Hostile professors?

Has anybody had a professor who ever made snide comments about christianity or tried to belittle or discredit the Bible? Was watching God's Not Dead with a church group a while ago and thought about this topic.

I didn't have anyone who was really like that personally. The closest I had was an instructor who made anecdotes about how he was brought up in a certain Christian tradition but does not follow that tradition anymore, and made a few remarks about Christianity that were off-kilter when explaining how Christianity motivated various things - in keeping with the course's subject matter. I was able to handle that by respectfully asking a series of questions related to the overall context that simultaneously challenged the wrong picture of Christianity that his comments seemed to be painting.

Bottom line is, college is a learning environment, and I kept standing up for my faith within that context, so I would not do more harm than good by appearing to derail the class. If the professor or instructor decides to derail his own class by going on an anti-Christian rant, then he has a problem. I made sure I wasn't going to reverse that role and have that same problem myself.

Nope, I've never had this happen.

Of course, I've never taken a theology class or anything so I guess the situation never arose. A vast majority of my classes are science classes so they deliberately avoid talking about religion altogether.

I did take creative writing as a gen-ed and that's the closest I've come to being offended as a Christian. It wasn't the professor though; it was the other students. Everybody thinks they're so enlightened at this age

Depends what you mean by discrediting the Bible. I go to a Catholic university, and all the theology/anthropology/etc. professors that I've had agree with the theory of evolution. I've learned about how, why, and when certain passages in the Bible came to be, from an objective standpoint.

God's Not Dead is a terrible, unrealistic movie that doesn't even grasp the meaning of what Nietzsche was saying.

Nope. Nor has anyone in my family mentioned such.

The closest I can think of is almost the exact opposite. A couple of my Physics profs maintained that Christian thought played a significant part in the birth of modern science. The Christian natural philosophers felt their God was a God of order and what a God of order had created men could figure out.

Of course that does not seem to apply to some sects today.

I have heard about a Prof who disparaged athletics. Dad was elected to a Freshman honors society. The Prof in charge scheduled the initiation during the USC UCLA football game. Turns out a significant source of income for dad was ushering at the games. When dad pointed out the conflict the prof made a snide remark. Dads reply was 'You can mail me my key' (the sign of membership).

Of course freshmen who were WW II vets are not quite the same as ones fresh out of High School.

Yes. I've got big problems concerning atheist teachers and colleagues because I study life sciences at the university, so I have to face anti-christian assumptions almost every day.
I'm still learning how to deal with it... I don't think confronting everything and everyone everytime is a healthy thing to do, but I'm sure christian students should study a lot more about their own religion to prevent some teachers from spreading lies about our faith.

I also pray a lot for them.

I attend an online college and have not encountered any major problems thus far. I even directly stated my faith in assignments for a public speaking course and am currently working on developing a Christian website for a project; the instructors have not given me any problems. I am sure it happens though. On side note, I truly enjoyed that movie, not as compelling argument for the faith but as entertainment.

I once had a English professor who made a crack about the Old Testament God vs. New Testament God and Jesus.

The atheist professor of "God's Not Dead" is a caricature more than it is any representation of real college learning. Religious fundamentalists and conservatives are scared that they aren't being taken seriously by anyone anymore. That's not the fault of colleges.

Not directly.
I did have a liberal arts professor who had such strong opinions on social topics that we all concluded we needed to write papers with the slant the teacher hoped for, if we wanted to do well. That was our choice.

If you're worried, remember that Christians pursue teaching careers too, and comprise part of the university staff.

If the professor or instructor decides to derail his own class by going on an anti-Christian rant, then he has a problem. I made sure I wasn't going to reverse that role and have that same problem myself.

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Healthy stance.
There isn't much time to bring up these topics, so it works against a student if they use class time to stir up tangents.

I don't think it's much different than workplace dynamics, or public high school, or friendships. There will always be people who think differently, and sometime they will use it against you; but there are often ways of preventing injustices.

dano41788 said:

Has anybody had a professor who ever made snide comments about christianity or tried to belittle or discredit the Bible? Was watching God's Not Dead with a church group a while ago and thought about this topic.

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A couple of years ago, I decided to go back to school and finish a degree I left unfinished years ago. In order to complete my degree, I had to take a humanities elective.

Nothing appealed to me, so I decided to take comparative religion. At this point in my life, I'd already been to seminary and been in teaching and pastoral ministry for twenty years, so I figured the class would be a snap.

The professor didn't know that I was a pastor at the time or that I had done far more rigorous study of various religions in seminary.

The class was not terrible. And then we got to Christianity. It was brutal. He treated every other religion respectfully but when he got to Christianity, it was nothing but contempt and wrong information.

I tried to be respectful to him, but I nearly got kicked out of class one day when I corrected him.

Being old enough to not be intimidated by him, I approached him after class to talk to him about some of the misconceptions he had about Christianity. He made it pretty clear that he did not care for Christianity or Christians.

The one good thing about that class was that we got to make two presentations and, both times, I was able to present the Gospel in class.

What a sad story. It's strange how Christianity has socially been confronted with such disdain, that people don't even realize they're being intolerant (in a course intended to promote tolerance and diversity.)

Time for experiential credit?

There's so much variety within Christianity, he might have only based it on what he had seen, with no research.

In my science courses evolution is taken as the truth. some professors are really adamant as well of making off jokes about religion and creation, and this is something that the rest of the class sometimes laughs at.

bhayes said:

In my science courses evolution is taken as the truth.

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And for good reason.

some professors are really adamant as well of making off jokes about religion and creation, and this is something that the rest of the class sometimes laughs at.

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Because intelligent design is a crap explanation.

Savior2006 said:

And for good reason.
Because intelligent design is a crap explanation.

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I went to a large state college that specialized in science and engineering. I was surprised by the number of engineering and science instructors I had that used the last day of class to teach how creation made more scientific sense than evolution. Several were department heads. No one was required to stay but we all did because it also the day that the instructor would give our exact grade so we would know if we needed to take the final or not. I wish I had not been so tired those days and had paid attention better. So not everyone agrees with your opinion.

Either way...creation or evolution is a faith based belief and can not be proven scientifically.

I have also had some profs who torned down Christianity...ironically, it was more likely in a liberal arts class than in a science based one. At this age, I don't have the energy to deal with their abusive garbage so I use "Rate my prof" websites to pick ones who don't have the reputation for being over the top fanatical.

Compare this research on sound waves of the Big Bang, to "God spoke." Both involve sound waves, but one appears simplistic because it was not described in detail.

The Sound of the Big Bang
Gravitational Waves from Big Bang Detected - Scientific American

When incorporating your faith into studies, try not to take a simplistic stance. God is not that simple. He uses intricacies and immense spaces, complex scientific principles to accomplish things that "made it look easy." He does not demand that we learn all the complexities, especially when each person does not have the same capacity to understand.

There are concepts about sound waves and faith that we will likely later find out to tie in with particle physics. But for now, make sure not to assume people make a connection between faith/soul/intent, and tangible objects. It is too long an explanation to gain their trust.

Show that you want to learn, and will use any fact-based body of knowledge to build or define your world view. Learn, and don't go into battle. People are not drawn to God by debate.

blackribbon said:

So not everyone agrees with your opinion.

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Of course not every single scientist agrees with evolution, as this is not a requirement of earning a degree, but surveys show the number to be 2% or less of US scientists.

There is no serious debate in the scientific community about whether or not evolution occurred.

I'm not really sure why it's such a big thing to believe that science and the existence of God contradict each other. The Bible isn't a scientific textbook and shouldn't be treated as such. Science explores what's happening in the physical world; it doesn't explore why things are the way they are on a grander scale.

A vast majority of scientists agree with the theory of evolution because there is physical evidence suggesting that that is how organisms have developed over time. It doesn't deal with how life started.

Not to pull this thread further off topic or anything hahahaha

I am currently a high school senior and have not officially begun college yet, but I've taken four summer classes at a local university and my school is operated by another university. Some of our teachers are also professors at the university. We're permitted to audit any university course that is of interest to us, and I've taken advantage of that opportunity. I feel like I have a fair idea of how professors behave. God's Not Dead felt as implausible as Hot Tub Time Machine to me in many regards. Can you imagine the amount of ire both within the university community and the world at large if a professor actually behaved the way the one did in the movie? Last year a TA who was leading an in-class conversation about philosopher John Rawls’ equal liberty principle rolled a snowball that led to an avalanche of hate falling down upon her when she rebuffed a student's desire to discuss gay marriage. She had sound reasons for doing so, but she was vilified, labeled as everything from a suppressor, to a witch, to the antichrist, to just a liberal (used as a pejorative), and people demanded that the university serve her head on a platter. In the movie the students were not taught the contents of the course they (or their parents) were paying for them to learn. The movie was based on an old urban myth, not real events.

My professors and teachers have all been very diplomatic, especially in regards to more sensitive and volatile topics. I'm currently in my third philosophy class and have audited two others. Religions have been extensively discussed, but with a productively respectful and unpatronizing tone. At times comments from the students have gone too far, but the professors have redirected them. Last year I took an Evolution, Ecology, and Environment course at UCLA that has a segment explaining why creationism is not a valid scientific alternative to evolution, but it was handled so considerately and delicately. It had a feather-touch to the Bible, mentioning it lightly, solely in relation to Genesis. There are dozens of creation myths, so it was not targeting the Bible's. Some could have perceived that as belittling or discrediting the Bible, but from the vibe of the class I am reasonably confident that no one actually did. I think we decide what offends us. Last quarter I audited an agnotology course that had a larger component on topics relating to Christianity, and the professor still had finesse. The course description and sample syllabus posted online provided an accurate explanation, and it was not a required course for any major. Students opted to take it and were at liberty to drop it.

I actually have felt that challenges to my faith have been whetstones for it, so as long as the professor wasn't a belligerent buffoon like the one in that movie I don't think I'd be that bothered if I did take a course where a professor more openly and forcefully confronted Christianity.

blackribbon said:

I went to a large state college that specialized in science and engineering. I was surprised by the number of engineering and science instructors I had that used the last day of class to teach how creation made more scientific sense than evolution. Several were department heads. No one was required to stay but we all did because it also the day that the instructor would give our exact grade so we would know if we needed to take the final or not. I wish I had not been so tired those days and had paid attention better. So not everyone agrees with your opinion.

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I guess part of it is this. If the guy or girl is a teacher of engineering and not biology, why should I listen to him over the massive consensus of biologists?

Either way...creation or evolution is a faith based belief and can not be proven scientifically.

I have also had some profs who torned down Christianity...ironically, it was more likely in a liberal arts class than in a science based one.

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I've always heard horror stories of professors, and not just from conservatives. There was apparently one guy at UM-Flint who thought that "modern slavery" originated with the Catholic church. I have no idea how he came to that conclusion, but my friend made it clear that students who agreed with what the professor thought had an easier.

It's a problem that does need to be addressed.

At this age, I don't have the energy to deal with their abusive garbage so I use "Rate my prof" websites to pick ones who don't have the reputation for being over the top fanatical.

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Sounds good.

goingbananas said:

I'm not really sure why it's such a big thing to believe that science and the existence of God contradict each other.

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I'm ranting and raving a lot but that's actually true. There COULD definite a single supernatural God or even several, fine.

The issue is when a group of religious people get together, write a book that completely makes up historical events like massive floods that cover the entire planet, and when evidence takes a nice little poopie on that notion, said religious people want to scream about liberal propaganda, get in position of power and pass laws and policies promoting their religious beliefs in classrooms at the expense of a real education.

The Bible isn't a scientific textbook and shouldn't be treated as such.

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Tell the conservatives and fundys that please.

Man, that joke wasn't very funny.

For abiogenesis, I'm a little bit skeptical. I've heard they have tried to recreate the effects in labs and I don't know if they'd had success or not. I haven't looked at a scientific journal recently.