<p>Alright, so for the past few months I’ve been under the impression that BC’s religious affiliation was similar to that of ivy league schools and many others, i.e. symbolic. Recently it seems that the opposite is true, that the Jesuit roots are taken very seriously. My question is is how non christians fit in at this school. If it’s a mistake for me to be looking here just be honest. I’d rather get the truth then something sugar coated. Thanks.</p>
<p>the extent that you are forced to be involved with religion goes to the point of having two theology classes in the core. This however, I would hope you would find valuable regardless of your faith as Boston College has some fantastic professors. Whether your a muslim, egnostic, atheist, the bible plays so much into basic humanism over the past millennium that I think you would gain a lot from the exposure to theology. </p>
<p>To better answer your question though, if you haven't noticed the trend of heavy partying that others have indicated about this school..this is a pretty good tell about how serious they are.</p>
<p>I am a non Christian currently attending BC and frankly, religion plays a minimal role here at BC. Like what pawne4 said, theology is the only way students get in touch with Christianity unless of course you join religious groups on campus. This past year, I'd say about 30 out of 40 people on my floor were Christian, but only 1 person that I know of actually attended sunday mass. This just goes to show you how seriously religion is taken at BC. The religion at BC is merely just symbolic and used to pacify Christian parents who may be afraid their child won't follow Christian doctrine.</p>
<p>That's definitely a relief.Are the theology courses learning about religion or is it a bible study class. I would hate to be forced to take 2 classes taught by say a priest about how the lord was great. Know what I mean? Is there variety in those courses?</p>
<p>The theo classes could be like history of religion, philosophy of religion, or close study of the bible. It's your choice. They don't test faith or belief, but rather your ability to understand critically the holy texts.</p>
<p>Titan, perhaps you will be reassured if you go the BC website and look closely at the descriptions for the actual courses that you can take to fulfill the theology requirement.</p>
<p>Only two of them are clearly focused on Christian doctrine:
Introduction to Christian Theology I & II and
Exploring Catholicism: Tradition and Transformation I & II.</p>
<p>The others are much broader in scope and really don’t focus on Christianity specifically:</p>
<p>Biblical Heritage I & II: The focus is on analyzing Biblical texts as influence/source of Western views of God, nature, human beings, a just society, origin of the world, etc.</p>
<p>Perspectives on Western Culture I & II: The course readings include not only Biblical texts but also writings of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, etc. It also looks at some non-Western philosophies. This sequence, open to freshmen only, satisfies all core requirements for both theology and philosophy.</p>
<p>Person and Social Responsibility I & II: The focus is on the problems of social injustice and possible remedies. This sequence also includes a significant community service component (PULSE) and satisfies all core requirements for both theology and philosophy.</p>
<p>You might find the last one especially appealing since the specific aim is dialogue between Christian and non-Christian perspectives:</p>
<p>Religious Quest: Comparative Perspectives I & II: This sequence explores individual and communal search for wisdom about human nature, the world, God, love and death, values to live by, and paths to spiritual maturity. Each section brings the Christian tradition into conversation with at least one other religious tradition (Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and/or African religions).</p>
<p>Huh? What current religious affiliation do you/can you find at the Ivies?</p>
<p>eh.. symbolic infludence. my mom was quite dissapointed to realize that. she thought i was going to "rediscover" my faith. to fufill my theology im taking that PULSE class with the service. i only went to mass once and that was parents weekend when it was outside in oneill plaza with my family. i know 2 people who went regularly. i think its more that if you WANT it to be religious it can be, but it is not pushed upon anyone.</p>
<p>you may notice the occational jesuit walking around, cross on the wall, or chruch on campus. butttt that being said.. youll see wasted kids and hookups even more. so that answers your question =)</p>