<p>If a child has been raised in non-church going family, has attended church infrequently growing up (once or twice a year) with a grandparent, but otherwise has not participated in organized religion, which would the proper answer answer in response to “what is your Religious Affiliation?” on the college application?</p>
<p>a) No Religion
b) Non-Denominational</p>
<p>I would say “a)”.</p>
<p>Child has not been raised in the church.</p>
<p>a.) Child does not believe in God/gods/divine beings/spiritual anything. Is an athiest.
b.) Child believes in God (or any other religious things), just isn’t explicitly tied to one organized religion.</p>
<p>Where is he applying that this is being asked?<br>
I would ask your student what their affiliation is… if they answer ‘Christian’, that is often known as broadly based ‘non-denominational’. If they affiliate with those beliefs but do not have a ties to a specific church (ie methodist, catholic), then this would be appropriate. There are many non-denominational churches that are biblically based, however they do not belong to a governing body as protestant churches do. You don’t have to be a card carrying member to make that affiliation. It doesn’t matter how often your student participates.</p>
<p>EDIT:
I crossed posts with BillyMc. He was clearer. I won’t edit my original words, but he makes the very, very good point that it does not have to be a specific deity (God/Christian). I was using my 1975 verbage I was taught when my parents tried to explain to me that I did in fact go to a real church… a non-denominational one. I obviously understand as an adult that religion and denomination goes much further than my backyard.</p>
<p>To me, the term “non-denominational” implies Christian beliefs. </p>
<p>I would not expect a person of Jewish heritage, with a general sense of monotheistic belief but not particularly adherent to Jewish practices to identify him/herself as non-denominational, although within the context of Jewish denominations (we have them, too), that would be more or less accurate.</p>
<p>I think I agree with Desk Potato. One can have faith without having religion.</p>
<p>
Of course. Just not religious faith.</p>
<p>^^^ Yes but the choices are not are do you have faith or not (which would make you an atheist), but do you have religion or not, so what the correct pick for a kid who has faith, but is completely unaffliated with any religion would be a.</p>
<p>And by the way I think that religion (in the context of this question) is merely an identification of your system of belief practices, not a indicator of your level of faith.</p>
<p>Nonreligious faith is in something entirely other than religion. I have faith in myself for the upcoming debate tournament. That is nonreligious. If, however, someone has faith that there is a God, that there is a spiritual afterlife, then they have religious faith. Religion need not be organized or shared, though it certainly can be.</p>
<p>No, I think you can believe in God without having religion. If you simply believe that a god exists, but he has no impact on you or your actions, then you have faith without religion.</p>
<p>Deism is still a religious belief.</p>
<p>E) Students religious affiliation and/or faith is none of your freaking business.</p>
<p>
You can choose to not report it.</p>
<p>I’m going to assume that there were more than two choices to this question and the other options would help to understand what this questian is getting at. Usually these things include all the various Christian denominations. e.g., Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopalian plus various non Christian ones, .e.g,Jewish, Muslim, Bah’ai, Hindu. When you are all done with those, you can choose “non-denominational,” which like DeskPotato and Blueiguana says implies “other Christian” or “no religion,” which designed to encoumpass glido’s “none of your freaking business” and lololu’s “spiritual but not religious.”</p>
<p>I’d guess that, assuming this isn’t Bob Jones University, what you do or don’t believe about God is irrelevant here.</p>
<p>Most religiously affiliated private universities (Catholic, United Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, etc.) are required by their boards to report what percentage of their students are affiliated with their faith. It’s just a matter of seeing how well they are positioning themselves and appealing to students of particular faith backgrounds. Obviously they are open to students of all faiths (and no faith) as well. As an aside, many people are completely oblivious to the fact that they are sending their students to religiously affiliated colleges (ex. Boston University, American University, Syracuse are all UM). It does not affect the education, but it does reflect the overall mission of the school.</p>
<p>unless it is a religiously-affiliated university, your answer does not really matter, so I would not spend time and energy agonizing over it. You can also live that answer blank.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. </p>
<p>It’s the Baylor application.</p>
<p>The numerous other choices would be the selection of a specific religion or church. The only two that would fit the specific circumstance are the a and b I listed above, or simply not answering the question. The question is not mandatory. </p>
<p>Going with non-denominational because, if asked, there is church attendance/experience that can be reflected upon and discussed, no matter how limited, and a belief in God.</p>