I go to a Christian High School right now and my science teacher told me that if I was considering going into any type of field requiring a lot of science then I should try to get into a Christian University he said that when he was in school getting a masters degree that every year atleast one professor would try to turn him into an atheist and that they would tell him to his face that by the end of his college career he would be a full blown atheist. I could believe that because for my sophmore year I went to a public school and the teacher stood in front of the class and said “Christians get ready to chuck your theories out the window here comes real science.” How often does this happen in College? I want to become a Geologist.
From my experience and that of everyone else in my department I know (I am finishing my doctorate in aerospace engineering) it will never come up. In all my years in public school, college, and graduate school I have never heard anyone mention pro or con religion in class. We, as engineers, for the most part do not care. This is a good thing as I right now know of at least half dozen religions represented in my office. Things are certainly quite a bit different in the liberal arts where things involving human nature such as religion are openly discussed as part of the curriculum.
You fall into a slighly different category in that you are going into more of a pure science. My guess is that the only time you will hear anything about your beliefs is if you try pushing ideas of a 6000 year old earth on people who have ample evidence of (and have dedicated their lives to a field that shows) its falsity. If this was your POV, though I do not see why you would be considering a non-religious university in the first place.
My guess is that your teacher falls into the common problem of having odd misconceptions of people who are a little different from you. Spend some time among us heathens and you will see we are regular people who will not try to convert you (though we love to poke holes in bad theories, religious or otherwise).
The only thing that replaces knowledge (or belief) is more knowledge. There is nothing to worry about. If you keep your head, think clearly, and question relentlessly (including, of course, your own beliefs) you’ll tend to feel very justified in everything you think.
Dunno whether that means you’ll be an atheist or not, though. People tend to go both ways on this one.
Speaking as an atheist, your teacher was an insensitive nut. He was painting all Christians with a very wide brush. Christians don’t ALL believe in things that are counter to science. That being said, if you are the sort who believes that the Earth is anything less than several billion years old, geology is not the field for you.
As far as college goes, you might meet one or two professors who have a similar attitude to the teacher you mentioned, but there’s no big college-wide conspiracy to turn everyone atheist. You’ll be fine.
And why didn’t you complain about that instructor that made a Christian crack in class? I hate to doubt you but it doesn’t seem like something a teacher that valued his/her job would say. That being said if you’re a young earth creationist you’re going to have many rough moments of belief vs. the facts of Geology.
If you’re not a young earth creationist and can view the bible as a collection of inspiring stories then I don’t see you having a problem. Good luck in your degree.
(Normally this might be more of an IMHO thing but I’m afraid with religion as a topic it’ll just bounce back here anyway.)
I went to college and I don’t recall my profs mentioning their religion at all. College teachers will feel freer to talk about their beliefs regarding religion, communism, feminism, etc., but most likely most of the faculty will be Christians anyhow. Your soph year teacher was out of line to speak that way in a public school room.
However, if you are a young earth creationist and want to study geology, you may be in for some surprises.
Hey, some of my fondest memories in college were the periodic purges of religious students – the black-clad Enforcers would burst into the lecture halls in the middle of class, wrestle the foolish theist to the ground, hog-tie him, then drag him out even as the professor cackled evilly at the destruction of another God-fearing student. 
Seriously, the worst thing that you’ll get from your college instructors are new ideas. Some of these ideas will contradict stuff you already know (or think you know), which may cause you to question your beliefs and reassess your values – which will ultimately make you a more informed, well-rounded, educated individual.
…though given the malarky your science teacher was telling you, I imagine he truly believes that will be the worst thing to happen to you. :rolleyes:
As long as you’re not going to argue with them about creationism vs. evolution or espouse a 6,000-year-old earth, I don’t think most science professors give a damn WHAT your religious beliefs are. Keep your religion out of your geology and your geology out of your religion, and you should be fine. In the very unlikely event that anyone bothers you, report them to the administration. College professors are NOT like the ones in the Jack Chick tracts, I swear.
If you want to become a scientist, I hope you pay more attention to punctuation and grammar. I know this is a potentially annoying nitpick, but you should take the time to make your writing as easy to read as possible if you sincerely want responses.
As far as having to go to a Christian school to become a Christ-fearing scientist, I don’t buy that for a minute. I am a scientist (a biologist, more specifically) and a Christian, and I’ve only attended public schools. Never once did anyone try to convince me that my belief in God was bad or shameful. Many of my classmates were atheists, but many of them were also Christians, Jews, Muslim, etc. None of my professors gave any indication that they were atheist or not, and I didn’t care enough to ask.
If your religious views proscribe acceptance of evolution-as-a-historical-fact, you do not have to go to a Christian school for this to be “okay”. Your professors more than likely will not ask if you “believe” in anything in order to pass an exam or register for a course. Scientists should understand the theoretical framework of their field, and evolution provides the framework for both contemporary biology and geology. Even if you don’t “believe” in evolution, you should educate yourself about it. You will not learn about evolution in a traditional Christian school, but a more progressive institution will be more…um…progressive.
Since you are currently being educated in a Christian school, it would probably be a good experience to be at a more secular institution…at least, so that you’ll have your own experiences with non-believers. I’m not saying your teacher isn’t telling you the truth, but I wouldn’t say his experience is typical. If it were, most scientists would be atheists. They aren’t.
You have a lot of choices at your avail. You could go to a small Christian college that makes a big to-do about it’s religious focus. Or you could go to a school founded by a particular denomination but attracts students from all creeds. I taught at a school like that and was pleased that they allowed me to teach what I felt needed to be taught. At the same time, I was sensitive to the fact that I was teaching at a “Christian-founded” school, and I made sure to prepare myself for discomfort amongst the students during certain lessons. And everything turned out fine.
It’s a good news, bad news thing. The bad news is that you get converted to atheism. The good news is you learn the secret handshake and get a toaster oven.
Another science grad here (app. math & comp. sci.) and Catholic…Did not experience any attempts of conversion by any other party/sect/prof…What I did experience is the cultural and religious diversity of other students and the exchange of ideas/beliefs among them…some became friends and others drifted on by, but I felt enriched by the diversity instead of cocooned in my own beliefs at a religious institution…
I’ll chime in with the advice not to mention your religion in classroom science discussions. If you can do that, then it’d be the height of rudeness for anyone else to mention theirs.
Of course, you might encounter people making jokes about God playing dice with the universe or some such, but that’s God-as-metaphor, not God-as-theory. Don’t evangelize, and I think you’ll be fine.
I certainly don’t recall any professor at my decidedly pinko school ever making a religious or atheistic declaration in class.
Daniel
If you’re a ‘committed’ Christian then how can anyone turn you into an athiest? You may be exposed to ideas that are different than your own and you may be asked to question, but no one can persuade you into abandoning your religion if it really means that much to you. So it won’t matter what your professors try. Though I don’t think that it will really be an issue.
Stick to your morals and ethics, but also be open to other ways. That is what makes college so great. You get to try out a bunch of ideas and see what is best for you.
The professors in college are not ‘out to get you’. They are there to educate you. If you go to an accredited college to learn geology, you are going to learn a different version of geologic history than at, say, Bob Jones “University”.
Unless I’m mistaken, Bob Jones is not accredited – and the ‘science’ kit it furnishes to christian schools is not going to do incoming freshman much good at any accredited school.
It’s not that the professors in college will ‘turn you into an atheist’, it’s that exposure to reality will tend to make you question your beliefs. If you have always been taught, and fervently believe, that the earth is only 6000 years old, most of what you’re going to learn in an accredited geology department will run counter to those beliefs. If you can reconcile that with your faith, then OK. If not, be prepared to rethink your theology.
Be prepared for another shock – most of your not-necessarily-christian classmates are just normal people, not evil minions of satan. They are likely working out their own theological issues, and might pose a far greater risk to your beliefs than any college course.
While what the teacher said was boneheaded, I can’t see how that is trying to convert someone to atheism. You can believe in a God but also believe in evolution and the big bang or whatever else he taught you about.
I didn’t major in science, but I did take several science courses. None of the science professors I had ever mentioned religion at all. One told us about how much she admired E.L.F. and thought we ought to too, but that’s about as far as any professor I ever had went to try to get people to switch beliefs. [sub] it worked. I learned to believe that she was a nutcase. [/sub]
I thought it was the converter who gets the toaster oven.
Faucet…
I almost became a priest and 20 years later I am virtually an athiest.
Be afraid. Be very afraid. 
It wasn’t university directly. It was a slow process that took from age 18-age 33 to complete.
I should say I didn’t almost become a priest but almost went down that career track.
My bad.
The point is that I was seriously considering it.