A former Professor of Oxford University is funding a summer camp intended to change the minds of children who believe in God or who have not yet made up their minds.
Richard Dawkins, the author of controversial book The God Delusion and a militant atheist, is helping to launch Britain’s first Atheist summer retreat for children aged eight to 17 in Somerset by subsidizing the retreat. The camp is planned to last for 5 days. It is reported that the children will have lessons in evolution and sing along to John Lennon’s Imagine. The motto of the camp is ‘It’s beyond belief’ and the intention is to arm children in the ways of rational scepticism. All 24 places at the camp, which runs from July 27-31, have been taken.
The Times reports that there will be sessions in moral philosophy and evolutionary biology along with more conventional pursuits such as trekking, tug-of-war, canoeing and swimming. There will also be a £10 prize for the child who can disprove the existence of the mythical unicorn and phenomena such as crop circles and telepathy. The £10 banknote will feature an image of Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary theory, and be signed by Dawkins. Instead of singing Kumbiya and other campfire favourites, they will sit around the embers belting out 'Imagine there’s no heaven . . . and no religion too'.
(See http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6591236.ece)
Dawkins says that the camp is designed to ‘encourage children to think for themselves, sceptically and rationally’. The emphasis on rational thinking will be epitomised by a test called the Invisible Unicorn Challenge. Children will be told by camp leaders that the area around their tents is inhabited by two unicorns. The activities of these creatures, of which there will be no physical evidence, will be regularly discussed by organisers, yet the children will be asked to prove that the unicorns do not exist. There will also be philosophical and scientific discussion for children who will be taught about evolution and that ethical behaviour is not dependent on religious belief and doctrines.
The event has been set up by Samantha Stein, a postgraduate psychology student from London. Ms Stein said: 'It is not about changing what they think, but the way that they think. There is very little that attacks religion, we are not a rival to religious camps. We exist as a secular alternative open to children from parents of all faiths and none.'
The theme of the camp is evolution, to coincide with the Darwin 200th anniversary celebrations this year.
Daily Telegraph
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/8123263.stm
The Times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6591231.ece