Talking about God in class

[chikadee23]

I don't know if anyone else has had this experience, but I went to a Christian school all my life, but I'm attending a secular college now and trying to adjust to the new environment.

I've adjusted well I think, but right now I'm in a class where things get a little uncomfortable when the subject of God is brought up. Some people get upset at the mention of God or the Bible when it's brought up in class discussions. Once, my teacher asked for an example to explain what we were discussing in class(we're learning about different eras in American Lit.)

I made an analogy of how like the writer we were talking about in class wanted to be an advocate for people that didn't have a voice and had no one to represent them, in the Bible Jesus stood up for people as an advocate for people that were usually disregarded or looked down on. I wasn't saying the writer was religious; I was only trying to make a point and it was the first thing that popped in my head. I was probably way off, but a guy in my class got upset and said the discussion had nothing to do with God, the writer wasn't religious, and my comment was irrelevant.

Also, some people have commented in other discussions that the Bible is patriarchal and oppresses women, is outdated, and has many inconsistencies. Sometimes I get discouraged in class, and feel like any time the Bible is brought up in reference to how it influences literature, class gets uncomfortable. Maybe I'm just sensitive, but it definitely gets heated in class sometimes when religion is brought up. Has that happened to anyone else?

 

[Marcus Constantine]

I teach World Religion classes at a Christian college and at a secular university. A lot of students in the secular university almost are relieved to be taking a class where you're expected to be talking about God (or beliefs in general). Still, though, there are many people that are offended when confronted with notions about God or especially Jesus. This shouldn't be surprising. The New Testament says that for many the Gospel itself is an offense. The substitutionary death of Christ and His resurrection makes us confront our finite-ness, our sinfulness, and ultimately makes us look at our own life and conform it to God's will and plan. This is a painful process and one that the Holy Spirit helps us in. It is always easier to ignore truth and live your life in your own way. The Bible describes this as "folly" with the end result being eternal separation from God. So, with that in mind, I understand why some are offended that you would bring up God in a classroom. That being said, from a purely academic point of view, mature students should be able to discuss things objectively and not become offended when someone mentions something they don't like. In your example you made a valid comparison and it is a sign of intellectual immaturity that anyone would be offended by that.

 

[ForeverHarmony]

I know the feeling.

I'm in college, and when God is brought up, people are just so arrogant about their opinions. And its hard to sit and listen to it, because its all nonsense. I want to quote the first bible verse I can think of and set them straight, but I just look at my watch and endure for another 5 minutes. Then I get on the phone with my Mom and fuss about it, lol.

Like my Mom always told me "You know who you are and whose you are," Let their negativity go in one ear and out the other. May God bless you in your adjusting.

 

[BleedingHeart]

Hmmm.....I don't think I've ever seen anyone get upset by mention of God in my college, but then again that subject isn't brought up a lot.

"Also, some people have commented in other discussions that the Bible is patriarchal and oppresses women, is outdated, and has many inconsistencies."

And did you listen to what they had to say, or did you do tune them out like the student who missed the point about your analogy?

 

[chikadee23]

Any time God was mentioned in other classes I've taken (which wasn't too often), no one gotten upset, which is why the incident in that particular class stuck out to me.

I did listen to what they had to say, but it wasn't easy. At first, I really didn't want to because my first reaction was to get defensive. But I've learned I have to accept that not everyone has the same beliefs that I do, and I should try to understand where they are coming from instead of tuning them out.

 

[wholigan11]

In my first two years of college, I had gone to a Catholic college, so talking about God was normal. But I did transfer to a state school last year and the subject has come up in some classes. With my experience, many kids my age aren't sure if God exists, but they think that if they're good, they'll go to Heaven, or they do good things "just in case".

I know it's hard to listen to what others say. Ask God to help you in those situations. He'll help you in what to say when you're defending him.

 

[LovelyLeah93b]

I totally feel you. I'm starting in a secular university after Christian homeschooling all my life, so I am really having a hard time adjusting to God not being in everything we considered. I haven't had the chance to talk about God in class yet (I'm kinda quiet), but I want to. I'm in a huge biology class where we're talking about evolution, so I'm scared to death to say anything there! But in a couple of my other classes we are talking about early civilizations (even reading some of the Hebrew Bible in one of them!) so I think I will be able to bring Him up. I'm not sure if anybody else in my classes are Christians.

 

[K9_Trainer]

I'm involved in biology, so there's not really a whole lot of Christians. If God gets brought up, it's usually not in a Christian approved manner lol.

Anyway, my only advise is to stay on topic and keep things in context. It sounds like the OP was fine and somebody just over reacted. Generally, chances are, there's not many in class who really care about your beliefs, but nobody wants to hear conversion stories and how much they need God or arguments for why God exists in the middle of a class they payed thousands of dollars in tuition to attend. There's a time and a place for it, usually it's not during lecture.

And @LovelyLeah, I highly advise that you do NOT bring up God in your biology class or you will probably be humiliated. The sciences are not very "God-friendly" when it comes to the creation story.

Again, there's a time and a place for God and personal belief discussions. Biology class....Probably not one of them.

 

[Bramwell]

A lot of good advice being shared here. The general suggestion to consider your environment before saying too much sounds wise.

Also, we can achieve a lot through looking for ways to communicate Christian principles, without using terminology which is overly religious. For example, most people would agree with talk about the need for us to have more love, peace, etc. And they might also appreciate, for example, that greed has and is causing a lot of problems in the world today. These are all significant scripturally sound realities; if one can incorporate these concepts into their conversation with non-believers, then a great deal can be achieved.

Cheers!

 

[Luke1433]

On th side of saying more, I don't think we should shut up just because we are afraid of being humiliated.

Buit on the side of (perhaps) saying less, I don't think it's necessarily a point in God's favor just that we succeeded in mentioning him.

Like Bramwell says, if we have a good grasp of the practical realities of our faith, there will be times when they fit in quite naturally with something that is being said, and so we should not be ashamed to share our position, and, hopefully, we will be able to do so in a way that is relevant to the experiences of non-religious students.

 

[Sketcher]

Anyway, my only advise is to stay on topic and keep things in context. It sounds like the OP was fine and somebody just over reacted. Generally, chances are, there's not many in class who really care about your beliefs, but nobody wants to hear conversion stories and how much they need God or arguments for why God exists in the middle of a class they payed thousands of dollars in tuition to attend. There's a time and a place for it, usually it's not during lecture.

I agree with this, respect the time and the place, keeping everything on task. Ask challenging questions to appropriately steer the topic to what the alleged subject is, or to destroy a bad misconception.