You are moving the goalposts. You talked about atheists having their beliefs challenged, and you have now moved the goalpost to whether an atheist will have had extensive religious education before attending college. Talk of the existence of any God challenges the beliefs of atheists.
However, to respond to your personal anecdote - there are extensive areas in the USA in which there are very few non-Protestants, and even fewer non-Christians. In these places it is easily possible for a kid to go through their entire schooling without ever having a conversation with the one Jew, Hindu, or Muslim who attended their grade, especially if a kid’s social life revolves around their family’s church (which is pretty common for fundamentalist churches).
Moreover, you are talking about a public school. However, a large proportion of kids from fundamentalist families are either homeschooled or attended private parochial schools. Private non-parochial high schools have many religious kids, and
Hey everyone! While I am interested in all of your opinions, this thread is starting to sound very much like a Facebook comment section at the moment ( and that’s not the greatest). I think we should all take this as an indication that no matter your upbringing or education, everyone’s beliefs will vary so differently! Let’s try to respect others opinions and keep arguments to a minimum. After all, as we all should know, most people’s opinions will not be changed by a conversation over the internet, no matter how strong your point!
POI: Wake Forest is no longer a Baptist school. It gained autonomy from the SBC in 1986 and has no religious affiliation. All religious iconography was removed from Wait Chapel, for example. The old campus in Wake Forest, NC became the home of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary after the school moved to Winston-Salem.
Hi! While toxic racism is still a prevalent issue in our culture and our world, this is a thread for college suggestions. I would appreciate if politics were kept out as much as possible, even if it is such an important issue.
One of mine attended Elon. I was consistently impressed with how balanced and polite all political discourse was, and the high level of civility on campus. She had a protestant chaplain advisor, attended Catholic retreats, and frequented Hillel with her roommate. She enjoyed all of it., and met marvelous people. Participated in bible study group too.
You do realize that wasn’t a political article, right? I was rebutted an incorrect statement with facts.
Regardless, I started reading this thread because my niece is a freshman at a very conservation Christian college. I won’t name the school because she is easily identifiable. I am not familiar with most of the other schools on the list but she had a pretty awful experience with Liberty. They were very interested with her, discussed the a full scholarship etc via phone, and dropped her like a hot potato when they found out she had a recently diagnosed degenerative something disorder. It was awful, awful behavior.
She did enroll in another school and has had a great first semester, even started dating someone, and the school has treated her health needs with care.
What is the political climate at College of Charleston? I was under the impression that CofC swings liberal. Much more liberal than the other schools mentioned. Am I wrong about this?
I don’t think so. I’ve been on CC a few years and have seen posts of parents saying they wouldn’t send their kids to CoC because the profs were “too liberal”. We did an accepted student day and it seemed to have lots of diversity. We’re hopefully visiting next month.
hi, friend. i definitely think you’ll be okay at all of these colleges; however, if you do claim to be politically independent, i’m not entirely sure liberty would be the best option, especially since the uni is known for being radically conservative (and perhaps i am making generalizations about it, but the two people i know who have gone to liberty [who are both right of center on the political spectrum] transferred out after their first year because it was “too much.” i’m from tennessee if that helps.).
the beauty of going to college is being able to meet people from all different walks of life, and i don’t want the fears of your parents about you possibly being indoctrinated into the leftist ideology to stifle that, hahaha. i go to an overwhelmingly liberal college, and some of my best pals are religious (presbyterian, catholic, jewish, hindu, buddhist, etc.) and have had no problems whatsoever. furthermore, you can be super religious and be super liberal, and you can be super atheist and be super conservative. people are different, and that’s okay. you are secure in your faith, and i encourage your parents to trust that.
now that that’s out of the way, i would rank the colleges in terms of “least” liberal to “most” liberal like this: Liberty > HPU > Elon > UNCG > CofC. i definitely encourage you to look into uofrichmond, as well as possibly wofford, davidson, and furman. the last three are just schools i thought of at the top of my head. super excited for you to start applications!
I would also like to add, as an argument for your parents-that it is essential to understand why “the other side” believes what it does in order to counter it with your own opinions. Being exposed to all ideas makes you a more critical thinker, instead of existing in an echo chamber.
You sound like a strong minded girl. Good for you. I live in a very liberal area and I know a LOT of very religious Christians who do not condone much of the negativity this country has seen over the last few years. Being liberal or independently minded definitely doesn’t have to mean sacrificing your religious beliefs.
If different views on campus are important to you, the only I one I suggest you steer clear of is Liberty. It is very well known for being intolerant of any views other than its own.
On another note, please check out HPU carefully. It is not particularly known for academic rigor, to be bluntly honest.
Hi, fellow North Carolinian (presumably)! I saw that you’re looking for a larger co-ed school-- have you checked out App State and UNC-Wilmington? They’re two of the more rigorous public schools in the state behind UNC-CH and NC State. I get the sense that both have a very healthy range of political opinions-- both my friend (raised by parents similar to yours) and myself (very liberal/agnostic) really like App State.
Edit: I just realized UNCW may not have a dance major. App State apparently does, though.
Edit 2: From looking at dance programs here in NC, UNC-Charlotte and ECU also offer dance programs. UNCC might be a good one to add to your list-- the business opportunities in Charlotte are great due to it being a finance center, and it’s a large enough school that political beliefs really vary!
