Richard Dawkins launches children’s summer camp for atheists
Richard Dawkins launches children’s summer camp for atheists
The evolutionary biologist and author of The God Delusion, who stepped down from his post at Oxford University last year, has subsidised the five-day camp in Somerset.
Camp-goers will be given lessons in rational scepticism, as well as sessions in moral philosophy and evolutionary biology.
There will be more familiar camp activities such as trekking, tug-of-war, canoeing and swimming but children will also be taught to disprove phenomena such as crop circles and telepathy.
The retreat is for children aged eight to 17 and will rival traditional faith-based breaks run by the Scouts and church groups. It will teach that religious belief and doctrines can prevent ethical and moral behaviour.
The camp is part of a campaign, backed by Dawkins and Professor AC Grayling, the philosopher and writer, designed to challenge Christian societies, collective worship and religious education.
Prof Dawkins said it was designed to “encourage children to think for themselves, sceptically and rationally”. All 24 places at the camp, which runs from July 27-31, have been taken.
Crispian Jago, an IT consultant, is hoping the experience will enrich his two children.
“I’m very keen on not indoctrinating them with religion or creeds,” he said. “I would rather equip them with the tools to learn how to think, not what to think.”
The emphasis on critical thinking is 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.
Anyone who manages to prove this will win a £10 note – which features an image of Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary theory – signed by Dawkins, a former professor of the public understanding of science at Oxford University.
“The unicorns are not necessarily a metaphor for God, they are to show kids that you can’t prove a negative,” said Samantha Stein, who is leading next month’s camp at the Mill on the Brue outdoor activity centre close to Bruton, Somerset.
“We are not trying to bash religion, but it encourages people to believe in a lot of things for which there is no evidence.”
A spokesman for the Church of England questioned Dawkins’ decision to stage a summer camp for atheists.
“We would defend the right for anyone to set up an event like this, as long as the young people are happy to attend,” he said.
“But in his imitation of the type of youth events that religious groups have been running for years, Dawkins makes atheism look even more like the thing he is rallying against.”
Jul 28, 2009 @ 15:40:30
Richard Dawkins is certainly of of the most deluded men I have ever heard speak or who’s works I have read! His arguments for evolution are no more credible than fairy stories.
Jul 28, 2009 @ 18:59:31
What books of his have you read?
Jul 28, 2009 @ 21:06:37
Dawkins’ work is some of the most amazing stuff I have ever read. Maybe it helps if you have an open mind to begin with. We cannot all be Rolands, and just bash it because we would rather believe in something with even less merit and evidence than the tooth fairy.
It must be nice to be as blindly and blissfully ignorant as most religions followers are.
Jul 28, 2009 @ 22:16:28
I think it’s cool that he’s setting up a camp to teach these kids how to think critically instead of telling them what to think like they do to the congregations. I highly doubt Roland has read much of anything by Dawkins. This is the problem with religious people. They read the title of the book and the synopsis and then read some of the reviews of other people and suddenly they think they know what the book says and then feel the need to give everyone their so-called expert analysis. His books are filled with well established fact AND very clever incite. I can’t wait for his new book that is coming out this September which I got on pre-order at Amazon.com called The Greatest Show On Earth. If you read one of his previous books The Blind Watchmaker you’ll find out how he came up with the name of his new one. I believe one of his students was the one who gave him the idea. I’m glad we have him around to stand up for Science and Reason and fend off so many anti-science propagandist.
Aug 03, 2009 @ 18:02:35
It sounds like this is more a summer camp for critical thinking than a “summer camp for atheists”, which is good. I agree that the last thing atheists should be doing is acting like christians by indoctrinating people’s kids with gay summer camps