Camp Quest, founded in 1996, is the first residential summer camp in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom specifically for the children of nontheistic parents (including atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, skeptics, (nontheistic) rationalists, freethinkers, brights, and others who hold a naturalistic worldview).
Programs and activities:
The camp's programs and activities introduce campers to the history and ideas of freethought. Campers also learn about science, astronomy, evolution, the scientific method, critical thinking, philosophy, world religions and church-state separation.
The camp's programs and activities also include what is usual for summer camps: campfires, canoeing, crafts, drama, games, nature hikes, singing, and swimming. Sometimes, however, a spin may be used, such as the telling of an ancient mythical tale around the campfire or the debunking of creationism on part of a nature hike or fossil hunt. Both competitive and cooperative sports are used. Past activities have included how to make a crop circle, how to recognize bias in the media, and visiting old cemeteries to use tombstones as clues to the mores of the past.
The centerpiece of the camp's approach is encouragement of critical thinking and an introduction to logical fallacies. One tradition along these lines is telling the story of two invisible unicorns that inhabit Camp Quest. Campers are told that two invisible unicorns inhabit the camp, that cannot be seen, heard, touched, smelled, tasted, that they cannot hurt you, that they do not eat and leave no mark. An ancient book handed down for countless generations offers proof that the unicorns exist, though no one is allowed to see this book. Any camper who can prove that the unicorns do not exist will win a godless one-hundred dollar bill (printed before 1957, when the U.S. Congress mandated that "In God We Trust" be printed on American fiat currency.) Since offering this challenge in August 1996, the prize remains unclaimed.
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