they start to question the dogma of the faith. Be real, that's what religion is all about. Indoctrination.
Richard Dawkins simply challenges people to think and use reason and not be sheep. Dawkins does not teach hate at all. Most people that don't like him are fundamentalist in my experience. Terrified to question their own beliefs. Even when those beliefs have been proven wrong like so many of the Bible stories have. They still hold in contempt all those who dare to question their myths. He also has confronted the lie of unintelligent design and creationism as some kind of science. Which it is not!
It is honestly sad to read your comments that has such distain for someone who rejects a belief in God based on a lack of evidence, to which there is none whatsoever. You can believe what you wish, but a person of faith calling a kids camp of atheist indoctrination is like the pot calling the kettle black don't you think. :lol:

[SB Shock]

I would say that most people send their children to summer bible camp to get even more indoctrinated.

Sorry that you hate God so much. It must suck to have no hope or joy in your life.

The Christian summer camps I have seen or been involved in spend a large amount of time doing adventure type, team activities with a lot of water involved during the day.

Sandwich in between is a quiet time in the morning to spend time in God's word and in prayer. Then in a evening there will be a guest speaker with a chance to participate in worship to thank God.

[SpanglerFan316]

I attended a bunch of Christian summer camps as a kid; it was a lot of fun. The religious message is not that important to most kids and I doubt that an "athiest" message would have much success either.

As for "Who is right?" (i.e. athesists, Lutheran, Catholic, Morman, Methodist, Baptist, Hindi, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Reformed, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Anabaptist, Brethren, Pentecostal, Quakers, Seventh Day Adventist, Unitarian, Judaism, New Age, Bahá'í, Islam, Rastafari, Buddhism, Jainism, Shinto, Taoism, Flying Spaghetti Monster, Invisible Pink Unicorn, etc.), "faith" is simply faith; there is no evidence for or against any particular belief system. You can't "prove" that God doesn't exist and you can't prove God does exist.

The real issue is coercion. If you have the power, you can dictate to others what they should "believe." Behind killing Dr. Tiller is coercion. Behind killing girls in Iran is coercion. It's really not about "religion;" it's about power.

[shocky]

SB, your response is typical of fundamentalist. You know nothing about me and my beliefs other than one thread on a sports message board. You assume I hate God, have no joy and that my life sucks. Wow, maybe you can read minds and truly know the the mind of God himself. You must with such powers.
I was pointing out that I disagree with the attack on Richard Dawkins and why I believe it to be in error. That's it. End of story. You can believe what you want and state it on this message board as a fact if you want. But, in reality doesn't your shameless attack on me simply show how empty your own position is? Your point about summer Bible camps would have been fine on it own merits even if we disagree. That is until you make a bunch of baseless assumptions about who I am, what I believe and what I hate and so on. I wouldn't be surprise if you do the same thing when it comes to God!

[wu_shizzle]

...That is until you make a bunch of baseless assumptions about who I am, what I believe and what I hate and so on.

I wouldn't call your previous post vague; I think most people could make fairly accurate assumptions about you based on it alone.

[WuDrWu]

You can't "prove" that God doesn't exist and you can't prove God does exist.

What a sad, sad statement. "Progressive" thought process like this is what leads people down the wrong path.

Faith has never existed for you to prove. The arrogance of some that think things have to be proven to them has put us where we are today in so many ways.


Sad. :cry:

[SpanglerFan316]

You can't "prove" that God doesn't exist and you can't prove God does exist.

What a sad, sad statement. "Progressive" thought process like this is what leads people down the wrong path.

Faith has never existed for you to prove. The arrogance of some that think things have to be proven to them has put us where we are today in so many ways.


Sad. :cry:

A believer in Islam could say the exact same thing. As could a believer in any other belief system. Are they all correct?

[jocoshock]

"I'm very keen on not indoctrinating them with religion or creeds," he said earlier this month. "I would rather equip them with the tools to learn how to think, not what to think."

I'm not sure age 11 or 12 is the correct age to try and teach kids about critical thinking, creeds, no creeds or anything that complex. I can identify with the parents desire to not have their children indoctrinated in a particular creed, but on the surface it would seem that an atheist camp could have the same affect. Critical thinking is in short supply in our world right now, but you don't teach it in a summer camp. It's an ongoing process and no one can do it better than the parents (provided they possess the skill themselves). And that is not a given in today's world....

[shocky]

joco, I agree that at such a young age the point of the camp could be lost on some considering the complexity of the subject matter. Your point is well taken that a camp is not the place for such things and the lack of understanding could have a reverse effect. But in my opinion, most kids at that age can grasp the general idea of what is being presented. I agree that the parents, with the addition of a good educational environment, are really going to be the most influence on how well these kids develop critical thinking skills.
Remember that kids are sponges and are capable of understanding a great deal of information. This camp is just a small tool to help them gain a better understanding of that information that is thrown at them on a daily basis. Hopefully this camp will help them learn, grow and to sort through it all in their young minds. It will have to be tried to see how well it works with this age group. Dawkins may need to raise the age of the campers, but I think the idea is sound. We will see.

[shocky]

Spangler, If you aren't on their path, whatever that may be, your on the wrong path. Maybe the path is one of the many religions that you listed. All the major religions say that they speak for the One true God and everyone else is either wrong or mislead. And when you ask why that is, your called arrogant or worse for simply asking the question. It's an attempt to shut you up and make you feel bad for questioning the very things we should be questioning. They just want you to just stop asking and blindly believe as they do, how they do.
We can only really trust those who can admit that we just don't know for sure. That we can't know because there is no proof. That God maybe beyond anything we can ever hope to understand if he is even really there at all. So believe in whatever you want if it makes you feel better about things. But I for one will never condemn those who require proof for God or more importantly, dogma. Out!

[SpanglerFan316]

shocky: I haven't even asked them what is it in which they believe. Can they define "God"? Do they know what they are talking about?

[shocklight]

Spangler, If you aren't on their path, whatever that may be, your on the wrong path. Maybe the path is one of the many religions that you listed. All the major religions say that they speak for the One true God and everyone else is either wrong or mislead. And when you ask why that is, your called arrogant or worse for simply asking the question. It's an attempt to shut you up and make you feel bad for questioning the very things we should be questioning. They just want you to just stop asking and blindly believe as they do, how they do.
We can only really trust those who can admit that we just don't know for sure. That we can't know because there is no proof. That God maybe beyond anything we can ever hope to understand if he is even really there at all. So believe in whatever you want if it makes you feel better about things. But I for one will never condemn those who require proof for God or more importantly, dogma. Out!

Shocky, I know this quote was not addressed to me, but since it's on here for me to read, I thought it would be fair for me kick my two cents worth in.

First, you have the right to believe what ever you want and I will not be your judge.

You state that there is no proof of God. This is where I disagree with you. There has been numerous accounts of people speaking with God throughout time. Many miracles have been document and many stories have been written. One would have to say, because you don't believe doesn't make these stories untrue.

Now as far as religion is concerned, religion is man made. There are many stories to show fault in religion over thousands of years. All these are mans mistakes.

God is love, I know there is love in the world. I also know there is evil in the world, which is a lack of God.

What proof do you have that God does not exist?

[Maggie]

I am no fan of Richard Dawkins and I certainly would not send my kids, if I had any, to his summer camp.

For what it's worth, I've always considered that atheism is, in essence, a religion. Atheism is, ultimately, a matter of faith: the non-existence of God, like the existence of God, cannot be proved rationally, however hard mankind may try. Atheism isn’t a more “rational” worldview than religious belief.

Atheists prefer to pit religion against science (a hopeless enterprise) and to make religion look like the culprit for all the world’s ills (another impossible task). While some fundamentalist Christians may oppose science, this has never been the position of orthodox Christianity or even other mainstream religions. If any hostility exists, it comes not from believers, but from atheist scientists who feel challenged by religious belief. As for the world’s problems, I would contend that as much or more damage has been done by militarist atheist societies than by Christianity or even by religion in general.

In the end, both atheism and religious belief are choices; in other words, they involve the will and not just the intellect. As previously noted, no empirical proof will definitively prove or disprove God’s existence. We all must consider the testimony at our disposal and make a personal choice about the nature of the universe and the meaning of human existence.