Do Christian students have a prayer in the classroom?
The front page article in today's Yale Herald speaks to this question in surprising ways. Following our summary of the piece, we invite your responses, experiences, insights.
Yale undergraduate Lucas Kwong begins his article "Do Christians students have a prayer in the classroom?" with a look back into his journal: "I feel as if I'm drowning in an intellectual maelstrom, a vortex from which there is no release." As a participant in Yale University's Directed Studies, a freshman interdisciplinary program focused on foundational works of Western civilization (many from the Christian tradition), Kwong struggled to cope with the baptism-by-fire he went through at Yale with respect to his faith. "Even texts sympathetic to my belief seemed to verify that Christianity was a quaint historical artifact rather than a living, breathing, intellectually plausible system of belief."
Still, Kwong believes that he entered college amidst a groundswell of post-9/11 academic interest in religion combined with a growing Christian community across the Ivy League. He says, "Had I matriculated in 1999, academics might have spurred me into agnosticism; in 2003, though, a nascent network of students and faculty existed to convince me that my belief was worth preserving, even at Yale."
Yale professors interviewed for the article cited September 11, 2001, as the trigger for an "unprecendented revival of intellectual interest in religion after decades of indifference." One example cited: after a recent curriculum review, Harvard is considering requiring a course in religion towards the undergraduate degree. Says Yale philosophy prof John Hare, "It's clear now how much is at stake for our world with regard to religious questions." Religious studies chair Carlos Eire observes, "Back in the '80s, and even into the early '90s, people would regularly come up to me and ask why we were teaching religion in the university. No one asks that any more."
Alongside this trend of general interest in religion, Lucas Kwong maintains that "Christianity--once the pariah of modern intellectualism--is slowly inventing itself as a viable academic perspective on campus." He credits this shift to Christian students "who take their cues from the few professors they know to be believers" and have formed communities of intellectual and spiritual support. "Professors known for straddling faith and reason are necessary models in an environment where, despite a renewed openness to religious discussion, Christians are still left feeling that they have something to prove."
As religion becomes a central concern for scholars across the nation, what do you think will be the consequences for Christian belief in the classroom? Kwong explores this question further in his article.
From the larger intellectual culture, last week's Guardian article, "Atheists top book charts by deconstructing God," proclaims, "Secularism is suddenly hip...The phenomenon represents a backlash against a perceived rise in religious fundamentalism and recent crazes for 'spirituality' by way of books such as The Da Vinci Code. Secularists are now eager to show that the empiricism of science can debunk the claims of believers."
Where do you think these trends are going? What has your experience been?
Let us hear from you! We welcome your comments to this posting.
Yale undergraduate Lucas Kwong begins his article "Do Christians students have a prayer in the classroom?" with a look back into his journal: "I feel as if I'm drowning in an intellectual maelstrom, a vortex from which there is no release." As a participant in Yale University's Directed Studies, a freshman interdisciplinary program focused on foundational works of Western civilization (many from the Christian tradition), Kwong struggled to cope with the baptism-by-fire he went through at Yale with respect to his faith. "Even texts sympathetic to my belief seemed to verify that Christianity was a quaint historical artifact rather than a living, breathing, intellectually plausible system of belief."
Still, Kwong believes that he entered college amidst a groundswell of post-9/11 academic interest in religion combined with a growing Christian community across the Ivy League. He says, "Had I matriculated in 1999, academics might have spurred me into agnosticism; in 2003, though, a nascent network of students and faculty existed to convince me that my belief was worth preserving, even at Yale."
Yale professors interviewed for the article cited September 11, 2001, as the trigger for an "unprecendented revival of intellectual interest in religion after decades of indifference." One example cited: after a recent curriculum review, Harvard is considering requiring a course in religion towards the undergraduate degree. Says Yale philosophy prof John Hare, "It's clear now how much is at stake for our world with regard to religious questions." Religious studies chair Carlos Eire observes, "Back in the '80s, and even into the early '90s, people would regularly come up to me and ask why we were teaching religion in the university. No one asks that any more."
Alongside this trend of general interest in religion, Lucas Kwong maintains that "Christianity--once the pariah of modern intellectualism--is slowly inventing itself as a viable academic perspective on campus." He credits this shift to Christian students "who take their cues from the few professors they know to be believers" and have formed communities of intellectual and spiritual support. "Professors known for straddling faith and reason are necessary models in an environment where, despite a renewed openness to religious discussion, Christians are still left feeling that they have something to prove."
As religion becomes a central concern for scholars across the nation, what do you think will be the consequences for Christian belief in the classroom? Kwong explores this question further in his article.
From the larger intellectual culture, last week's Guardian article, "Atheists top book charts by deconstructing God," proclaims, "Secularism is suddenly hip...The phenomenon represents a backlash against a perceived rise in religious fundamentalism and recent crazes for 'spirituality' by way of books such as The Da Vinci Code. Secularists are now eager to show that the empiricism of science can debunk the claims of believers."
Where do you think these trends are going? What has your experience been?
Let us hear from you! We welcome your comments to this posting.
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