I survived getting an Anthropology degree without anybody mentioning religion … wait a sec, it was mentioned all the time. Always in reference to the beliefs of the people we were studying, though, so I’ll change it: I survived getting an Anthropology degree without anybody asking me or any of my classmates their religion. In class, that is. I was asked by a co-worker if, in light of my major, I believed in evolution.
“It pretty much goes with the territory.”
“Then you can’t be a true Christian.”
“Since I’m Catholic I’m screwed out of that, anyway.”
(shrugging) Most everybody here is telling you the same thing: nobody (except maybe a fellow student) will try to make you an atheist but is you want to become an EMPLOYED geologist when you graduate you should probably not go into this as a Young Earth Creationist.
I just finished a doctorate in a branch of the earth sciences (petroleum engineering) and have never heard a professor speak like that in class. (I’ve also got degrees in mathematics). I’m a Christian (more or less, I was raised Catholic, and mostly attend an Episcopal church, so I’m certainly not a fundamentalist) I even see a few of the science faculty at the local Episcopal church.
College certainly tested, strengthened, and in some cases altered my beliefs ( I think I’ve changed political party affiliations 4 times since I was a freshman:) )
I think the only conflict would be, as others mentioned, if you wish to study geology and your faith is centered around a young-earth creationist belief. I’d have to wonder about job chances if you did find a Christian school that taught geology from that type of perspective.
I’ve got a B.A. in Japanese and as A.S. in computer science, and a habit of arguing for Christianity on this message board. My education did nothing to damage my faith. Even spending three years arguing with Atheists and Fundamentalist Christians around here hasn’t permanently harmed it, although the Fundamentalist Christians managed to bruise it briefly. Remember, Faucet, the Great Commandment is to love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (emphasis mine, of course). The Creator of all that is is not so small that He can be damaged by a nosy college kid, or even an arrogant college professor. If I thought He was, I would not worship Him.
If you’ve been attending school where most people are alike or try to be, then college will change your perceptions and the way you think about things, if only by exposing you to people who think differently from you and who’ve had different experiences. On the other hand, hanging around here will accomplish the same thing. Whether that damages your faith is up to you. How rigid and narrow are your beliefs? Are you willing to talk to someone who sees things completely differently and see how they came to that conclusion? If you’re studying geology, the question “Are you a Young Earth Creationist?” is very relevant indeed, and if you are one, you may find yourself having to choose between two directly contradictory ideas. On the other hand, as any number of people around here can tell you, you don’t have to be a Young Earth Creationist to be a Christian, although there are Christians who would disagree with that. Me, I’m used to that, but I’m Episcopalian, and, as I’ve put it, Episcopalian-style Bible Study consists of people sitting around, reading a passage from the Bible, and arguing about it until it makes sense.
Questioning human authority, whether it’s your current teacher or a college professor is not the same as questioning God’s authority. Even questioning God’s authority doesn’t mean you’re faithless or falling away from Christianity. Sometimes, questioning God’s authority can be a very good thing to do – just check the discussions in the BBQ Pit about the woman who thought she was stoning her children to death on God’s authority. As Christians, we have a good precedent for questioning authority – Christ, Himself.
I have a good friend who is both a geologist and Christian. He seems to have come through fine, including getting a Masters degree from a large public university.
I myself am a Christian and biologist and went to Berkeley, probably one of the more liberal schools you can attend (it has mellowed a lot) and I never got the sense that my teachers were trying to convince or convert me into anything but a good scientist. I did have a few church friends who struggled through the evolution chapters of biology, but that was more their own perception than anything the professors said.
I did have one very obnoxious TA, but that’s not the professor.
If you aren’t the type to stand up and claim persecution, I imagine that you’ll be fine.
I have several degrees and attended several colleges, though I took very few science courses (regrettably). During that time I had one obnoxious atheist professor (embittered Irishman who rarely missed a chance to take sniper shots at religion as the root of all evil in his country [a quite simplified view of the problems, I think] which was a bit odd since his subject area was astronomy) and one obnoxious Christian professor (subject area- history: he also said that anybody who agrees with the Calvinist doctrine of “predestination” is a “damned fool” and that only black churches really had any sense of connection to the divine [he was black]; I understand that after he got a student pregnant he became a bit less pious). I knew several obnoxious atheist and obnoxious Christian students and they’re the ones who’ll probably influence you more than faculty.
The goal for college is that you’ll be exposed to views and knowledge you never knew existed while reexamining what you currently “know” in a brighter light. Hopefully, regardless of where your religious convictions stand when you graduate, you’ll be one of the lucky few who comes away with an education as well as a degree.
BTW, some of the talk on the board reminds me of the case of Michael Dini , the biology prof who refuses to write letters of reference for students who reject evolution as a scientific possibility. Personally I think he’s completely reasonable, but ymmv.
I went to a well known university that was considered pretty darn liberal (though I was in a major/college that was fairly conservative). I never once heard a proffesor in class make statements about anyone’s religion being true or false. One professor was well known minister who led popular multi-faith devotionals.
The only thing a religious person might have found objectionable was when a religion scholar discussed early Christian texts treating them as historical documents rather than litteral truth. But then, if you don’t want to deal with religion in an rigorous and academic way, don’t take classes that aim to do this. Even that class never touched on whether anyone’s belief in god was correct or incorrect: it never discussed the issue of metaphysical truth at all, but I could see someone who thought that Paul was writting literal truth getting angry that the class was discussing the various scholarly views on what Paul’s essential idea of theology was and how it differs from the later Epistles. The teacher was an observant Jew, as far as I know, who’se two passions were baseball and Biblical scholarship.
I think the myth that college tries to turn you atheist comes more from religious zealots that don’t like certain ideas that are taught in courses (like, you know, biology): so they pretend that college professors give a damn what you believe in religious terms. They don’t. In other words: it’s a self-serving attempt to innoculate young Christians from asking questions or learning forbidden subjects.
I think the reality is that most people at COLLEGE AGE come to question their beleifs for the first time, and most colleges have a wide range of religious groups and religious debates in the social scene. But this process is as likely to strengthen one’s faith as hurt it.
I went to a public university, UCSD, which was then known as the abode of “godless” Marxists like Herbert Marcuse and Angela Davis. Well actually, I missed Davis, and Marcuse was semi-retired by the time I arrived, but there were still a lot of far-leftist professors, especially in my field, German literature.
At no time did I feel that anyone was trying to foist atheism on me, though, not having come from a strong religious background, I might not have noticed either way. For its relevance to the history of the eastern Mediterranean, we read the entire bible as a textbook during my freshman year. So there was obviously no attempt being made to avoid the Gospels, even though our study of it was meant to be scholarly and not devotional.
Now, on the other hand, trying to convince me that Wolf Bierman was a singer worth listening to…I’m looking at you, Dr. Walk!
The job of your college professors is to teach you to think. Whether you think your way into atheism or into a deeper religious faith is your responsibility, not theirs.
Geologist and nominal Catholic checking in. I can assure you that no professor I ever had brought up religion in the classroom. In fact, the only time religion was ever a topic of discussion was in a private conversation I had with my advisor, during one long evening of sitting by a campfire and talking about all sorts of philosophical issues. As others have said, if you’re not a young Earth creationist, you are unlikely to run into problems studying geology.
To be honest, what your teacher said to you about needing to attend a Christian college reminds me very much of a parent who is somehow afraid that all their years of trying to make you a “good person” are going to fly out the window if you associate with different groups of people. The general assumption is that you don’t have a mind of your own and will be easily led astray. (My parents were prime examples of this, although on other subjects like politics. ) Part of becoming an adult is re-examining what you have been taught when you were younger. For some people that re-examination leads them away from faith, for others their faith is strengthened. You need to find your own path, whatever that turns out to be.
By the way, you may not realize that there is a Affiliation of Christian Geologists. It includes some pretty well known and respected people. You might find what they have to say of interest.
Well, to offer a differing opinion in this thread, the Philosophy class I’m taking now is basically all about various proofs for the existence of God and how they’re wrong, wrong, wrong. The latest discussion we’ve had is how it’s a contradiction in terms for god to be all-powerful and entirely good, given that there’s evil in the world. Basically 20 people trying to prove to the prof that God could exist, while he shoots down all our arguments.
Um, but that exception aside, I’ve never seen a professor bring up the subject. You will, of course, be taught evolution if you take an introductory Bio class, so be forewarned if that’s a problem for you.
But how’s that different from the world in general or your likely place of employment? Don’t shelter yourself. Dive in.
Several posters on this thread already know that I’m a hardcore atheist. I also taught at a large state university in the American South for several years. Converting students to my beliefs wasn’t even remotely on my agenda.
However, many of my colleagues were blatantly anti-Christian in the classroom. This is both irresponsible and unprofessional. But it went largely unpunished. Fortunately, this was an English dept, so their misguided militantism had much less effect than they imagined.
Take control of your education. Ask pointed questions during the drop-add period, and if you find a prof has an anti-Christian bias, get another section. You’re paying for this, after all.
No offense to UDS intended, but if you run into a prof who believes this, drop the course immediately. You already know how to think. If not, you’re not ready for college. The college prof’s job is to introduce you to the tools and standards of the trade, and help you become reasonably proficient in them.
No offence to Thingol intended, but I’ve yet to meet a fresh high school graduate who could think, though I’ve met many who thought they could think. The more insightful ones, however, realise that they have some way to go.
If the “trade” to whose tools and standards the professor should introduce you to is the trade of thinking, reasoning, critical analysis, and the integration of experience and reflection then, yes, I agree with him; that’s (part of) a professor’s job. But if Thingol thinks that the professor’s job is confined to introducing you to the tools and standards of geology (or medicine, or engineering, or whatever) then I’m with jayjay.
) Part of becoming an adult is re-examining what you have been taught when you were younger. For some people that re-examination leads them away from faith, for others their faith is strengthened. You need to find your own path, whatever that turns out to be.
