WITH PUBLIC education serving as the learning body of the state, lawmakers and school administrators have long disputed the secularization of education. Many academics praise intellectual curiosity and religious freedom, whereas many spiritualists and devout people condemn recent trends towards secularized education. Public universities do not carry religious traditions, and recently more private institutions have separated from their religious pasts. Religious affiliations are no longer desirable in higher education, which propounds free expression and intellectualism, rather than narrow-mindedness and religious immaturity.
Last week, Yale University ended its 248-year affiliation with the United Church of Christ. The New York Times reported that members of the Church denounced Yale's abandonment of its religious traditions. The Church founded Yale College to train young men for service in the church and state. Yale administrators dropped Protestant affiliations in order to expand religious and spiritual expressions and to recruit students from all different faiths.
College provides numerous opportunities for students to explore their spiritual options. Whether enrolling in religious studies courses, attending alternative services or interacting with different religious groups, students learn about and interact with different faiths.
Most devout parents infuse their child's upbringing with religious beliefs. But during college, students experience freedom for the first time and distance themselves from their parents' views and religious institutions at home. There is no better time to reconsider personal values, morals and religious views.
Religion, like all other academic pursuits and ideological views, necessitates criticism and constant reevaluation. Religion is not immune from academic inquiry. Innate intellectual curiosity should force students to question their beliefs and remain open to alternative views. Tacitly consenting to your family's religious doctrine seems antithetical to academic objectives. Although Jeffersonian ideals of intellectualism, religious tolerance and free expression oftentimes succumb to narrow-mindedness in today's academic environment, students should arrive on college campuses with open minds ready to learn about diverse cultures and viewpoints. This academic pursuit is not limited to religion or humanities courses -- instead, all academic material should raise issues about previously held beliefs, whether in computer science or Chinese history.
Granted, many students will complete this maturing academic process and still remain faithful to their religious pasts. But these students, having considered diverse options, will gain greater assurance in their beliefs through academic exploration. Spirituality is not abolished in higher education. Secularized learning can actually foster more devout students because they have reinforced their pasts through personal, intellectual curiosity, not parental guidance.
The Higher Education Research Institute of the University of California at Los Angeles concluded that more than three-quarters of college freshmen are looking for "meaning in life." College days are immersed in intellectual and religious curiosity -- if students enroll in institutions affiliated with their same faith, academic progress and maturity is stunted.
In secular colleges, students can explore their religious potential and find answers in their own lives. Religious-based education may lead to alienated student groups or insular thinking. The separation of church and state obviously applies to public institutions, but the trend to disaffiliate religion with private universities is proving the superiority and cosmopolitanism of secularized education.
Granted, religious institutions may also provide room to explore different religions, but they are less effective than secular schools which fully promote intellectualism and free expression.
These secularized trends do not necessitate immoral and apathetic citizenries -- instead, we need to constantly criticize and reevaluate our own beliefs. A society with open minds and devout beliefs is far more desirable than narrowly socialized students who simply spread their unquestioned piety to future generations. Academic pursuits are tantamount to personal knowledge and religious maturity. Students should utilize higher education's freedom, religious resources, courses and campus groups to seek out alternatives and find meaning in your lives.
Michael Behr's column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at mbehr@cavalierdaily.com.
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