The battle over evolution is moving beyond the courtroom and into summer camp. The Christian Camp and Conference Association says 50 percent of its member camps—which include summer camps and year-round after-school programs reaching 6 million kids every year—have a science curriculum about God's Creation. A Christian camping environment "allows us to bring kids to a wonderful knowledge of what's going on in Creation and in God's web of life," says John Ashmen, the group's vice president. At the summer camp at Timber-lee Christian Center in East Troy, Wis., for example, campers can go on a seven-room "Creation Walk," where each room showcases one of the Bible's seven days of Creation. Says Karen Good, outdoor education director at Timber-lee, "The curriculum is designed to open their eyes so when they go back to school [and hear about evolution] they say, 'Oh, that sounds goofy!' "
Other camps are fighting back by offering summer programs teaching evolution. In late June, the Unitarian Universalist Church in Fresno, Calif., sponsored the fourth season of Chalice Camp, a science camp that uses song, dance and drama to teach children about scientific discoveries about human origins. This is the inaugural season of Camp Inquiry, a weeklong camp for children 7 to 16 in western New York. For the camp's Natural History Day, the 25 campers will participate in the "Creationism vs. Evolution" challenge, where they'll go on a nature hike to learn about adaptation and evolution, take plaster casts of animal tracks to start a discussion of how humans are related to certain animal lines and study the arguments against intelligent design. Camp Quest, an atheist camp with several branches throughout the United States, teaches campers about evolution, as well as beekeeping, astronomy and the separation of church and state. "Our sense is that evolution isn't being taught enough [in schools] or that people are becoming afraid to teach it," says Chris Lindstrom, director of Camp Quest West.
Research shows that even camps that don't have a particular spiritual mission might still increase spirituality in children: a 2005 American Camp Association study found that parents notice a statistically signif-icant increase in children's spirituality levels after they've attended camp. Getting the kids outdoors apparently makes them appreciate nature and wonder who or what created it.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
