<p>I'm currently a sophomore in high school, so I do have a decent amount of time to think about this, but I've been considering majoring in religion. Ever since I was little, I loved reading about mythology and hearing about other cultures and religions both in school and from my friends from different backgrounds. I now attend a prestigious boarding school that offers classes in religion and philosophy, and I really enjoyed a class on eastern religions that I took. Religion seems like a really interesting major to me, but I'm an atheist (probably not quite the right word, but I'm certainly not religious and don't really believe in any gods.) I'm also gay, and very politically liberal, and while I don't need to be surrounded by like-minded people, I don't want to be in classes full of extremely devout religious people. Will studying religion be fulfilling to me as a nonreligious person? Will I feel isolated or out of place compared to other students?</p>
<p>I suspect this depends on where one goes to college. Colleges differ a great deal in how religious they are, and no two religion departments are the same either. </p>
<p>Taking Duke as an example, it keeps its religion department and divinity school strictly separate. Those in the divinity school are fairly devout and active Protestants. The people in the religion department tend to lean toward the agnostic side of things, and religion courses tend to be more skeptical and historical-sociological than those in the div school. At a religiously-affiliated college or a college that mingles theology and religious studies - say, Boston College - you may find that more religion majors are religiously inclined.</p>
<p>If you’re still interested in religion by senior year, your best bet is to carefully scope out the religion programs at the colleges that interest you - what kind of courses are offered (is Islam covered? Buddhism? others?), what the faculty study, where the faculty were trained (PhDs? MDivs? seminaries or universities?), etc.</p>
<p>…while I was attending the Yale Divinity School in the '90s, I was good friends with an atheist. He was quite interested in the study of religion and wanted to become a professor in a religion department. Ultimately, though, it didn’t work out and he moved into another field. </p>
<p>I agree with the other poster–if you still have a strong interest in religion as you near graduation, you should definitely explore various religion departments before making a decision on where to attend college. Many will be liberal-enough for you to feel comfortable. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>Hey, not all religious people are conservative! I’m a pretty liberal but religious guy 
Once you near graduation you’ll have taken plenty of other courses to get a clearer picture of what you want to major in. Additionally, you’ll narrow down the schools you’ll be attending and will be able to get a better idea of what schools are good for what. Studying religion can definitely be fulfilling to you even if you’re not a religious person. Think about it this way: If your classmates aren’t atheists, they likely practice only one religion. And if they practice one, they’re still learning about so many other religions which are polar opposites of their own, yet they find studying them fulfilling. To some degree, studying religion is similar to studying philosophy or history. I wouldn’t worry about fulfillment if it is something you are genuinely interested in.</p>
<p>Hi! As others have said, this is definitely on a school by school basis. At mine, which is a pretty “standard” state school, a lot of classes count for religious studies-- many are history classes (ex. The Crusades, Jews in the Renaissance…) and in my experience, there’s always a good number of non-religious students in it. The thing is, college isn’t catholic school, so you won’t have classes that are like “Jesus died for our sins” or whatever. It’s all related to some sort of historical, social, or political context. In other words, it’s not like “this is the truth,” it’s more “this is what ___ believes is the truth, and this is how it connects to the bigger picture.” So I don’t think you’ll have an issue fitting in, and I don’t think most of your classmates will be extremely devout.</p>
<p>While I have nothing to say about the college major thing, I must say you’re a pretty intriguing individual.</p>
<p>I would guess that even if many students are devout and religious, it shouldn’t hinder you from getting something out of religion classes. It is college, so I doubt that anyone, students or teachers, will preach at you. That’s not the point of religion classes. As long as you’re not a Richard Dawkins type of individual who’ll go on about how religion is an evil entity, and you don’t seem to be, whether fellow students are religious or not shouldn’t matter.</p>