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#1 Jeremy Posso - Tue, 13th May 2008 2:54am

"...discussions about disproving the existence of invisible unicorns (as a metaphor for gods)"

First of all, I think it's great that kids can go to a camp where there seems to be some real intellectual stimulation going on. Normally I would question the value of making it a specifically atheist camp. If you don't want your camp to be about religion why even bring it up? The idea of it being 'atheists only' seems just as polarising to me as 'religion X only', but the US does seem to have a real problem with somewhat extreme fundamentalism so perhaps it is helpful to kids who feel oppressed by religion in their everyday life.

That said, I find statements like the one above somewhat troubling. At what point does it stop being a stimulating environment for naturalism and start being intolerant of religion and those with faith? Debunking gods as 'invisible unicorns' is a hugely inaccurate analogy that ignores and trivialises what is a very, very big part of life for millions of people. Regardless of how much we all think we 'know better' (for want of a better phrase) and how important it is to keep asking these questions, it's just as important to not be dicks about it (e.g. Dawkins).