Although I'm a Christian, I think it is far better that children be raised to respect others and lead a moral life without having any religion pushed down their throat. When they are old enough, expose them to religious doctrine and let them choose their path. Six and eight year old children just follow in their parents footsteps, adopting whatever religion their parents push upon them.
I'll add my two cents a little later but if you want some expert analysis, then [MENTION=36767]Bloodrock44[/MENTION] is the one to be discussing this subject.
Unless the camps are being run by sex offenders or some such, I don't see how any adult has anything whatsoever to fear from letting his/ her child go to a camp that will give the child understanding of Judeo-Christian scriptures and through them, latent moral vicissitudes.
I have no doubt that had poor Charlie Manson had some sort of upbringing as a child, he may well have never turned out to be the monster he became.
Don't project your fears onto the children.
Unless the camps are being run by sex offenders or some such, I don't see how any adult has anything whatsoever to fear from letting his/ her child go to a camp that will give the child understanding of Judeo-Christian scriptures and through them, latent moral vicissitudes.
I have no doubt that had poor Charlie Manson had some sort of upbringing as a child, he may well have never turned out to be the monster he became.
Don't project your fears onto the children.
I seriously doubt any upbringing, no matter how wholesome, would have made much difference in Manson's case. Have you seen interviews of him? He is clearly not of sound mind. Nature won out over nurture in his case and probably would no matter what his upbringing.
There is nothing wrong with teaching young children about Christ but not to the exclusion of all other beliefs. Dedicating one's life to Christ is a personal decision and should be an informed decision.
Of course then you'd have to take the bible literally and take that to mean you have to be dunked by a preacher when you are older. I think you just have to accept Jesus in your heart as an adult to be "saved", but the born agains, that's just their twist to try and steal members from the Catholics and other denominations.
My major problem with an aggressive pursuit of the conversion of youngsters to Christ is that it often centers around convincing the child that they are sinful, evil, and hell bound. As parents we should be building a child's self-esteem, not convincing them that they're bad. A person should come to Christ out of love and desire to live a better and happier life, not out of guilt and fear.
Sounds like you go to a church I would approve of, if I were a theist. I have been to both types of churches. Ones that preached a good message and ones who preached about sin. Seems the ones that preach about sin are trying to scare/attract new members, usually when they are at their lowest and most vulnerable.
My church doesn't preach too much on hell but I do recall during the baptism they ask 3 times "do you renounce Satin?" Oh and also funny that born agains say Christians like the ones at my church are not going to heaven because they/we were baptized at birth and not as adults. You HAVE TO be baptized when you are an adult. Says it right in the bible.
Me I'm an atheist but this is my take on why they talk about the Devil and Hell so much. Scaring you is part of the brainwashing process.
