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I feel like drinking, after today.
My Religion class is like that.
Here's what I wanted this class to be: A discussion of various beliefs, told from the view of a respectful skeptic. This includes Christianity.
Here's what the class is: Apreacher professor telling us about his religious beliefs, completely ignoring the syllabus in favor of his 'teachings'.
Now, I can deal with this, normally. I'm used to Christians being very vocal about what they believe in. Good for them.
But you would expect from a teacher a bare modicum of respect for those who do not share their beliefs, correct?
Well, in this class, you would be wrong.
Today we were supposed to discuss Hinduism in limited detail, and then watch The Hogfather.
What we did was sit around and talk about the Bible.
It was reminiscent of my old Sunday School courses. It was one man, backed by his choir of believers who also take the class, preaching to us.
From the number of people who participated in his enthusiastic sermon, there are exactly four non-Christians in that class. We all sit in the back, and we were all gritting our teeth, trying to remember that we needed this course credit.
Whats worse, we were directly ridiculed, in front of the entire class.
When asked why more people didn't read the Bible, if they called themselves 'Christians', I responded aloud, "Because it's long and boring and full of contradictions."
To which he replied, "Can you tell me the contradictions?"
"No. I haven't read the Bible."
"Ah."
He then began to expound to the class that a lot of people wrote off the Bible as contradictory, and yet have not read it, and how we clearly did not know what we were talking about.
I was humiliated and said no more in the class.
The professor continued to lead a discussion about Heaven and Hell, and how people got the right to go there. Other people in the class offered evidence or denied certain aspects, to which he listened and offered comparative evidence.
My friend, a Jew, who sits next to me, asked a question. He wanted to know where Christians got their concept of Hell, in the Bible, as Judaism does not have a Hell.
The professor said, "No, you're wrong," and began explaining (erroneously) how Jews did, in fact, have a Hell. As my friend continued on to explain that there was a Jewish sect who believed that one did not have to be Jewish, but could live a Jewish lifestyle and be a 'good Jewish person', the professor listened and said (I kid you not):
"I sympathize with your beliefs."
It was then that our little corner of non-God fearing religions shut up and tried to hide. We were very clearly outnumbered, and we all sat through the entire class that had openly ridiculed us, just waiting for it to be over.
My friend and I went to the Galley, where we ate ice cream and tried to calm down. I was furious. I can only imagine how my friend felt.
Until today, I had tentatively associated myself with Christianity, if not as a faith, then at least as a good way of going about things. In moderation.
Today, as before, I have lost faith in Christians and their God. I was a lot younger when something very similar happened to me. One man stood before me and said, "No, you're wrong." And I never went back.
I am going to have to sit and think long and hard before I go back to that class. It's true, I need the credit. But I do not think it is worth this.
Also, for those interested:
Losing Faith in Faith: Bible Contradictions
My Religion class is like that.
Here's what I wanted this class to be: A discussion of various beliefs, told from the view of a respectful skeptic. This includes Christianity.
Here's what the class is: A
Now, I can deal with this, normally. I'm used to Christians being very vocal about what they believe in. Good for them.
But you would expect from a teacher a bare modicum of respect for those who do not share their beliefs, correct?
Well, in this class, you would be wrong.
Today we were supposed to discuss Hinduism in limited detail, and then watch The Hogfather.
What we did was sit around and talk about the Bible.
It was reminiscent of my old Sunday School courses. It was one man, backed by his choir of believers who also take the class, preaching to us.
From the number of people who participated in his enthusiastic sermon, there are exactly four non-Christians in that class. We all sit in the back, and we were all gritting our teeth, trying to remember that we needed this course credit.
Whats worse, we were directly ridiculed, in front of the entire class.
When asked why more people didn't read the Bible, if they called themselves 'Christians', I responded aloud, "Because it's long and boring and full of contradictions."
To which he replied, "Can you tell me the contradictions?"
"No. I haven't read the Bible."
"Ah."
He then began to expound to the class that a lot of people wrote off the Bible as contradictory, and yet have not read it, and how we clearly did not know what we were talking about.
I was humiliated and said no more in the class.
The professor continued to lead a discussion about Heaven and Hell, and how people got the right to go there. Other people in the class offered evidence or denied certain aspects, to which he listened and offered comparative evidence.
My friend, a Jew, who sits next to me, asked a question. He wanted to know where Christians got their concept of Hell, in the Bible, as Judaism does not have a Hell.
The professor said, "No, you're wrong," and began explaining (erroneously) how Jews did, in fact, have a Hell. As my friend continued on to explain that there was a Jewish sect who believed that one did not have to be Jewish, but could live a Jewish lifestyle and be a 'good Jewish person', the professor listened and said (I kid you not):
"I sympathize with your beliefs."
It was then that our little corner of non-God fearing religions shut up and tried to hide. We were very clearly outnumbered, and we all sat through the entire class that had openly ridiculed us, just waiting for it to be over.
My friend and I went to the Galley, where we ate ice cream and tried to calm down. I was furious. I can only imagine how my friend felt.
Until today, I had tentatively associated myself with Christianity, if not as a faith, then at least as a good way of going about things. In moderation.
Today, as before, I have lost faith in Christians and their God. I was a lot younger when something very similar happened to me. One man stood before me and said, "No, you're wrong." And I never went back.
I am going to have to sit and think long and hard before I go back to that class. It's true, I need the credit. But I do not think it is worth this.
Also, for those interested:
Losing Faith in Faith: Bible Contradictions
