Hostile professors?

[jacks]

Most college professors believe in God, so it is not surprising that we don't have too many Christian hostile professors.

 

[parsley]

I've actually heard of more problems in high school, where standardized tests leave less choice, and teachers have more time with the students. Sometimes there are no opportunities to confront what is on a test.

A friend of mine teaches HS science and she ran across a textbook that call evolution a scientific law -- which would rank its principles equivalent to the law of gravity. Science is a discipline of continual scrutiny, and evolution still lacks solid documentation because we haven't watched the transformations we claim happened millions of years ago.

So not only are they teaching disputable facts as indisputable, but some are poorly teaching how scientific principles are established.

I know middle- and high school kids who ran across multiple choice questions on tests that gave them no choice to explain -- hard-headed stances about global warming, evolution, etc. It's possible these things happen in college too, but there's more of an emphasis on presenting research and analysis. Depending on the major. So if a person defends their points with quotes and solid facts, the grade includes that as well as rote answers.

And if you disagree with how a question is worded on a test, talk to the professor during the week.

 

[blackribbon]

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.

They weren't explaining it biologically...the one I remember the most was using physics....and it was either a physics class or a mechanical engineering one (which is simply the application of physics principles).

 

[Ada Lovelace]

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

I watched the movie last spring when I was reading Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra and had the faintest, naive hope that it would in some way be relevant to what he wrote about God being "dead." All it did was present a circus mirror reflection of college classes, philosophy, atheists, and Christians. The writers either didn't get what Nietzsche actually meant by the statement or did and decided to completely distort it. I thought the depiction of Christians was actually belittling and discrediting our reasonableness. The daft and petty girlfriend of the protagonist is a prime example.

The one thing it got marginally correct was the scene with the presentation of the Big Bang. The line "you don't have to commit intellectual suicide to believe in a creator behind the creation" was one of the few I actually liked. Answers in Genesis repudiated the movie for having "unbiblical" elements. Shocccckkkker.

Random question - has anyone here seen an old movie titled Magnolia? I just watched it after unearthing the soundtrack in our house and promptly loving it. I didn't care for the movie nearly as much. I really think the filmmakers of God's Not Dead copycatted Magnolia's style of interwoven storylines.

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.

With the exception of a handful of conservative Christian colleges I don't think there are many modern-day professors of subjects relevant to evolution who do not agree with it, regardless of their spiritual or religious beliefs. Even at Bryan College which was named in honor of the anti-evolutionists prosecutor William Jennings Bryan there has been controversy on campus regarding Genesis. There was a NY Times article about it last May.

I'm a Protestant Christian and have always attended churches that see no conflict with evolution. We have a resolution similar to the Vatican's statements regarding the compatibility between the evolutionary theory of human origins and the doctrine of God as Creator. My faith has never been an impediment to my science education.

 

[Savior2006]

Here's the full context. He's not talking about the death of God in a literal sense.

God is dead - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And of course, "Is God Dead" a controversial article in the 60s, is another interesting read.
The overall summary is the dwindling importance of religion with regards to society.

Is God Dead? - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Ada Lovelace]

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.

Thanks for the links and advice.

There's a quote from Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot that resonated with me, and your post sort of reminded me of it in a positive way:

“How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, “This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant?” Instead they say, “No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.” A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the Universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths.”

There are some parents who seem to treat certain aspects of science as this boulder that will demolish their child's faith if they head directly into it, and so they construct ways to circumnavigate around it. I read a post where a father stated that he was gnawed with worry about his son being required to take biology at his public high school because he was afraid for him to learn about evolution, and so he diligently prayed about it. He felt like it was an answered prayer when his son was granted an exemption and allowed to repeat chemistry instead. It made me feel this unexpected, profound rush of gratitude for my own parents who are Christians, but like Sagan stressed the magnificence of the universe and science's ability to be used as a form of reverence and awe of it. They've encouraged me to venture into science as unfenced, expansive, and hospitable territory to explore and discover. It's empowered me. I've loved the science classes I've taken thus far and intend to take more in college even though I'll be pursuing a career in law. There's a neurobiologist who is a self-described "strident atheist" but he teaches his classes respectfully and just presents his research and knowledge. Belief is ours to do with as we choose with the light of knowledge and the reservoir of faith. I think science can lead you to have a deeper and more meaningful understanding of life and the world we live in, and it can enable you to be a better steward and citizen if you responsibly put the knowledge to use.

As for debates about God and the intertwining of religion and science, I actually think many people are drawn to them so long as they are in the right context. Too many people approach it with a stance of rigid dogma and have an antagonizing attitude that shuts down productive dialogue. Others are more open. I think knowing that a challenge to your faith or criticism of your religious beliefs isn't an attack that needs to be forcefully defended makes it a more peaceful discussion. Too many people treat debates like battles. They aren't appropriate for most science classes, but can be depending on the circumstances, and they have a place in philosophy and religion. I was reading on a forum for the college I'll be attending about a Jesus Seminar in Santa Cruz that drew in a huge crowd. It was more about the politics and life of Jesus than science, but it shows that there's academic curiosity about his life and a desire to learn more about it. The professor who presented it is wanting to give the seminar at my college in the near future. I'll definitely go, and hopefully there will be some interesting conversations amongst friends afterwards.

 

[citizenthom]

College is a useful experience in this respect: in the real world, very few people in power of any kind have a meaningful relationship with God. But only in college do these people actually voice and/or act on that fact. Those people are generally too candid with both their bigotry and their lack of intelligence to succeed in the private sector. Learn to navigate them and show them real Christian love while performing well under their tutelage and you will learn the basics for succeeding in an anti-Christian world.

 

[parsley]

My professors and teachers have all been very diplomatic, especially in regards to more sensitive and volatile topics.

Great description.

I've always heard horror stories of professors

One thing to consider: colleges try to bring in professors from other countries, which broadens students' cultural exposure. But if a professor has not yet had time to acclimate from they way their culture responds, students might face some unusual responses which the professor did not intend for offense.

The international mix is common in most countries these days, so I am not saying one country is wrong and one is right. That does not explain all the range of opinions, of course.

 

[parsley]

He felt like it was an answered prayer when his son was granted an exemption and allowed to repeat chemistry instead

That was a terrible decision on the school's part. No accredited school would consider that two courses, unless an independent study component were built in.

“How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, “This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant?”

Don't you think Christians who study science are awestruck by the complexity of systems? I was.

But religion as a whole... I'd guess that's because the preachers were not required to take as much science when they pursued their theology degrees.

This last decade or two has seen a resurgence in the Creationism debate. A couple decades ago, people hardly cared about it. That had nothing to do with science -- it was stirred up with a shift in doctrine and approach, IMO.

 

[seashale76]

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.

Yes- once- around twenty years ago now. It was in a Women's Studies' course called Women in Religion. I was one of the few straight, non-pagans in the class. The professor ranted endlessly about her hatred of Christianity and pushed her particular branch of paganism. Even atheist students got fed up with her and called her on her shenanigans. One of the books she used in the class was historical revisionist rubbish. I actually went through the trouble of checking all of the sources (as I was an Anthropology major and the book cited a lot of Archaeologists). I took it to my professors in the Anthropology department and they were livid that she was pushing that on everyone. The sources didn't match with the claims.

 

[morningstar2651]

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.

Nope. Never. Never discussed religion in class.

 

[morningstar2651]

Yes- once- around twenty years ago now. It was in a Women's Studies' course called Women in Religion. I was one of the few straight, non-pagans in the class. The professor ranted endlessly about her hatred of Christianity and pushed her particular branch of paganism. Even atheist students got fed up with her and called her on her shenanigans. One of the books she used in the class was historical revisionist rubbish. I actually went through the trouble of checking all of the sources (as I was an Anthropology major and the book cited a lot of Archaeologists). I took it to my professors in the Anthropology department and they were livid that she was pushing that on everyone. The sources didn't match with the claims.

Let me guess - The Witch-Cult in Western Europe (1921) by Margaret Murray?