Okay, so I am planning on transferring to a private Christian college next semester because they are the top university in my state on the degree that I want. However, I'm an atheist. Since this is a private college can they decide to reject my application because of my personal beliefs--or lack thereof? I understand that they probably won't flat out reject anybody that's not based in Christian principle, but can this be a deciding factor in whether or not I get accepted?
I'm pretty sure the majority of students attending aren't Christian nuts, as long as you can pay and you have the academic record required I can't imagine there'd be a problem, do you need to tell them you're an atheist?
h1n1 Thanks bro. The only thing off-putting about this application is that I have to write two essays on how I believe the teachings of Christ should be implemented into classroom and I have really no idea what I should say. These are the only mandatory essays so I was a little worried that they would be taking my answer to those questions the most seriously in deciding whether or not I would attend
@autonbahn Yes, on the application you must put your religious affiliation, and there are two sections entirely devoted to church affiliations and church services. See my post above about the two required essays as well.
lordxenu you don't have to believe Jesus was the son of god to agree with his teachings, love one another - respect for your fellow classmates, let he without sin cast the first stone - avoid bullying, gossip, he taught life lessons with his parables, you could make the connection with the importance of good education and learning
as for the religious affiliation, speak about how you live by values that are considered Christian, are your parents Christian? if they are talk about being raised in a Christian family
Is this a school you even want to attend?
Schools like Bringham young, yeshiva university, chapel hill etc are all affiliated and have a diverse student body.
You could always use an angle about morals and not beliefs, like the christian community can reflect a classroom, or be creative and not necessarily use the religious aspects but more of the personal.
autobahn Thanks man. Yes they are Christian, and I was raised Christian so i know a lot about it. I guess I was just a little inquisitive on how I should possibly word my essays to avoid sounding overtly atheist and anti-Christian. Personally I don't think that religious should be implemented into academic studies, although I do respect a lot about the teachings. I suppose the questions also ask about possible challenges faced in such environments, so I was wondering if I should mention my belief of separation or if I should not risk submitting a potentially unfavorable answer. What I'm asking is if I should be completely honest while respecting the universities policies while taking the pros and cons of each argument, or if I should just not mention it and sugar coat my answer a little bit while still being truthful?
h1n1 That's what I'm probably going to do. They didn't have a diversity page that most colleges do. Thank you for answering my question though, you've been a lot of help!
autobahn I think that I'll probably go ahead and talk about my Christian upbringing and how I still live by Christian values, why they are important, etc. and why you don't need a belief in God to follow the moral dress code of Christianity.
