Creationism Kumbaya

The July 17 issue of Newsweek includes a brief item on spiritual summer camps. Beliefwatch: Camping begins

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.

Certainly parents have every right to send their kids to summer camps and extracurricular programs that reinforce their religious beliefs. It’s sad, however, that some of these camps apparently take pride in undermining public school science education by prepping their charges to dismiss what their teachers will be presenting.

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!'"

The article goes on to report about other spiritual camps that focus on the wonders of science.