God and The University

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>I am a high school senior, accepted into both UNC-Chapel Hill and Wake Forest and planning to attend one of these schools in August.</p>

<p>My question, or discussion topic, rather, concerns students and prospective students from all colleges and universities, but principally those from non-religious schools. </p>

<p>What, in your opinion, is the typical American university's attitude towards god(s) and religion?</p>

<p>Specifically, how do universities treat the topic of god(s)? Is there a general belief in god, gods, or the concept of divinity, whether Islamic, Hindu, Christian, agnostic, New Age, or of any other creed? Is the topic of divinity treated as a fairy-tale, and those who believe in a god or gods treated as unintelligent or "behind the times"?</p>

<p>Are professors in the large part hostile to, indifferent to, or supportive of belief in god(s) and of students with such beliefs? How are typical students of all backgrounds (white, multiracial, Asian, Native America, etc.)? Do students regularly attend church/synagogue/mosque or any other type of religious ceremony? And are students hostile, supportive, or indifferent on this topic?</p>

<p>What, in your opinion, should be the attitude towards the topic of divinity?</p>

<p>Please, be respectful and respectable in your comments. The last thing we need is supposedly mature, college-bound 17 and 18 year olds saying things like "Christians suck because they killed people in the Crusades" or "Islam is terrible because it advocates the murder of infidels." And we certainly don't need to hear that "Hindus don't know which god to worship lolz" or "Atheists are just trying to escape paying for their sins." This is not the place for such discussion; the internet is full of message boards where such topics would be pertinent. I just want to find out what the average, soon-to-be freshman can expect when he or she arrives at school this August.</p>

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<p>MODERATOR’S NOTE: Please take to heart the OP’s final paragraph. If this turns into a religion bashing or debate thread, I will close it immediately.</p>

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<p>Okay, MaineLonghorn! I completely understand. That is the last thing I want from the thread!</p>

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<p>In my opinion, religion is more or less a no man’s land in college. People generally keep their opinions to themselves. don’t ask don’t tell, if you will. Some people want to have a good time, and they conveniently forget that they’re Christians. Some people maintain their beliefs, go to church, but doesn’t really discuss religion in public (who does that anyway). And then there are people like me, who begin to carry a more critical point of view on religion, more specifically the three Abrahamic religions.</p>

<p>There are essentially two ways to look at the bible: critical vs traditional. Traditional jews/christians read the old testament/bible believing that it’s the ‘word of God’, whereas critical viewpoints focus on who actually wrote the Bible, and why they wrote it. As far as the critical viewpoint is concerned, Jews wrote the old testament to basically entitle mesopotamia to themselves, and christians made up this fellow named Jesus who contradicts everything the Jews said. There are evidence supporting both viewpoints, and it’s really just a clusterf*, imo. People have to do reseach and decide for themselves what they think about religion, and I respect them for their opinions. what I can’t personally stand is people telling me how to interpret the Bible, and make outstanding claims about it based on a nugget of information.</p>

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<p>Starting from the paragraph that begins with “specifically”

  1. Rarely mentioned unless it directly pertains to a class.
  2. I have participated in a “crossing the line” activity and most of the people there appeared to be Christian.
  3. It is by some professors.
  4. Most appear indifferent (however, I am a science major and not a humanities major so it’s pretty difficult to bring religion into most of my classes without it sounding too forced). Some are adverse towards religion (I can think of 3 out of the 13 professors that I have had so far that managed to sneak in negative remarks).
  5. This is an incomplete question.
  6. It does not appear so. There are religious clubs, however.
  7. I have not heard any students mention this topic out loud. The school newpaper’s opinion section is filled with quite liberal opinions, some opposing traditional beliefs.
  8. I would rather have professors teach what’s on the class syllabus and not place their opinions in class. Personally I would like to be at a Christian university (where I wouldn’t mind Christian perspectives in classes) but due to certain reasons I am not and am instead at a university where a wide range of beliefs are held.</p>
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<p>The way you say “American University” makes it seem like you aren’t from America so here’s my take on religion in America and in its universities.</p>

<p>Kids are not religious. Period. I don’t know a single 18-24 year old who plans on going to church in college. Many may believe in a religion but it is never their top priority (I doubt it makes the top 10). I would challenge you to find a bible in any college dorm across the country. Now, that being said there is a big split where the kids who want to pursue religion in college don’t go to a secular college. They go to religious schools. So it seems like all the religious college students are concentrated at these religious schools and then there are no religious kids at the other schools. For example, there is currently a thread here on CC where a kid is debating picking Notre Dame over Harvard because of its catholic atmosphere. That being said, in America you don’t have to sacrifice religion for academics if you don’t want to. There are a lot of good religious schools. Here are some for example:
BYU - Mormon
Notre Dame, Loyola Chicago, Boston College - Catholic
SMU - Methodist</p>

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<p>^ I go to a large state school and I know at least 5 people who probably attend church on Sundays. Also, there’s a lot of out reach to international students who don’t know a lick of English, so they just go along with it. Religious practices such as bible study groups for college students do exist, but they’re pretty much closed doors in regards to the outside world.</p>

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<p>There’s no such thing as a typical American university or student. Period.</p>

<p>Fwiw, my experience is like spect. I definitely do know a few students who go to worship services. And I definitely know people who have Bibles and Torahs.</p>

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<p>The perspective runs the gamut, especially in a large state school like UNC- Chapel Hill. You’ll find people of all denominations, usually without any/many prejudices. As for professors, they’re respectful for the most part. If you feel offended at all by something they say in reference to your religion, you should feel comfortable with letting them know in a polite way that you don’t appreciate the slur.</p>

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<p>Occasionally I’ll have conversations with my friend groups about religion. You’ll hear anything from:
“I’m a lifelong to Catholic.” “Oh, do you go to mass? I’ve been thinking of maybe going…” “Yeah, let’s walk there together next time!” to:
“Are you particularly religious?” "Nope. Organized religion has never made any sense to me. “Same here. I think it’s kinda funny and scary at the same time that people strongly believe this stuff” “I agree.” to:
“Wait, what religion do you practice?”
“Hinduism”
“Oh. I’m Jewish. So what do Hindus actually do? It seems interesting but I just don’t know much about it.”</p>

<p>I mean, it’s not regularly brought up, but we’re fairly open about it when it is, and nobody gets all defensive or weird. Things are diverse, too. In my suite, we literally have a Christian, a Hindu, a Catholic, a nonreligious person, a Jewish person, and a spiritually open Agnostic. Our professors have their own beliefs or nonbeliefs, and I doubt they even care about ours in the slightest.</p>

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<p>It doesn’t get brought up when it’s not relevant to a class, and when it is relevant to class professors will usually only speak in terms of hard facts when it comes to a topic like religion. Outside class, there are plenty of clubs and whatnot for people who want to practice religion. I’m sure some schools have larger or smaller proportions of religious students, but you’re going to be able to find a range of religions at any university, and I’ve never met any sort of religious bigotry in college yet. I mean, it’s pretty clear to everyone that you can’t base an academic argument on your personal religious beliefs, but no one’s going to bash you just because you’re religious. It might be different at a large public university, but in my experience religion just isn’t something anyone really worries about at college; everyone practices what they believe and leaves others to their beliefs, regardless of what they may be.</p>

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<p>I go to a big state school, it usually never comes up, most people respect others’ beliefs and faiths.</p>

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<p>I know plenty of college kids who are firmly rooted in their religious beliefs and continue to participate in college- even in big liberal haunts like NYC, even in smaller, rural college areas where their particular religion may not be the main one in that outside community. And, plenty of kids who don’t.</p>

<p>One way to look is to check various religious life groups or activities on campus. Most are increasing their respect and accommodations for, eg, religious Jews and Muslims who would like to practice their faith, even small colleges. Most have some “statement of respect.” This is a byproduct of the increasing numbers of international kids. Or kids from outside that college’s area or the school’s traditional profile.</p>

<p>Professors, ime (I’m an adult, btw, involved in academia,) can sometimes have an issue with students who tackle reasoning or analytical issues with a hard, fast and unexplored kickback to their religious beliefs. In a discussion, to say, eg, “because the Bible tells me so,” won’t always fly if the task is to view an issue from multiple perspectives. But, many, many people can hold to their religious beliefs and still engage in this. I am not aware of particular prejudice, if the kid is open to dialogue and differences.</p>

<p>We sometimes characterize the US south as more religious, more conservative, than some other areas. But, here we’re talking about two major universities, not what some guy down the street expects. Tolerance and inquisitiveness are still important on campus- engagement and dialogue, in theory. </p>

<p>Are we getting you any closer to the answers you need?</p>

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<p>I took a class that specialized in religions around the world once. At the first class the professor said that if you have any issues with whats being discussed about so and so religion, please inform me. I do not mean to bash or look at it in a negative light. So and and so forth. He also asked the students not to do so as well.</p>

<p>Its one of those things that we don’t speak about. You know it exists because of the various clubs dedicated towards it, but yeah.</p>

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<p>Okay, thank you all! I feel a little more comfortable about the issue now.</p>

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<p>I went to a small, private LAC affiliated with the Moravian Church. There didn’t seem to be many atheists or agnostics there; from what I know it was largely a Catholic student body. I, personally, am not Christian, nor do I belong to any organized religion. I am also not atheist or agnostic.</p>

<p>My college seemed fairly on the liberal side of the spectrum, but the “College Conservatives” club was much larger than the “College Democrats” club. The economics/accounting/business-y majors were more on the conservative side, while the artsy folk were largely liberal.</p>

<p>I had a Religion in American Politics course the fall semester of the 2008 election, which was a very interesting time to have it. There were very few liberals or non-Catholics in that course, and some of the debates became pretty heated. The professor did an EXCELLENT job of being the devil’s advocate and presenting each side of the debate, to the point where I wasn’t even sure where her personal views lied. I believe she was Christian, but rather liberal. She was very respectful; most of the professors who had those issues come up in class were. </p>

<p>Religion didn’t come up much, if ever in most other courses, except once in a while in my psychology courses. The students can get pretty personal, and pretty upset, but the professors try not to let it get out of hand. </p>

<p>There are some other religion-based clubs on campus, and there was a small chapel on campus. The college was accepting of letting students miss class for religious reasons if they notified professors in advance.</p>