Religious Colleges

[sanantone]

By coincidence, this is exactly what's been on my mind today, too. I'm trying to decide if I should stick with my current MBA program or transfer out. Two of the schools I'm considering are Christian schools, and I am an irreligious agnostic.

For one of those schools, they only bring up religion in certain courses (eg, "Christian Counseling"), but keep it out of courses where it's not relevant.

For another, the school is unabashedly Christian in its ideology, but welcomes people of all sorts. They don't force their views on students, although it might come up from time to time.

I don't think either situation would be a problem for me as a student. My concern is how these schools are viewed by the public. Do people realize that these are academic programs with a superficial sprinkle of religion, or do they imagine that they are religious programs with a superficial sprinkle of academics?

Liberty University has a poor reputation among many life scientists because the school believes that Creationism is science. While someone might be okay getting a public administration degree from there, I wouldn't recommend getting a science degree from there.

[Maniac Craniac]

By coincidence, this is exactly what's been on my mind today, too. I'm trying to decide if I should stick with my current MBA program or transfer out. Two of the schools I'm considering are Christian schools, and I am an irreligious agnostic.

For one of those schools, they only bring up religion in certain courses (eg, "Christian Counseling"), but keep it out of courses where it's not relevant.

For another, the school is unabashedly Christian in its ideology, but welcomes people of all sorts. They don't force their views on students, although it might come up from time to time.

I don't think either situation would be a problem for me as a student. My concern is how these schools are viewed by the public. Do people realize that these are academic programs with a superficial sprinkle of religion, or do they imagine that they are religious programs with a superficial sprinkle of academics?

Liberty University has a poor reputation among many life scientists because the school believes that Creationism is science. While someone might be okay getting a public administration degree from there, I wouldn't recommend getting a science degree from there.

I have no interest in touching Liberty with a ten foot pole!

Although, with an 11 foot pole, the MA in Linguistics is somewhat of a temptation. So long as the curriculum doesn't begin with the Tower of Babel. 

[jcooke]

I have been taking the two literature courses offered through ONU, and I'm finding it a bit difficult to stomach some portions of the coursework, but for the most part, it is do-able. I'm approaching a point where the entire unit relies on my ability to analyze literature that is scripture-based, and I am cringing already, just thinking about it. I know I will complete it because I want these credits, but it's definitely not my cup of tea. I also have religious trauma, so that plays a part. I say, if you can grin and bear it, go for it. I try to keep an open mind to it all, even though I know Christianity is at the very bottom of all of the subjects I have interest in.

[Alpha]

I think it's important to point out that many colleges and universities are "religious" but do not push their belief systems onto their students.  Boston College and Georgetown University are both Catholic schools.  Boston University and Duke University are both Methodist schools.  All of these schools are quite tolerant of their student's personal religious beliefs.  It's not their religiousness that is at issue.  It's the degree to which the religious beliefs of the school are rolled into the rest of the curriculum.  Occasionally students are required to sign onto some type of spiritual/behavioral pledge in order to enroll.  I've linked to one below.  Clearly in these sorts of situations the student can fully expect that the religious beliefs of the school will be integrated into the curriculum in a definitive, non-debatable manner.
https://policy.byu.edu/view/index.php?p=26

[ss20ts]

I think it's important to point out that many colleges and universities are "religious" but do not push their belief systems onto their students.  Boston College and Georgetown University are both Catholic schools.  Boston University and Duke University are both Methodist schools.  All of these schools are quite tolerant of their student's personal religious beliefs.  It's not their religiousness that is at issue.  It's the degree to which the religious beliefs of the school are rolled into the rest of the curriculum.  Occasionally students are required to sign onto some type of spiritual/behavioral pledge in order to enroll.  I've linked to one below.  Clearly in these sorts of situations the student can fully expect that the religious beliefs of the school will be integrated into the curriculum in a definitive, non-debatable manner.
https://policy.byu.edu/view/index.php?p=26

None of this describes the university I'm talking about. The one I'm considering is Southern Baptist university. They have required chapel days every semester for undergrad on campus students. You're required to go to chapel x number of Wednesdays every semester. You earn points for this and the points accumulate. You're also required to take 4 religion courses. You're required to have x number of points to graduate. The graduate online program has none of this and no mention of it. Every email from the university includes biblical messages, verses, etc. 

BYU is a Mormon university. Most students there are Mormons. They have a strict code for ALL students. The Mormon faith is part of their required curriculum. From a sociological standpoint it is an interesting place.

[Alpha]

I think it's important to point out that many colleges and universities are "religious" but do not push their belief systems onto their students.  Boston College and Georgetown University are both Catholic schools.  Boston University and Duke University are both Methodist schools.  All of these schools are quite tolerant of their student's personal religious beliefs.  It's not their religiousness that is at issue.  It's the degree to which the religious beliefs of the school are rolled into the rest of the curriculum.  Occasionally students are required to sign onto some type of spiritual/behavioral pledge in order to enroll.  I've linked to one below.  Clearly in these sorts of situations the student can fully expect that the religious beliefs of the school will be integrated into the curriculum in a definitive, non-debatable manner.
https://policy.byu.edu/view/index.php?p=26

None of this describes the university I'm talking about. The one I'm considering is Southern Baptist university. They have required chapel days every semester for undergrad on campus students. You're required to go to chapel x number of Wednesdays every semester. You earn points for this and the points accumulate. You're also required to take 4 religion courses. You're required to have x number of points to graduate. The graduate online program has none of this and no mention of it. Every email from the university includes biblical messages, verses, etc. 

BYU is a Mormon university. Most students there are Mormons. They have a strict code for ALL students. The Mormon faith is part of their required curriculum. From a sociological standpoint it is an interesting place.

I have no problem if a private school wants to have rules like that.  I have no problem with students who agree to such rules.  My point was only to highlight the fact that there are a LOT of "religious schools" that do not take such an extreme approach to higher education.  Perhaps the online graduate program is exempt as it would essentially be unenforceable.

[sacredrain]

Anyone ever attend a religious college and you're not religious? I have found a program that I love but am a bit apprehensive about because it's a really religious university. The on campus program has chapel requirements and required religion courses. The online master's degrees don't have those requirements. The textbooks all appear to be the regular college textbooks except for one which is a book of management proverbs. I'm not religious at all. This is what I'm struggling with. The university is open to all faiths and has a mix of students. I'm thinking this could make for some interesting talks in the ethics class! Everything I have read about the school and the discussions I've had with staff have been great and really supportive which as an online student is really important. Religion has not come up at all in any of my conversations which I think is a bit interesting. Has anyone gone to a religious school and what was your experience? What did you struggle with? What worked for you?

I received my bachelor degrees from a  private Methodist supported university and I am not that religious. It also helps that the Methodist religion is somewhat liberal compared to some denominations. Chapel was not required, it was on the campus but you had a choice to go there or not. The only real forced religious requirement was that I had to take 2 religious courses to get my degrees. You could choose from Old and New Testament, World Religions, or Religious service (where you volunteered at the chapel and had to keep a journal that entire semester).  The university had students from all over the US and around the world and many with different sexual orientations. We even had a co-ed dormitory, while it was off campus, it only caused minimal stir.

I later obtained my first full time professorship position at a private liberal arts university that is part of the Original Free Will Baptist Church. While this denomination is stricter than the Methodists, I once again never encountered any issues there. Chapel was also optional here for students and faculty. Once again you had students and faculty from all around the world, some who were not Christian by any means. In fact one of my colleagues was a Buddhist, and two were Muslim from overseas. I was here for 4 years before accepting my current position at a large state supported university that pays far more than my previous university. This university also introduced one co-ed dormitory about 5 years ago, which also caused a stir but it is one of the popular dorms of course on campus.

As these church supported and affiliated universities receive federal financial aid money, they really cannot discriminate and most have dropped their chapel requirements from the 60s to 80s requirements in favor of optional chapel attendance and fulfill the religious requirements by adding religious courses to ones degree plan. Things have changed so much, I have friends who do not want to send their daughter to Liberty University or Bob Jones because they now think both of these universities are liberal! So they are opting to send her to Pensacola Christian College, which I understand is very conservative and the university is segregated by gender, with heavy monitoring of the student's activities.

[ss20ts]

I did decide to apply to the religious college. I'll be starting a new thread with more details.

[pugbelly2]

Anyone ever attend a religious college and you're not religious? I have found a program that I love but am a bit apprehensive about because it's a really religious university. The on campus program has chapel requirements and required religion courses. The online master's degrees don't have those requirements. The textbooks all appear to be the regular college textbooks except for one which is a book of management proverbs. I'm not religious at all. This is what I'm struggling with. The university is open to all faiths and has a mix of students. I'm thinking this could make for some interesting talks in the ethics class! Everything I have read about the school and the discussions I've had with staff have been great and really supportive which as an online student is really important. Religion has not come up at all in any of my conversations which I think is a bit interesting. Has anyone gone to a religious school and what was your experience? What did you struggle with? What worked for you?

From a strictly academic perspective, learrning secular subjects through a Christian worldview, if you are not already a person of faith, could be quite rewarding. You're still going to learn the meat and potatos of the given subject. The faith-based perspective could be a nice academic extra if you allow it to be because you'll receiving some insight into the worldview of about 2.6 billion people. 

Pug

[ss20ts]

From a strictly academic perspective, learrning secular subjects through a Christian worldview, if you are not already a person of faith, could be quite rewarding. You're still going to learn the meat and potatos of the given subject. The faith-based perspective could be a nice academic extra if you allow it to be because you'll receiving some insight into the worldview of about 2.6 billion people. 

Pug

While you may find it rewarding, I did not. I did not enjoy being forced to read bible scriptures and a book on Proverbs which completing courses in project management. The lessons had NOTHING to do with project management. We didn't even discuss project management the weeks we completed the religion coursework. I have ZERO regrets about leaving the school. I know all I need to know about Christianity. This thread is 2 years old. This is your first time posting on the forum and you go digging for a 2 year old thread? Screams spammer to me.