religion

<p>How big is Christianity? Is there a lot of prejudice against those who are say agnostic or of a different faith?</p>

<p>Are the convocations required even for those who have no religion?</p>

<p>I ask because from what I've heard it feels like this is a big deal. And I'm going to be a senior next year, and need to find colleges to apply to. I'm somewhat interested in Pepperdine because I feel like I can get in but I'm not sure about the culture there.</p>

<p>It's a pretty big part of the school for those who seek it out, but much of it can be avoided for those who aren't interested. There are definitely a lot of students there who aren't Christian (either agnostic or a different religion), and I wouldn't say there's much prejudice against them.</p>

<p>Convocations are required for everyone, regardless of their beliefs, but they're really not that big of a deal. You get a grade depending on how many you go to; to get an A you have to go to 14 in a semester (about 1 a week). There are usually multiple convo opprotunities each week, but most people go on Wednesday mornings in the Fieldhouse. Those are only about 45 minutes long, and lots of people bring books to read, or homework, or headphones and listen to music... Convos usually have some religious aspect to the main message, but not always.</p>

<p>There are also 3 required religion classes as part of the GEs. Religion 1 is a study of the Old Testament, and Religion 2 is a study of the New Testament; I'm not sure what Religion 3 is about, haven't taken it yet, but I believe there are different classes you can take to fulfill it (one girl I knew was taking some class that tied together medicine and religion). My professors aknowledged that not everyone in the class agreed with their beliefs, and they didn't try to push their beliefs on the class, but rather just focused on the events in the Bible, and how we got the Bible (when it was written, how it was copied and translated, etc.).</p>