Right now I am looking at colleges and I am wondering if anyone out there has gone to a private religious college yet are not religious. For example, I have been looking at Baylor. I definitely do not want to nock a school just for it's religious beliefs but honestly I am scared that I would face a lot of bigotry and close mindedness especially because I am in the south. Now I am definitely not trying to say that everyone religious is close minded because I know for a fact that it isn't true, but I have faced a lot of that and fear it happening when I go to school and can't help but consider it. Does anyone here have experience going to a school whose core religious beliefs clashed with yours?
I have not attended a religious college; however, keep in mind that the schools mission statement is going to be reflected in the classroom and by the instructors. I go to a "liberal" school and I kind of enjoy the diversity that is embraced there. Personally, I would be apprehensive about attending a school where it is likely that bigotry is going to be at higher levels than a non-religious school.
On further inspection of the school, religious courses and church attendance are required. I've always been forced to attend church and I don't know if I would be able to handle that. Even so, I was reading some student reviews of the school and while several of them said it was ideal for Christians, a few also talked about how the teachers have them think outside the box and do not try to force beliefs on you which seems like a perk in that setting. Having them think outside the box to me seems like they might try to help the students have more open minded thought processes.
I went to a Christian school for five years deep in the closet. A college may be different. The local catholic college has a GSA. There seems to be a variety of levels of acceptance among the faculty. At one point I had considered attending Oral Roberts University. The campus was not as wheelchair accessible as they claimed. After my visit to the campus I learned of a group of lgbt alumni that called themselves ORU-OUT. So even at a fundie college there are gay students. Roberts had a son that was gay. He killed himself. He also has a grandson that is gay.
Depends on the college. I was given a choice by my family to choose between three Christian private colleges. I visited one whichh required chapel attendence. The Christians said the non-Christians can be put off by the amount of Christians there. All the professors are required to be Christian. I overheard a conversation at the cafe about how they could convert their non-Christian friends and that was the last straw for me. They did have a LGBTQ club, though. One of them was known to be conservative. They didn't have a LGBTQ club,and refused to comment on the matter. I didn't bother to visit. The one I'm going to is liberal. I asked some non-Christians when I visited how they felt and they said they weren't pressured. The only required Christian component is taking one class about a Christian topic. There are many Christians here but I have met a lot of atheists, and liberal Christians. There are social justice events at my school from time to time, even a dorm themed social activism. But the ethnic diversity is still low.
