Letters to the Editor
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Swing and a miss
I am opposed to sending kids to a camp where indoctrination in a certain set of beliefs is a part of the goal of the camp. Even if I agreed with that set of beliefs, I'd be opposed to a camp that tried to impose them on my kids.
Watch the movie Jesus Camp for an example of the kind of brainwashing that can go on.
Story: My (then) 9 year old daughter wanted to go to church with her best friend after a Saturday night sleepover. She's the middle child, the sensitive one, the heart-on-the-sleeve one. And this would be the biggest fundamentalist church in town, the hellfire and brimstone, the anti-science church. The church that sends high schoolers to Vegas to save the street people for Jesus whether they like it or not.
My daughter came home from her church visit visibly upset but not wanting to talk about it. After a few days it came out, "Daddy, am I going to hell if I believe in evolution?" We talked it out, it was a learning experience for both of us, but one I'd rather not have gone through.
I guess you could argue this from the other side - it's now a topic we can handle, she's gone to church again with the same friend and I have confidence (mostly) in her ability to stand up to it. I've told her some of what I believe in more detail than I've discussed with her sisters, and I think she's better fortified than she was against brain washing, better prepared to stand up and think for herself.
But there's no way I'd send her off to be exposed to those people for a week. I really doubt she'd have the strength to stand up to a constant (even if unintentional) barrage of peer pressure and twisted beliefs. If she did go, I'd anticipate two to three times the length of the camp to calm her down, debrief her, detox her.
And, Cary, your example of French language camp is as far off the mark as I've ever seen you. They don't tell you that science is bad in French language camp. They don't tell you that speaking English is the road to hell. They don't try to convince you that only French speakers live full and satisfying lives and that if you don't try to focus your whole life on France you are risking your eternal soul.
It may be hard to protect your kids here. Church camp has already set the hook - "We're FUN!" and is prepared to make you the bad guy - "Why don't your mother and father want you to learn the ONE AND ONLY TRUTH?" The only solution I can see is massive massive communication. Tell the kids in detail why you don't want them to go and help them to be mentally strong to resist the brainwashing if you feel you have to let them go.
*all caveats apply. Yes, I am still healing the scars from my run-in with a fundamentalist church as a young adult. Fundamentalists come in all sorts of levels of toxicity, some are actually very good people who try to act consistently with their beliefs. I'm a "whatever gets you through the night" sort of person, if a personal jesus works for you, man, go with that. But don't try to force your ideas on me or my kids or we're going to have a fight. And keep your anti-science, anti-knowledge attitude out of my kids' schools.
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You let them go the first time...
So you sent your kids to a fundementalist camp, expected it to be only smores and ghost stories, and were actually surprised they came back talking fire and brimstone? And you were RAISED in a fundementalist home?
I just don't buy that.
My guess is that you rationalized it because you couldn't afford to send your kids to camp. Now you're paying the consequences of comprimising your values.
That being said, If your parents truly still stand by that the camp isn't about religion, and want to share the opportunity of camp with their grandkids, then they should be open to the idea that you might want to send your kids to a different camp, perhaps a non-religous camp.
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Religious Moderates
I used to agree with Cary--what harm could come from exposing our kids to all kinds of religious ideas, even though we ourselves are moderates/liberals/agnostics/atheists? Even though we believe in the scientific method and necessity of evidence? But now that I've read Sam Harris and "The End of Faith," and really thought about what he has to say, I see what harm can come from such wishy-washy religious moderation. When we are not clear about our beliefs we are vulnerable to domination by religious extremism. When we are not proud of stating our beliefs--science and reason and ethical absolutes based on them, not on religion--we confuse not only ourselves but also our children and our cultures. Religious fundamentalists are wrong and we are wrong to subject our children to their teaching.
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two groups of parents always amaze me
1. The devout Christian /Muslim /Jewish /atheist /Pastafarian parents who do everything they can to raise their kid only exposed to the religion (or non-religion) THEY believe in to insure that the kid will then follow that religion (or non-religion) as adults
and
2. The parents who devoutly believe in a given religion, but refuse to raise the kid in it so "he can make up his mind when he's old enough."
In the end, the kids all make up their own minds regardless. It's called free will.
Let 'em go to camp.
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oh boy
This is a tough one.
My first instinct is not to let them near the place. Did I mention I'm a Christian? But then you run the risk of having them grow up to give seminars about their hateful atheist parents who wouldn't let them attend summer camp.
Summer Bible Camp destroyed my best friend in high school. Today he's a Captain in the U.S. Army, serving his second tour of duty in Iraq, and he won't let anyone say anything bad about the President because it's our duty as Americans to do what we're told to do without bitching about it. I remember a time when he had his own brain.
He attended one of those summer camps that specializes in hardcore brainwashing techniques. (They've been accused of doping kids' food to make them more suggestible, but it's never been proved.) The difference was stunning. Before - normal person. After - Fundamentalist Zombie. That fateful summer was, let me count, twenty-two years ago. He hasn't reverted yet.
I don't know what to tell you. If the kids want to go, I think your battle is probably already lost. It's a shame you haven't retained some vestiges of religion; you could pray.