Due to the high religiosity many on our campus display, it does create a nurturing environment for those of faith. It’s welcoming for fellowship, asking important philosophical questions and fostering a deeper relationship with Christ as we navigate the world apart from our families’ views. College is likely the first time many students are separated from their parents, their churches back home and are being educated on varying perspectives creating a time of introspection on your own personal faith.
What this level of community ignores is the nonreligious sectors of our school. Although a minority, there are students at Northwestern who are not religious, some who are unsure of where they are in their faith and some who have very different religious practices than the majority.
I am not saying NW should stop enforcing chapel credits or requiring faith integration, because it is not likely to happen. What can change is our general mentality towards those who are unsure of where they stand or are different in their religions.
Although I am a person of faith, I know many who are not and listening or seeing things occur firsthand is discouraging. Hearing experiences from those that are not religious, it has been a regular experience for them to be called out by professors to share their opinion in classes just because they believe differently. Other times it is that that peers are judgmental or overreaching with their questions when they come to find this out. Some professors and students alike have simply said they were wrong and have tried to classify their opinion as less than because of it.
This is by no means all professors or students, let alone most of them, but any action like this creates a discriminatory environment that outright discourages further education on various religious perspectives that students are going to experience outside of an outrightly Christian college. Not to mention that this approach is the opposite of inclusivity and does not make Christianity a positive and loving religious entity as we often claim. These attempts at evangelism, if that is what they are, create further disdain for the faith.
The message that this kind of environment fosters is to “love your neighbor” unless that neighbor does not believe in God, then shame and discourage your neighbor. There are many verses that mention the importance of fellowship and to focus on your relationships with those who are also in Christ such as one I hear quoted quite often from 2 Corinthians 6:14, “ Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers,” yet I think what is often ignored is the idea that as Christians we can still be unevenly yoked, and I think more so as students get to college.
Whether that is living it up on the weekends but still making it a point to go to church on Sunday morning to feel better about it or simply growing up within an extremely Christian setting and reacting to newfound distance from that life to be attractive. The questions and judgment should not be towards those who have not found faith until we reflect on ourselves and others in our circles.
I will finish with one of the most famous verses regarding love 1 Corinthians 13. It states “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” As students are with others who may not be of faith, and after college as we are working with or fostering friendships with those who have different perspectives, keep in mind that love should never dishonor as it is the foundation of faith. Without love we are nothing.
