Summer camp for atheists?
June 29th, 2005Summer Camp That’s a Piece of Heaven for the Children, but Please, No Worshiping - New York Times
Today’s NY Times includes a story about a summer camp for atheists and agnostics, which it describes as a haven for these children who are often ridiculed for their beliefs.
“Many of the two dozen campers who attended this year’s session last week recounted experiences of being called names and otherwise harassed,” the story reads. “For instance, Travis Leepers, 17, from Louisiana, reported that just about everyone he knows has expressed concern to him about his soul and has tried to convert him.”
I’m genuinely sorry if these kids face real harassment because of their beliefs. I don’t agree with them, but they deserve not to be unduly ridiculed. I fail to see, however, just how someone expressing concern for a boy’s soul and trying to convert him constitutes harassment. But that’s the way evangelism is coming to be seen in society today.
Rather than people simply saying, “Hey, thanks for caring, but I’m not interested,” they take it as harassment. I mean, if a Muslem came knocking on my door and told me he believed I was doomed to an eternity in hell if I didn’t convert to his belief system, I wouldn’t be offended by it. I’d brush him off and go about my business. He can believe what he wants to.
Aren’t we all getting a bit too sensitive?