By Kobe Baker | Reporter
Religious courses are more important than you think.
Nonreligious students may believe religious courses are a waste of time — something they shouldn’t take up credit hours with. As someone who hasn’t engaged in anything religious in a very long time, this was the case for me. I saw religious courses as another easy step toward graduation. However, this viewpoint would significantly change as time progressed.
This summer, I took a course (PHI 1301) on C.S. Lewis. While many today know him for “The Chronicles of Narnia,” he spoke often about his spirituality and his religion. I went into the course with very little interest, and I saw it as an easy elective to get more credit hours. As it went on, however, my interest grew and a lot of my opinions changed. I was introduced to what religious thinking could teach me without the need to be spiritual myself.
I looked inward and realized a lot of my views on religion were close-minded. Previously, I thought many religious people fit into the same mold and all religious thinking was the same, but this course showed me I was thinking in a way I despised. Religion, even for someone like me, has a lot to offer in terms of deeper thought. The spiritual teachings of C.S. Lewis got me thinking about concepts like memories, free will and death from a different viewpoint.
This experience is why I think taking religious courses is important and why nonreligious people should leave their comfort zones. I am not alone in this viewpoint, as different universities and individuals have also explored the benefits of including education in religion.
According to an article by Dr. Tracy Vasquez and Dr. Marjaneh Gilpatrick at Grand Canyon University, a way to teach religion is to look into “different cultures, their perspectives and sources of motivations.”
According to Baylor, the two largest non-Christian groups of students on campus are Hindus and Muslims. To be more respectful to these students, I think it would be good to learn more about their culture. This goes for Christian and nonreligious students alike, as it would be beneficial to learn more about others’ ways of life.
While some nonreligious people shun the idea of learning something from their religious peers, I urge them to let go of that mindset. After my course on C.S. Lewis, I realized I was the close-minded one — not my religious peers.
It’s natural to be stubborn when you’ve had an opinion for a long time. That being said, I implore nonreligious students to at least try a more in-depth religious course. You could truly learn new things and see the world from a different point of view.
