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I had several professors in college preach Christianity as if from a pulpit. I would like to see more restrictions on teachers doing that in the classroom.

A discussion is one thing, telling students to believe in a god should warrant a warning.

OregonDahlia 5 Dec 18
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16 comments

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0

Can you engage them in debate? Wear a tshirt? Carry a sign? If you are a captive audience i would bc filing a lawsuit!

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When academic institutions become a place to discuss faith, they turn students in moral and ethical zombies. This outcome is a result of respect we have lost for academic institutions. These institutions should stand for study, inquiry and advancement of the human condition. Academic institutions today have become a place for opinion driven acts and results. This a global issue creating radicals who are defenders of one idea or position without understanding opposing ideas.

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Unfortunately, it seems to be going the other direction...

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State funded college, or private?

I was active (in rural Oregon) with my daughters' K-12 educations, and had 3 meetings with principal & 2 teachers regarding their ‘overzealous’ insertion of christianity in the classrooms… I suspect I’d been the only parent in 20 years to question that. ..the real pushers love a captive audience!

Varn Level 8 Dec 18, 2017
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That is indoctrinating students.

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I agree however I rather enjoyed exposing my 8th-grade government teachers ignorance of church-state separation whenever she would insist the students bow our heads at the start of each class. I got an "F" for not participating in this ritual. I was able to get the administration to change my grade. They gave me an "A," and then I insisted they change it to a "B" because a "B" was the grade I had earned.

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I would totally agree. If I were a student today and if a professor would try to insert theology into his lectures, I would document it and complain to the academic dean.

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I’ve had several professors preach atheism and openly ridicule theists. I agree with them, but there’s a place for that and it’s not in a physics course.

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Was it a private institution? Even if it were a public college, I think I'm in favor of freedom of speech for the professor. As soon as we start telling professors what they can and cannot teach, we no longer have critical thought in the classroom. Obviously the college itself should have some basic standards protecting students who disagree, because their speech too should be protected, but I wouldn't want to see professors told some topics are off limits or that they can't use extreme measures to get students thinking in new ways about topics. I agree that preaching isn't a pleasant experience in a classroom, but I think it's necessary to protect that if we're also going to protect the atheist philosophy professor who talks about how there's no reason to believe in a God or gods.

@MrLizard, perhaps, but I took a philosophy course of which it could be argued that the professor preached atheism. He was pretty forceful about it, but the believers in the class pushed back somewhat. I think being challenged, even if there's proselytizing of a sort, isn't necessarily a bad thing as long as student rights aren't being violated.

@MrLizard, I guess I just don't see much difference between what he did and what a Bible-thumping professor might do — as long as he's not flunking the students for disagreeing with him.

@jwm03h, there's no provision that students cannot feel uncomfortable in a classroom when faced with ideas that challenge their existing views.

@jwm03h, difference between college and high school. Not sure what you're on about.

@jwm03h Yeah, familiar with the concept, but don't think it's as clearcut as you're making it to be. Freedom of speech factors in to academic freedoms. I'm not going to argue the point further. We clearly disagree on this.

[insidehighered.com]

2

Certainly not in public schools. No proselytizing. Consider private schools a little different, but would be better if they did it more in an exploration mode.

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State school or private school? Not much you can do about the latter.

godef Level 7 Dec 18, 2017
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Yeah... that's rough... glad you made it out alive.... ya just want to spit if your held captive.... ugh. I followed my wife to a Catholic church and just sat there until she stop going. What a relief! I couldn't understand a damn thing said... my hearing is all screwed up.

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I was a sociology major at a small NH liberal arts college now university. One of my required classes was Marriage and the Family. The professor was a former Catholic priest whose wife was a former nun. Needless to say the subject of god and the bible came up frequently.

Well we'll. I think that's cool for them.

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If this was in a public/government supported college, it should warrant more than a reprimand/warning. A private/religious college with no government subsidies (other than their unjustifiable tax exemptions) is another story. There they can teach anything they wish, as long as their curriculum contains the minimum requirements for accreditation.

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Don't like when any professor preaches on any subject. Even when I agree with them. The goal is always to get students/learners to figure it out themselves.

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Unless of course, it was in a christian college! No preaching in public schools unless ALL other points of view are represented. Discussions yes, preaching no.

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