I was raised Christian and I'm on your side, OP. As pp's have said, many of these sorts of programs have a huge dose of proselytization.

Just heard this story on the radio recently about a woman sending her kids to her parents' church Sunday school program. You might want to listen.

https://themoth.org/stories/sunday-school-dropout

I totally agree that the MIL was out of line but I think to cancel your trip is just spiting her to hurt yourself.

Is she cost conscious? She might have just picked it to get them out of her house for half day at a very low cost.

Another thought is may to look into a day camp nearby that you would find acceptable. Its late in the season and many have openings.

Anonymous wrote:Cannot believe all the posters saying they'd be ok with this. Bullshit. The whole point of these vacation bible camps, like everything else at any christian church, is evangelism. OP's children are jewish. And no, she did not "marry into" a christian family. Her husband married a jew and agreed to raise the kids jewish. You all are unreal.

People of different faiths attend vacation Bible school at our church. Not every church pushes evangelism.

No.

Unless she discussed in advance and I agreed.

On that basis alone I'd nix the whole thing.

Cannot believe all the posters saying they'd be ok with this. Bullshit. The whole point of these vacation bible camps, like everything else at any christian church, is evangelism. OP's children are jewish. And no, she did not "marry into" a christian family. Her husband married a jew and agreed to raise the kids jewish. You all are unreal.

Anonymous wrote:Jewish kids don't belong at Christian bible camp. It's not just another cross cultural experience for them. Anyone who can't get that is thick.

Thick here. Why not?

Just talk to her and tell her that you're not comfortable with them going and that they can't attend the camp. Tell her that if she needs help finding another half day camp for them, you're happy to help her. That's all. It's a bit hard for me to relate because I'm a very non-religious Jew, and to me, being Jewish is more of a cultural identify than religion. So I would not care, but I can see how someone more religious would.

OP, I'm Jewish and wouldn't allow that at all and would also be incredulous. I'd cancel the trip with DH or take the kids with us.

Obviously a week of bible camp won't make the kids stop being jewish but I don't want them being educated that to be born is a sin. I don't want them being taught they should pray to a dead jewish guy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious how many of you MIL supporting posters would be cool with Muslim inlaws surprise signing up their Jewish grandkids for a week of Koran camp at a time when it will hugely impact their parents to find other arrangements.

Are you kidding? You're implying that we're pro-Christian and anti-Muslim because...?

For starters, I wouldn't ask my in-laws to take my kids for a full week without talking with them about what they'd be doing. That's a long time to have kids with no structured activities planned. I'd want my kids to be safe and well-cared for (reasonably happy, reasonably rested, etc.), and how they did that is up to them.

I'm implying that people are cool with this because they're Christian and don't see anything wrong with bible camp.

Jewish kids don't belong at Christian bible camp. It's not just another cross cultural experience for them. Anyone who can't get that is thick.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I get it (DH and I are Jewish FWIW with non-Jewish relatives). Out of all the camps they could be enrolled in, your MIL purposely chose bible camp. I would not ever be ok with that, because she went behind your back. However, if it was presented to me prior, and I got the chance to know exactly what would be going on at the camp, I might be ok with it. I would chalk it up to a learning experience for my kids.

I'd assume that she did bible camp because it's like $35/week vs. $250/week.

She really played a fast one OP. If you still want to go on your trip, on the plus side, your kids may learn how crazy these people are (and I am Protestant!) They will probably just have fun and do crafts, but if they go I would talk about what they learned (if anything) and how they felt. If it's not a fundamentalist church I would not worry at all.

My mom used these camps as child care when I was little and it was somewhat confusing to me because they preached "go to hell" fundamentalism as opposed to "jesus loves the little children" mainline protestant teachings I received in Sunday School. So, check to see what kind of church it is and go from there. You could let them go this time, and just not use your MIL for any alone childcare from this point forward.

Either way, the kids will be fine, it's crappy of your MIL to (1) send them away for half a day (2) send them to a religious camp and (3) spring it on you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or, I would tell her, "we would love for the kids to come visit you for the week but we are not comfortable with them attending bible camp. If that's a problem we will make alternate arrangements."

+1

Completely inappropriate, but I guess the reactions on this thread illustrate that some people don't get it-- just like most people don't understand what's annoying about the term "old testament" (or even "judeo-christian values"). (and fwiwi, I actually sent my kid to a pre-school run by a church but it was a younger age and they weren't there to learn religion).

NP: I get the problem with Judeo Christian values but what is wrong with old testament? Have never heard this before and would like to be educated.

Anonymous wrote:Curious how many of you MIL supporting posters would be cool with Muslim inlaws surprise signing up their Jewish grandkids for a week of Koran camp at a time when it will hugely impact their parents to find other arrangements.

Are you kidding? You're implying that we're pro-Christian and anti-Muslim because...?

For starters, I wouldn't ask my in-laws to take my kids for a full week without talking with them about what they'd be doing. That's a long time to have kids with no structured activities planned. I'd want my kids to be safe and well-cared for (reasonably happy, reasonably rested, etc.), and how they did that is up to them.

Anonymous wrote:Curious how many of you MIL supporting posters would be cool with Muslim inlaws surprise signing up their Jewish grandkids for a week of Koran camp at a time when it will hugely impact their parents to find other arrangements.

I would. My Catholic mother would completely pull this with my non-Catholic (indeed, non-religious) kids. And it would piss me off because I am 100% certain she did a kitchen sink baptism the first time she was alone with them. But then again, at 6 & 8, "Bible camp" is singing songs, a craft, a snack, running outside, and a small dose of Jesus loves me. It is not full scale religious instruction or indoctrination. And I don't think it hurts anyone to take time to learn a little something about other religions. Which is what you say to your kids. We may not believe exactly what Grandma believes. But there is nothing wrong with learning about her beliefs and respecting them. And I would maintain this if my kids did something similar at a mosque or temple.