Hi everybody,
The title basically says it all, but I’ll explain a little more. One of my classes is a big lecture (probably 250 students) and only meets once a week. So, none of us know the professor very well & it’s considered a blowoff class.
Throughout the semester, our teacher would periodically send the class short, motivational emails (eg, “Good luck on midterms”) and some longer ones (for instance, we had a discussion about mental health & he sent us some information about the counseling office, hotlines, etc). No problem.
Our last class was this week & the final is online. He sent us an email with some info about the final & then said all the normal things teachers say at the end of the semester about how great the class was, feel free to contact him if we need anything, etc.
Then the last paragraph (maybe 5 sentences) was all about his religious beliefs – alluded to the afterlife, talked about Jesus and the Bible, and said a bunch of stuff about “peace” and “hope” and “God’s love.”
I felt really uncomfortable after reading that. Even though I am religious, I don’t think it’s a proper topic of conversation from a teacher. It wasn’t a small note either, it was an entire paragraph specifically about Christianity, not just religion in general. The class has nothing to do with religion.
I go to a public university. Is this allowed? Should I say something? Am I wrong in thinking this crossed a line? I’m a freshman, so I don’t really know if this is “normal.”
Is it inappropriate at a public university? Yes. Should you say something? Part of life is learning to choose your battles. You have to decide for yourself how much harm you’ve suffered from this one paragraph in one e-mail.
I agree with the above poster… Choose your battles. If you think it was highly innappropriate then I suppose you should mention it to someone or maybe even the professor himself. And like ^ said, evaluate how much harm this has caused you.
The class is over, you’re a Christian, it didn’t hurt you or probably anyone else. What point would you be trying to make by reporting it? What outcome would you like to see? You’re getting ready to go on Christmas break-so probably take it with a grain of salt and go enjoy your time off.
While I don’t think it’s appropriate since it’s religious and not everyone practices that religion, I also don’t think it does anything to report it. It seems like it was well attended and not trying to convert anyone.
Hi guys,
Thanks for the advice. To clarify – I wasn’t really planning on making an official “complaint,” because I feel like that would be too harsh, but I was thinking about saying something to the professor directly. Based on your comments, I still might, but I probably won’t. I will say that the email was a little more strongly-worded than how I originally described it (it did give me that vibe of trying to “convert” people), but mostly I just wanted to know if I was crazy for thinking it was inappropriate. Rant over
hearing that it read as a conversion attempt makes a difference to me. I do believe the professor’s email is inappropriate, and if it were me I’d consider taking action.
One of the teachers at my kids’ public school makes a religious conversion effort every year to certain kids-- very blatant, meet-with-me-privately-to-discuss-the-One-True-God kind of thing. A parent I know complained directly to him five years ago, but no one else has taken action since then as far as I know. He’s still doing it (except now he writes the conversion effort on their paper but crosses it out with one line, still legible, presumably to give himself deniability). My kid’s not directly affected but I’m ticked it’s still continuing–especially because it’s conversion attempts towards minors from someone with a lot of power over their life.
Your situation is a little different because you’re older and this is a large class. But I believe this is an inappropriate use of power. And for people who take advantage of their power, it’s often not just limited to one incident. It’s a matter of not understanding boundaries.
This is a 250 person class. It doesn’t have to be a personal complaint. If it were me I would probably take my name off the email, print it on paper, and send a copy to their chair and Dean. I’d say this was sent to Class X and I think it’s inappropriate for a public institution.
Then I’d let the chair or Dean do what they wish with it, and let it go. If it’s a one time thing they’d likely treat it differently than they would if this professor has a history of this sort of behavior. But personally I think this sort of behavior should be documented, especially if the professor feels emboldened to make the next incident even more blatant.
At a public university, yes. It is out of line. As an administrator in a public K-12 setting, I definitely would have had an advisory meeting with any teacher who had sent something like that out in writing.
If I were you, I would assume good intentions on the professor’s part. After your grade is out, you might go see the professor, and express that you appreciated his good wishes but would have felt more included and comfortable if he had made the good wishes without reference to a deity in which not all students believe.
But only you can decide how strongly you feel about the issue and what role you want to have in addressing it.
This brings back a memory for me. I remember when my son’s high school chorus teacher chose explicitly religious pieces for the spring concert and laughingly told the chorus that she could get away with it in spring because only the December concert is scrutinized for that. On the one hand, we felt that music is an art form and that it was not proselytizing per se to include a piece of music that mentions a deity. On the other hand, it was almost every song! My son debated saying something to the teacher, but then made another choice. He said nothing, and just dropped out of the choir for the next year.
I agree with minors. And k thru 12. These are all adults and can certainly hit the delete button.
I would post something on the Teachers rating site or schools reddit page.
However, before we condemn the prof, I would ask myself would we feel the same way if he made a comment about supporting a campus protest or announcing some unpopular speaker coming campus -something along those lines. Maybe but I would guess probably not. If the answer is honestly no, then I’d let it ride.
I cannot comment without reading the entire paragraph. Would you please share the entire paragraph with us ?
Also, you may not understand what is happening, or has recently occurred, in this professor’s life.
Often, a diagnosis of a terminal illness or the death of loved ones results in a reevaluation of what is most important in life. To many, it is renewed faith.
Whether or not a higher power exists, people would invent one simply because they have to in order to accept the realities of life.
As a final note, I try to never harm another for honesty even if it is somehow harmful to me.
Wouldn’t there be a difference between the instructor promoting religion in the context of the class (i.e. as a representative of the school and where there is implicit power over the students) versus outside of class (i.e. as a personal matter or belief)?
Yes. I was thinking if he was a politics prof and sent a class an ok to miss class for the big protest. If I disagreed with that protest isnt it the same thing?
Would we see at as unseemly as his more positive yet controversial message.
I think we had a similar thread a few years ago. And kinda decided it was the prof’s automatic insert, a personal comment.
You can call it "his testimony. " Important in some faith sorts.
It would bug me, but only insofar that he didn’t separate the work from the personal affirmation. Especially the work with younger folks he’s teaching.
Might talk to my advisor, to vent and learn more. But not get bent out of shape when your own mission is your education and future prospects.
Smile and nod. Or grin and bear it. ?
Btw. It’s sometimes interesting and surprising to interact with others who have strong differing perspectives. A very “liberal” approach. Think about it.
If he isn’t favoring other Christian students or disrupting the education flow, can you shrug this off? Live and let be?
I don’t find the K-12 situation analogous. Parents get to choose how to raise their kids, and part of that can be preventing them from being exposed to religious beliefs. Parents may worry that hearing a Christmas song in the school choir will convert them and cause their child to want a baptism. The OP is an adult, not some gullible child who will change their whole belief system, based on reading a single email.
