Is anyone here off to college in the fall?

[Chirish]

I'll be attending a public college in the fall and I'm terrified. Not because of being afraid I'll throw away my relationship with Christ, but because of people who ridicule Christianity. I'm the type of person who likes to debate, but I feel like I'm not ready to answer some of the questions people will ask.

 

[Girder of Loins]

I've just gone to college, and I was very surprised by the non-hostility of it all. Honestly, the teachers were worse than the people.

 

[Syckological]

Not because of being afraid I'll throw away my relationship with Christ, but because of people who ridicule Christianity.

Unless you want to become Atheist, Agnostic, or convert to another denomination of Christianity, you won't throw away your relationship. If you're already strong in faith, you should not have any problem. I will say that as someone who is starting his second semester in Community College, there will be people who won't take you seriously or may ridicule you if you're too....well for lack of a better word...in their eyes "eccentric". Flaunting your faith or expressing it left and right, etc. But again seeing as you're a person of faith, you won't have a problem with that. You can say "I'm a strong person in faith, i'm Christian" etc, but there is always a fine line of ENOUGH information, and TOO MUCH information. Also, you can always check out the many clubs that colleges have! Mine for instance has clubs for various amounts of faith where they talk about life and study together with like-minded people. But keep in mind, college is a social experience! You don't HAVE To be friends with like-minded people. I have friends who cross all over the spectrum. People of faith, people who don't have faith, people who don't fit racial stereotypes! The whole nine yards and it's great you're going to a college to experience the life.

I'm the type of person who likes to debate, but I feel like I'm not ready to answer some of the questions people will ask.

And BE ready. You'd be surprised about the knowledge people have. Quite a few private and public studies show that those with the least amount of faith (Agnostic, Atheist, other combos of the two) show the most knowledge of religion, history, and the like. And honestly, in many public colleges, the Atheists and Agnostics actually outnumber those of faith in some cases. However the GOOD thing is, they won't want to debate with you (most of them at least) as:

-It's trivial to them, having a debate.
-They don't care
-They respect your beliefs and views, and they wish for you to do the same. They have better things then to get on a person's bad side because of faith. They say they're Agnostic/Atheist, you say you're Christian, they'll ask if you're free to go bowling or something or want to have a study group. The Atheist/Agnostic in today's society yes, knows much more about religion..but many more are more concerned about how others will think of them, just as people of faith do. They'll express what they believe, but they're not going to judge you, and they'd much rather be your friend and hang out like any normal person in college would. The only difference you two would have is faith, and maybe a few differences on social issues, that's it.

 

[I Eat Pie]

Lol. What does college have to do with a lost relationship with Christ?