I am wondering if there will be another atheist in the class. So far, only Christians have been public. Maybe an atheist is just staying quiet like I am for now.

@PiperMckenna don't be the first all alone...you don't need xians following you threatening you with hell or bribing you with heaven fixing you up with some xian boy to slobber all over you

That's so cool! I love Indiana Jones, I should watch it again.....any excuse will do for me. Haha. I'm looking forward to the class. A friend of mine took it and he said that it focused a lot on African religions and Native American religions as well as the main religions. I don't know a lot about those religions, so it will be fun learning.

@PiperMckenna If the instructor is good I think you'll enjoy the class.

Absolutely! I got a B in both religion classes even though I aced tests and papers. It was because they didn’t like what I said.

I'll keep this in mind. I really only plan on speaking if he calls on me or if I have a genuine questions. I think I should be okay. He seems nice enough. It's really sad that people can be biased in that way. A worse grade won't convert a person.

I kind of feel the same way. I really wanted this class to be taught by an atheist, or at least someone who doesn't practice religion.

I agree. Learning is the whole point of this class. Guess I should just buckle down and learn!

@PiperMckenna Whatever makes you happy

I enjoy being challenged. I just want to be careful not to be obnoxious. I know I will ask questions, but only genuine ones. I hope to learn and enjoy my class!

That sounds like an amazing experience! I think that what you said is good to remember "you are there to learn not agree."

True...aggression is never a good way to learn.

I have almost become addicted to questioning and researching! I hate being misinformed in any area. I think that was one of the main things that made me an atheist. What's hard for me is knowing when to ask a question and when to just quietly research it myself. I'm a fairly outspoken individual but I hate arguments. It's hard to know when a question will sound like arguing even if I mean it as a sincere question. I guess questioning in your own mind is kind of the best way to do things.

@PiperMckenna Well, if one is going to be "addicted" to anything, questioning and researching are better than nearly all of the other things one could be addicted to.
I don't know how to tell anyone not to "argue". If I'm in the mood, I'll argue just about any point. I tend to play Devil's Advocate in a lot of debates. Especially when up against "well, that's the way it's always been" kind of scenarios.
Just arm yourself with as much factual information as you possibly can.
Again, good luck to you.

@KKGator Haha true! Thank you so much!

I feel like I'm a fairly unbiased person. Don't get me wrong, I'm very strong in my atheism, but I got to where I am by studying facts and being open minded. I think that means that I'm an atheist forever. I didn't become one on a whim and a whim won't win me over to any other religion. I think I understand your suggestion though: don't let the religious bog me down. Thanks!

@PiperMckenna I just wanted to make sure you knew the risk of brain washing by religion. First it comes as genuine and honest so we very come to believing it. World's 6 billion people (out of 7 billion total) have fallen prey to it. All because they went with an open mind. Christianity first opened charity missions worldwide including in the remote parts of the world. The purpose was not to just to help.

That's very true! I love learning about different cultures and the histories behind them. I think it will be a very interesting class.

I am so excited for ethics! I love college and I love learning. But I'm taking statistics this semester too and I'm going to have to work really hard to get a good grade in that class. I'm really hoping I have time to do all my other classes justice by really learning the material. We'll see how hard stats are for me. No matter, I'm happy for the experience.

This sounds ideal! I'm hoping to do just that.

@PiperMckenna Hope it goes well and you have a good, and informative, time!

That sounds like a useful interaction. Yeah, I plan on focusing on learning all I can from this class and getting a good grade. I debating on whether I should go deeper in my term paper.

I only really say anything if someone asks me a question. And then it's just a quick fact of what I believe. I just want to be open, honest and approachable. I agree that arguing doesn't typically get through to the religious.

Yes. It may be better to act like a devils advocate and ask the professor stuff like. Well atheists say this about this and that. How would you defend Christianity against their arguments

I'm unsure whether or not I want to be open with my atheism or not. I really hate hiding my atheism since I did that for so long. People always assume I'm a Christian and I really don't like that because so much of the Christianity around me is hurting people and I don't want to be associated with that. I don't argue with people about religion, I just make it clear that I don't believe what they do.

@PiperMckenna Oh,, I know what you mean about hating to hide it.. I'm the same way. But if your grade matters to you, I'd say at least wait until after you finish the class. I'd hate to do it as well but hey, I just don't trust them to be fair about it.

@PiperMckenna That's why you can use the third person when asking a question. Say stuff like an atheists argument is this. What would you say to them. Phrase it to where you are asking a question but you are doing it from someone else's perspective. Don't say I want to know just phrase it as a general atheist question and how would they defend Christianity against the argument

@Captain_Feelgood, @abyers1970 True. I care a lot about grades. Maybe the third person asking is a good way to go....

I really hope to! I'm a very curious person just beginning to learn from this big, interesting world, but sometimes it's hard not to get bogged down with grades instead of using the experience to actually learn.

@PiperMckenna
Yes, learning and experience is most important. Grades are not irrelevant but learning is more important long term.

Yeah, I have questions about how good this class will be with this instructor.

Thank you for the advice! I think that may be the best way to go about it.The point of me taking this course is to learn, so I'm going to focus on just that.

I might be taking logic next semester....maybe I should have taken it before religions! But I don't think I'll have much a of a problem. I'm going to treat it for the most part like every other class.

Ugh. I've been dealing with this ever since opening up about my atheism. It's worth it not to be secretive about my (lack of) beliefs, but it is a headache. I imagine this class will be the same. I'm just happy not to be a part of their group. They are probably all nice people, but I can't condone and be a part of what most of them stand for.

That's interesting about the hypnosis. I can kind of see how that is the case. I know that so much of what happened in church when I used to go was so emotion and feeling based that you could claim to "feel" the holy spirit every time you had goosebumps from a pretty musical arrangement.

I'm actually really excited about it. Religion is such a big part of humanity that it would feel like an incomplete education without studying it a little. Like you said, it's useful for understanding other people.

That's good advice. I'll have to look up different points when I'm through with the class. Kinda answer my own questions.