The first day of college orientation came with the mandatory attendance of a mock class. This was meant to give first-year students a taste of what the academic culture on campus would consist of. Entering the classroom with my orientation group, the professor passed out an article about how Jesus is not welcome in a liberal arts education. Growing up in a Christian family, I immediately felt very uncomfortable. Did having faith in a higher power somehow taint my ability to reason? Did it restrict my ability to sympathize with believers of other religions?
I had always been very interested in religion, specifically Christianity and Islam, as many of my close friends from home were Muslim. Growing up Indian, our family had many close family friends with a variety of religious backgrounds. While I was interested in religion, a lot of the learning I did was in a spiritual context, from church, spiritual leaders and similar places. I would ask questions about what my faith says about how to live, how to interact with others and the validity of other religions.
Coming to college, I started taking as many religion classes as I could to learn more. Instead of viewing religion as something to believe in, we looked at religion as a work and representation of group of people. Religion and sacred texts were presented in more academic terms. Questions like "How does Jesus want me to live?" turned into "How does the history and culture in which Jesus was a product of shape his beliefs and overall the religion of Christianity?" After more studying of Christianity in its context, I learned just how radical Jesus was during his time (who says Jesus only ate manna and spoke in King James Version). Similarly, the lens through which I viewed other religions evolved as well. I stopped trying to fit other religions into the context of my own and I started to understand the history of their creation and why they had certain practices and beliefs about society. My perspective totally changed.
But why is it important to study religion while in college? While there is a lot of talk going on these days about how my generation is becoming increasingly less religious, it is just the opposite. I believe our society is, frankly, obsessed with religion. It is a strong force, if not one of the strongest forces of humanity. In college, I have seen many students have the freedom to separate themselves from the religion they might have grown up with, making college such a powerful environment for the discussion of religion. Because of the richness of the diversity of my school, many students are very interested in learning about the faiths of others. Obviously, there are always exceptions. Students that are completely closed off to any sort of religious discussion exist, but even then, we often fail to realize that whether someone is religious or not, religion is a great tool to help us, as humans, understand the actions of others. In showing religious humility or even humility in our lack of religion, we are able to look at someone's values, views and behaviors from a different angle.
Religion is everywhere, not only in church, temple or mosque. However, it is also found in popular culture, from Lady Gaga to Katy Perry to Justin Bieber to media everywhere. What inspires me about religion is not the proving of whose religion is ultimately true, but the sacred reverence behind how people live and what they value. So yes, I do believe Jesus has room in a liberal arts education, and yes, I believe one can be religious to study religion. Subsequently, I believe religious figures like Jesus, Abraham, David, Mohammed and Siddhartha Gautama are people that enhance the liberal arts education, helping us truly learn about the passion behind faith. With this, we embrace a college community where religious understanding and religious humility is grown and encouraged.