<p>Some kids who graduated from the local hs have actually encountered anti-Catholic attitudes on various college campuses that they now attend. These are not Christian fundamentalist schools either.</p>
<p>Has anyone else heard similar situations?</p>
<p>A datapoint: my D is very active in the small Catholic community at her college, an institution noted for being pretty “out there” liberal, and she has encountered no problems at all; in fact, she has been touched by the personal support she’s gotten from non-Catholic and non-Christian friends on some faith-related activities.</p>
<p>what do you mean…is there outright bigotry, is it more subtle, is it making fun for going to Mass…how is it manifesting itself</p>
<p>I know that sometimes kids who are preceived as “goody two shoes”, and I mean that in thenicest way, make kids who don’t follow the rules, behave badly, etc, will find something to make fun of</p>
<p>Also, some Christians do not consider Catholics Christian, so that adds another dynamic</p>
<p>I ask these questions, because knowing where the attitude is coming from can help in dealing with it and stopping it</p>
<p>And, how do people know they are Catholic (my family is Irish catholic)…</p>
<p>Are other groups getting the attitude? For instance, other religions?</p>
<p>This is sad to me, so i am wondering where this coming from with college kids.</p>
<p>My son spent 13 years in Catholic Education, through 12th grade. He now attends a private college, not affiliated with any particular faith. I think he’s found a nice group of kids in his dorm, who attend Mass together, although not necessarily every week. As far as I know, he has not encountered any negative feedback, and enjoys the Catholic Center on campus. There is also a Catholic church nearby, where he also attends Mass. Could the anti-Catholic bias be related to which region of the country the kids are attending college?</p>
<p>Motherdear: </p>
<p>Is this a school in the south?? </p>
<p>I have worried that if our son goes to a southern school that he might face this…</p>
<p>jlauer- I’m Catholic, and I haven’t gotten that vibe at the many Southern colleges I’ve visited or done summer programs at. The South has a surprisingly large number of Catholics (Duke is 20% Catholic). I’ve known kids from my church to go to Furman, Davidson, etc., and be happy with the Catholic communities, which tend to be rather tight-knit.</p>
<p>warbler:</p>
<p>thanks… that is good to know!!! Our kids are in Catholic schools so they don’t face any problems now… Glad to hear that it won’t be an issue in college, either.</p>
<p>Motherdear:</p>
<p>What exactly has been said to these kids???</p>
<p>are the comments about the faith in general???</p>
<p>or are the comments about the church’s stance on “social issues” – abortion, gay marriage, etc…</p>
<p>I am Catholic, and I think it is sad that people carry that kind of biased attitude towards a person’s faith. In my own hs, some people have a phobia in regard to a religion outside their own. I love my faith, but I am not going to be disrespect another’s religious views.<br>
<3</p>
<p>I think it CAN be a problem. I think it tends to be more of a problem for females than males. One of “feminists’” hot-button issues is abortion and on some campuses saying that you oppose abortion is an unpopular stance.</p>
<p>“”“on some campuses saying that you oppose abortion is an unpopular stance.”"</p>
<p>Yes, it’s unpopular among those who pride themselves as being “open minded” and for “diversity”…</p>
<p>I’ll second warblers in saying that, at least at Duke, I haven’t gotten any grief for being (an admittedly lapsed) Catholic. Granted, based on my skin color people usually assume I’m a member of a certain other religion, but still. Even though I’m not involved in the one at Duke, I’ve seen enough to know that the Catholic communities at Duke and the majority of other colleges I’ve visited are very active, and outside of places like Bob Jones U, I doubt you’ll encounter serious prejudice.</p>
<p>banana: </p>
<p>okay… so now I’m curious… are you African American and people think that you are Baptist??? Half of my Catholic Church is black – I’m sure that many of them are “assumed” to be Baptists by others.</p>
<p>Nope, I’m not black. I should probably make a slight change to my post - when my ethnicity is correctly identified, people assume I’m a member of an entirely different religion. When I’m mistaken for Latina, they’d probably be less surprised by my being Catholic. ;)</p>
<p>Actually where I grew up in MA (Boston western suburb), I used to get too condervative criticisms in hs but not necessarily any anti-Catholic comments. My friends’ kids aren’t getting THAT down at their schools but are getting a couple of Catholics aren’t Christians, Kerry following the pope’s orders remarks etc. They are at Southern Schools but not Christian Schools ie BJ or Liberty etc.</p>
<p>southern schools…</p>
<p>Kerry following the pope’s orders??? What’s up with that??? Kerry is VERY PRO Abortion.</p>
<p>I can’t say that it still exists but it once did. I have not experienced it but here are a few quotes from within the last 40 years:</p>
<p>Harvard professor Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. once observed that prejudice against the Catholic Church was “the deepest bias in the history of the American people.” </p>
<p>Yale professor Peter Viereck commented that “Catholic baiting is the anti-Semitism of the liberals.”</p>
<p>If you do a google search there are a number of articles on how the Jewish population approached assimilation differently than the Catholics. The Jews kept pushing to open the doors at the prestigious schools (Ivy League), the Catholics set up an alternative education system (Notre Dame, Boston College, Holy Cross, etc).</p>
<p>i go to unc, and i have not really found any sort of discrimination. it is more of a curiosity thing than a judgemental thing. i even got ashes on ash wednesday and i was surprised by the number of people i saw walking around with them on. that being said, i haven’t met very many catholics on campus, and the ones i have met tend to be from out of state (i am from new york, myself). the one thing that i have noticed is that there is no catholic church within chapel hill, only the newman catholic center. </p>
<p>it’s funny, i never knew that such a bias occurred in the US. when i was growing up, i thought that everyone was either catholic or jewish, as i come from a very heavily catholic part of new york. it wasn’t until i was studying AP US History that i found out about the issues that JFK faced in his elections.</p>
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<p>I now live in the South and now the protestants here are having “ash wednesday” too and putting ashes on their foreheads!!! They are also wearing crucifixes – something only CAtholics do in California where I am from.</p>
<p>Remember that these kids are going to school in 05-06 and the election was in the fall of 02.
Protestants don’t call themselves Protestants in our world. They are all Christians, and yes,some don’t think RCs are Christian.</p>