GoddsSmack asked this question on 5/12/2000:
I have a really great summer job, the only thing is that it is at a Christian camp. I am Wiccan. I don't have anything against Christians it's just that I am afraid that my campers will ask me about God and the devil and heaven. Should I give them the generic "God loves you" answer or can go further and talk about other religions with them??
Dyonisya gave this response on 5/12/2000:
Been there. Done that. Interesting place to be. :)
__Actually, I was upholding a nice little family tradition working as a church intern while discovering which way to go in my faith journey, and encountered exactly those kinds of questions from the youth group I worked with. I would occasionally refer to god as She instead of He and they noticed, both youth and parents.
__My main advice about how to handle generic or specific answers to questions they may have to dig a little deeper into the general curriculum of the camp. You may be able to do this just by sitting down with who ever hired you, and if there is any set literature for the camp look over that.
__If it is one which explores the different views of god I would say go for it, but realize that what is said will eventually be repeated to parents. It's amazing how an open-minded youth can have close-minded parents.
__If it is one which doesn't I would maybe get a feel of things from the other camp advisors/staff about sharing alternative viewpoints of god.
__The one nice thing about a camp is that one can slip in the nature view of a Christian god without really annoying too many people. However there will be those may not understand a "natural" view god.
__Another thing to remember is that young minds are impressionable, sometimes with them your word is as good as gospel even when it may not be.
__Finally if one youth in particular is continually questioning you about this view of god or that view of god bring it up with the supervising clergy. Usually youth clergy are fairly open minded and realizes that along with everything else youth question and explore things so they may be able to give you some suggestions or have an exploring faith chat with the campers. This would more than likely work if it is an extended camp time more so than some of the shorter camps.
__ Apologies if this sounds a bit long winded. If you would like more information just let me know.
Blessings... D.
The average rating for this answer is 5.