learning about God is not ‘academic.’
A while ago somebody asked me which college I was going to. When I answered, “San Diego State,” he said, “Oh, you mean Sin College?”
The college years can be difficult for reasons other than homework. For many students, college is their first opportunity to begin exploring the world. It can also be their first chance to work with people who do not always agree with them. For people of faith, it can be a heavy burden to bear. There may be some places in the world where a person can feel comfortable sharing his faith, but SDSU is not one of them.
As a Christian, I hold certain truths and values that are sometimes the exact opposite of what other people say. I have learned to keep my faith “under a table” while going to school. There are certain rules that the average Christian follows as he attends SDSU that some people may not be aware of. I think there may be several students here who are following these rules:
1. When in class, keep your mouth shut. It doesn’t matter what kind of subject it is. Evolution is not confined to the biology classroom. The theory is so widely accepted you will hear it in psychology, sociology and even English classes. When the subject arises, do not raise your hand to disagree. You will be told to keep your opinions to yourself. Also, for the sake of taking the tests, you may have to pretend you believe in evolution.
2. When meeting other students, keep your mouth shut. Don’t get mad when they start to tell racial or ethnic or sexual jokes. Don’t speak up and say, “That’s not funny.” If you do, you will surely lose a friend, and we wouldn’t want that to happen, would we?
When they begin to brag about their sins, don’t tell them what they are doing (or lying about) is wrong. They don’t want to hear that. They will call you whatever they can think of to get you away from them. You must realize if they can’t brag to you, then they don’t want to talk with you at all.
By the way, if you don’t drink, learn. Everything in the world revolves around booze. They sell it on campus, so it can’t be that bad. You’re going to look funny at parties if you don’t drink. Never mind how funny the people who do drink may look. You don’t want to spoil the fun, do you?
3. Learn to like lousy music. It’s got a good beat you can lunge around to. If the lyrics offend you, don’t tell anybody. They don’t care what the singer is saying. They don’t care about what you’re saying, either.
Does that list sound exaggerated to you? Consider the man who stopped me as I was leaving campus one day. “Have you ever seen this?” he asked quietly. I looked down to see a religious tract in his hands. Standing at my side, he and I could barely look each other in the face. It looked more like a ticket scalping than a presentation of the Gospel. But can you blame him for not wanting to make a scene in a college that does not tolerate religion well?
You may argue that many religious organizations are on or near the campus. But I’m not talking about a religion or a church. I’m talking about the attitude of the school itself. There is an attitude throughout higher education that learning about God is not “academic.” In other words, religion is not seen as something that can be accurately taught. Have you ever heard someone say, “All religions are equally true (or false)?” Isn’t that just an excuse from someone who doesn’t care?
Nevertheless, that is the attitude of most colleges today. By labeling religion as “personal opinion,” they have left out an important part of learning. Today, even some “religious” people have stopped dead in their tracks when it comes to learning about God. They will drive across the country to see an image of Jesus, but they won’t pick up a Bible and read the words of Jesus for themselves. They trust a “vision” or a “feeling” because they don’t think they can trust the Bible.
I am aware of the separation of church and state, but that does not have to include a separation of religion and education. We should not be ashamed to ask questions about religion, and we certainly should not be ashamed to study it. Again, most people have been taught no one can know these things. The people who lose out are the people who want to know.
How many people do you think there are who have questions about God but are afraid to ask for fear of being mocked or labeled a fanatic? Do you think the average SDSU student would respect those kinds of questions more than anyone else?
I have been wrong. I’ve been trying to hide something that is very important to me. I’ve been afraid to say, “That’s not funny.” I wasn’t trying to ignore my faith. I was just trying to do my work so that I could get my diploma and get out of here. I had to refrain from talking about Jesus because most everybody at SDSU already does.
When we finally get that diploma, we will have learned there is more to life than that diploma. Our college experience is not limited to academics. Any questions that we have about God do not have to be ignored or hidden. SDSU students should not feel ashamed to explain what they believe and why they believe it, even though it may mean being very separate. Jesus told his followers to “let your light shine before men.” A song by Sting has a line in it which says, “At night, a candle is brighter than the sun.”
Steven Witucki is a journalism senior and a contributing columnist for The Daily Aztec.
