<p>My child went away this year as a freshman and found a group of friends in Campus Crusades and was very excited about the group. What could a mother want - good kids who dont drink to much and gather for prayer weekly. However I feel more and more that my child is preaching to me. We are Catholic and my child was raised in catholic schools but have found new life in Christianity. I am told “Mother you choose Catholic for me and now I am making the choice to be Christian” as if there is much difference. Some one said “oh those campus crusades kids are a cult”. I know nothing about the organization - it did raise some alarms as most parents would worry if they heard their child joined a cult. Can anyone shed some light on this club?</p>
<p>It’s not a cult; however, on most college campuses Campus Crusade for Christ is a fundamental, conservative, and evangelical Christian group (I believe non-denominational). Though Catholics fall under the Christian category, CCC is more Protestant focused. I don’t believe all of this is the direct focus of the global CCC organization, but the groups at colleges tend to attract the most evangelical Christians. </p>
<p>It won’t harm her, but it seems to be turning her away from Catholicism to a more general Christianity. My general belief is that a parent should let their child find his/her own beliefs. If you want to, though, her campus may have a Catholic center of campus with a similar group of kids but beliefs more in line with the way she was raised. She probably won’t want to leave CCC, though, because I’m assuming that’s where her friends on campus are. She would not only be leaving the direct contact with them through the club, but they may look down on her leaving CCC for another religious group on campus. When she’s home for Christmas she may re-evaluate when she goes to the Church she was raised in with a familiar Priest and group of people. Does she attend Catholic services at school now? Or general Christian services or none?</p>
<p>I encourage you to tell your daughter that you are Catholic and not changing that and ask her to respect your beliefs and stop preaching.</p>
<p>This is a large evangelical organization with a foothold in tons of US colleges that preaches a fairly Protestant version of being “saved”, etc with the vernacular of evangelicals emphasis on “born agains.” We attended a good (academically speaking) Baptist affiliated college in undergrad years although neither of us were Baptist, and my spouse was the son of recent Catholic European immigrants. For some reason, the CCers targeted my spouse as needing to be “saved” (vestiges of prejudice against Catholicism quite evident) and they visited him a few times in his dorm room with the Four Spiritual Laws booklet etc…very simplistic and also presumptuous (my husband no longer was a Catholic but had no need to share with the CCers who clearly did not understand his culture of origin whatsoever, nor did he have a need to influence his parents to leave their church) so the visits were rather obnoxious, almost comical, but my (now) spouse was very tolerant of them and humorous about it. I would simply say “I am not interested, and I am happy with my own private beliefs” and shut my door when they came calling in the dorms. I doubt all Campus Crusade chapters do this door to door routine in dorms but they are evangelical.</p>
<p>My H and I met through Campus Crusade in college. I usually avoid mentioning religious stuff here on CC, because it’s not why I’m here. But I do have a good bit of experience with this group, so feel free to PM me with questions.</p>
<p>My mother had the same concerns - was quite concerned that it was a cult, that I was being brain-washed, etc. I used to dread going home, because I knew she was going to start throwing Bible verses at me, challenging what I was thinking. The difference is that I was raised protestant, so there was no great chasm in beliefs. Certainly Catholic-specific doctrine, like those surrounding Mary, are not taught.</p>
<p>In our group, though, there were also a number of Catholics. As I recall, the biggest conflict those students had was with parents who believed non-Catholics were condemned, and were fearful for their children, that they would convert (and some did). I left my parents’ denomination about the same time, but, although they were disappointed, they did accept that it was my choice. My mom did admit that there were worse things I could have gotten involved in.</p>
<p>Generally the focus within our group was on Bible Study techniques, and what the Bible says - in a “big points” manner, as opposed to “relatively” minor theological differences, so all Christian groups felt welcome. The main points are 1. All are sinners. 2. God loves everyone. 3. Jesus’ death and resurrection provides the bridge to God. and 4. Belief and repentance are necessary. These are pretty basic to all Christian religions.</p>
<p>Crusade does emphasize the evangelistic aspects (“Go into all the world and tell…” Mt. 28:18-20), and with many young people, the aspect of learning consideration for others’ beliefs, and respecting differences, and tact, are things that don’t come as easily. Because CCC is non-denominational, there are a variety of denominations represented. It is certainly possible that if the particular campus leaders are from a certain background, emphasis might be skewed one direction or another. Encourage your child to explore thoughtfully and prayerfully, and to consider Catholic beliefs as well. If the main goal is truth, no one - including your child - should be threatened by the search.</p>
<p>If it makes you uncomfortable, certainly feel free to say you’re happy with what you’ve got, and would rather not discuss it. I don’t think at this point it would be fair to tell your kid that certain groups, such as fraternities, or Bong parties, or political groups are okay, but that religious groups are not. (Not that you in particular are saying that! That’s just an example. We expect a certain amount of exploring in college.)</p>
<p>When my own kids went off to college, we discussed the program - and other kinds of activities that might be present on campus, actually warning our kids to be aware of groups or activities that pressure for time commitments and distraction. Both my sons ended up participating in CCC or something similar, because they enjoyed the people and the programs. They both ended up joining churches other than what we belong to, but with our support for their reasoning and thought. </p>
<p>Now if I could only do something about my eldest’s libertarian leanings (and desire to discuss it ad nauseum.) :)</p>
<p>[This was a hard post to write; how to explain what CCC is, without preaching. If it came across as preaching, that was not my intention.]</p>
<p>“The main points are 1. All are sinners. 2. God loves everyone. 3. Jesus’ death and resurrection provides the bridge to God. and 4. Belief and repentance are necessary. These are pretty basic to all Christian religions.”</p>
<p>Nope. We don’t believe at all in number 1. We believe #3 is purely speculative, and we reject intercessors. Number 4 condemns to hellfire all those who never heard of the teacher, through no fault of their own.</p>
<p>“The main points are 1. All are sinners. 2. God loves everyone. 3. Jesus’ death and resurrection provides the bridge to God. and 4. Belief and repentance are necessary. These are pretty basic to all Christian religions.”</p>
<p>Not exactly that way in my Protestant denomination, either.</p>
<p>I did Cru last year as well as being an active member and lector for the Catholic group. I don’t have as much time this year, and they’ve moved just off campus making it inconvenient. I had a lot of fun and met some really great people, and I’m really not that religious. I agree that it’s geared toward Protestants (they sing songs I’ve never heard of and that we’re assumed to know), but it was pretty welcoming. Bible Study was strongly encouraged, but that isn’t my cup of tea, and I didn’t go back after I tried it a couple of times. Although my experience may be the exception rather than the rule, I came away with a positive experience and friends who are some of the nicest people here.</p>
<p>Here is a link to the Campus Crusade statement of faith:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ccci.org/statement_of_faith.html[/url]”>http://www.ccci.org/statement_of_faith.html</a></p>
<p>One key claim that would not be shared by all Protestant denominations is that the Bible is “without error…the supreme and final authority in all matters on which it speaks.”</p>
<p>Other points: “Man’s nature is corrupted, and he is thus totally unable to please God…At physical death the unbeliever enters immediately into eternal, conscious separation from the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting judgment and condemnation.”</p>
<p>Your daughter may be concerned if she feels you fall into the category of an unbeliever.</p>
<p>I think any organization that attempts to distance you from your family is suspect. They are battling for control of the individual and one method is convince you that your parents somehow have fed you this great lie all your life. Even for the best noble intent, driving a wedge between a normal (yes, it’s a wide range) family isn’t for the person personal interests but for someone else.</p>
<p>“Number 4 condemns to hellfire all those who never heard of the teacher, through no fault of their own.”</p>
<p>I feel sorry for those that have heard of the teacher and reject him.</p>
<p>“Certainly a key claim that would not be shared by all Protestant denominations is that the Bible is inerrant.”</p>
<p>I’ve always thought it difficult to make a claim for Biblical inerrancy when it doesn’t make that claim for itself. There’s a wonderful book “Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why” by the Biblical scholar Bart Ehrman (UNC) who was educated at Moody Bible Institute and Wheaton College before going on to what were, for him, startling discoveries about the multitude of mistakes and intentional alterations made to the Biblical text. (To quote him: “It’s hard to know what the words of the Bible mean if we don’t even know what the words are!”) According to Ehrman, there are more differences, changes, and alterations in the manuscripts than there are words in the New Testament.</p>
<p>“Blessed are the cheesemakers…”</p>
<p>From the Campus Crusade web site: “We believe that [the Bible] was uniquely, verbally and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit and that it was written without error (inerrant) in the original manuscripts.”</p>
<p>Since it is a belief, the inerrancy of the Bible, in this case, is not really open to a challenge based on rational analysis.</p>
<p>Taking on such beliefs has a huge (life altering?) impact on how one views the world and the people in it.</p>
<p>“it was written without error (inerrant) in the original manuscripts.”</p>
<p>Since no one has (or has ever seen) the “original manuscripts”, what is the basis for such a belief? (I didn’t mean that as a rhetorical question; I’m just trying to understand better.)</p>
<p>RVM, the troubling aspect of your D’s statement to me would be the false dichotomy between “Catholic” and “Christian.” </p>
<p>Campus Crusades isn’t my cuppa, theologically or otherwise, but whatever floats someone’s boat…in general. But I agree with OfM about being very wary of group beliefs driving a wedge between child and parents.</p>
<p>Um, mini, I don’t have the answer for that one.</p>
<p>But I do know that believing in an inerrant Bible is the basis for teaching Creationism in schools as well as taking absolute stances on a wide range of social issues (their boat is the only one that floats).</p>
<p>Earthshaking moment…I agree with TheDad. It’s not so much an issue of which faith is right, it’s more about a group pulling a student away from family. Is it possible for you to direct your child toward some Catholic Student groups on campus? Sometimes, I think, kids are really just looking to connect with a group.</p>
<p>I had several friends who were involved with Campus Crusades when I was in college. I found out that I was
on one of my friends prayer list because I needed to be “saved.” She told me that I was not Christian because I was Catholic. </p>
<p>Well I went to her wedding several years out of college, a full Catholic mass in latin. She had converted.</p>
<p>My roomate for two years was very active in Campus Crusades. She respected my religious choices and even went to mass with me to see what it was like.</p>
<p>From my personal experience it provided something that my friends were looking for at the time. Some of them went a little overboard for a while–but as they matured they realized that we could all make our own personal faith choices.</p>
<p>I would think that any involvement in religion is a good thing, as long as it doesn’t teach hate. That being said, most things I have observed with Campus Crusade or non-denominationals in general is that they are somewhat cultish. If I ask someone a question, any question, and their answer is “let’s pray about it,” I construe that as being not being able to think for themselves.</p>
<p>“It’s not so much an issue of which faith is right, it’s more about a group pulling a student away from family.”</p>
<p>“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26.</p>
<p>I know…it doesn’t mean what it clearly says.</p>
<p>Not all Christian faiths believe that the Bible is the only source of knowledge about God, or that it is meant to be taken literally. Catholicism does not encourage anyone to “hate his father and mother” etc. In fact, I can’t think of a faith that does.</p>