<p>Ok. So why is it no longer the norm?</p>
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<p>It doesn’t need to be preferable to you. It only needs to be preferable to the young lady in question.</p>
<p><em>I</em> don’t understand why people value big-time spectator sports and a rah-rah culture in choosing a university, but they don’t have to justify their preference to me. Other people don’t understand valuing Greek life or valuing not-Greek life. Or urban campuses vs rural campuses. Or a million different things. I don’t see why her choice bothers you so much. I get it if it were Bob Jones or Liberty, where you would say - gee, the educational product you would get is SO vastly inferior and built on a house of sand. And I get that Baylor’s probably in the middle of this continuum with BJU/Liberty at one end and Brandeis/Notre Dame/BYU/Wheaton on the other. It wouldn’t be a choice that I’d want or support for my kid, but the great thing is, it’s not my kid.</p>
<p>Bay,Here is a link that talks about Jefferson envisioning a new kind of university. [Short</a> History of the University of Virginia](<a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/uvatours/shorthistory]Short”>http://www.virginia.edu/uvatours/shorthistory) I’m sure there is more info out there about his reasons. There still remain lots and lots of colleges with religious roots. Lots of choices for any student.</p>
<p>I thought it’s just the prestige thing but as the thread goes on and on, it is, for the sake of simplicity, bashing of certain Christians and their belief. For those who professed to be open minded and what not, why is it hard to accept someone with different belief and choice? There was this other thread where a Christian/conservative kid looking for colleges and he got the same treatment. Frankly, I just don’t get it because if you truly believe in diversity, Christianity, regardless of the shades, is part and parcel of it. Regard to Baylor in particular, I am sure none of us here comes closed to what these folks achieved, [List</a> of Baylor University people - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Baylor_University_people]List”>List of Baylor University people - Wikipedia).</p>
<p>@jvtDad, </p>
<p>You are not reading closely if you think this thread boils down to “bashing of certain Christians and their beliefs.” If anything, contributors to this thread (by and large; there are 17 pages, after all) have been rather careful not to bash, even when they do not agree with or understand this young woman’s choice.</p>
<p>Oh my!
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<p>Hanna, I really hope that this was an oversight on your part and not your belief that this is typical Christian behavior.</p>
<p>I see a difference between wanting to be taught subjects in a manner that comports with one’s beliefs (whatever they are) and wanting to study with faculty members and other students who share one’s beliefs. Admittedly, there could be some cross-over between the two. For example, if the work of Peter Singer was under discussion, it’s hard to see how the beliefs would not color the presentation. On the other hand, it doesn’t appear to me from the web site on the biology courses that the teaching of biology at Baylor is actually different due to the Christian beliefs of the faculty. But the people are different. </p>
<p>Perhaps the young woman in question does want the former (i.e., teaching that comports with her beliefs), but this wasn’t apparent to me from her “moral compass” statement.</p>
<p>xiggi - Asian boyfriends and girlfriends help with papers and projects too? </p>
<p>Then the asian girls should have put him on a blacklist.</p>
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<p>exactly!</p>
<p>but beside the point of why it is instructive for one person to explain & defend their beliefs (and learn from other POVs) but not necessarily instructive for the person advocating this to explain & defend their position (and learn from other POVs)</p>
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<p>Her choice doesn’t “bother” me at all; that is the wrong word. Her choice has prompted me to ask the question why someone would prefer to earn an academic degree from a religious institution over one that is not religious, (but still offers the opportunity to keep the faith with accessible churches, groups, activities, etc.). Apparently this question cannot be answered easily, so I will leave it at that because as absweetmarie noted, we seem to be going around in circles.</p>
<p>@alh, I’m not sure what you’re getting at with this:</p>
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<p>Is it that if you are going to talk to talk you have to walk the walk? Or, to be more specific, that if you think the other side should have to explain and defend itself, you should also have to explain and defend yourself? If that’s the case, surely you don’t want to hear more of that, for heaven’s sake. </p>
<p>All I can say is, thanks to QuantMech, my must-read list has expanded to include the works of Y. Aharonov and Peter Singer (kidding about the former but not the latter).</p>
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<p>Perhaps because the religious faith that the student shares with those who run the institution can be integrated into the curriculum – or at least not avoided in the way that specific faiths are avoided in U.S. public educational institutions and in non-sectarian private educational institutions.</p>
<p>I am not a religious person, but I know people for whom religion is central to their lives. I can see why someone would make the type of choice this young person is making. </p>
<p>After all, plenty of Catholics choose to go to Notre Dame or Georgetown for much the same reasons. The only difference is that Notre Dame and Georgetown are among the academically best colleges in the United States and Baylor isn’t quite at that level. But there isn’t an institution with Baylor’s religious orientation at the Notre Dame/Georgetown level. So this student had to make a more difficult choice than the one a top student who values a Catholic environment would have to make.</p>
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<p>Changing societal mores and preferences. Most colleges used to be single-sex, too, and that has also changed.</p>
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<p>I suppose the point could be argued, Bay, why would anyone choose a secular school over a religious one? You seem to mistakingly think all religious schools are inferior and secular schools somehow have a monopoly on intellectualism. Schools like Hillsdale, BYU, Wheaton, Pepperdine, Notre Dame, BC, etc., etc. offer stellar educations.</p>
<p>I would think Wheaton College would share some characteristics from a faith perspective (though admittedly not Texas style) and be better academically.</p>
<p>Bay, would you feel differently if it were Wheaton vs Baylor? Or ND?</p>
<p>Great query–as a Christian myself, I have no interest in sending my own kids to a Christian institution unless it is stellar academically. To paraphrase St. Augustine (or, rather, inevitably to butcher even a paraphrase), “How can Christians inspire anyone in matters of faith (the unseen) if they are not trustworthy in matters quantifiable (the seen)?” </p>
<p>In an earlier post, I cite Kevin Roose’s book, The Unlikely Disciple, as one of the best books I’ve read. Brown student transfers to Liberty and tells a surprising and honest story. He doesn’t become a Christian but he finds a lot of things to love about Christian universities. </p>
<p>Thanks again for your question. I can’t begin to answer it with any expertise, unfortunately! I can tell you that, in my past year of college visits, the Christian campuses seem warmer, friendlier, and more collaborative as a whole. But there are always exceptions…Read Roose. He has something to say.</p>
<p>Agree that Roose’s book is a must read. Great book in many respects.</p>
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<p>YOU may think it is an accepted norm, but I don’t. I would not send my kid to a religious school without thinking twice and thrice about it. In fact, we rejected a corporate move to Tennessee largely because the public schools in the area were lousy, the sole non-religious school was mediocre, and all the rest were affiliated with religious groups.</p>
<p>I can’t say from direct experience why a student would choose a Christian college over an academically stronger secular university.</p>
<p>But at a guess: In the environment of a Christian college, a student might be encouraged to put his/her faith into practice every day, by helping other people. And the student might expect to be surrounded by other students with the same interests in helping others.</p>
<p>On the one hand, there is plenty of volunteer activity going on at Harvard, and the students might even be better organized (and operate at a higher level of managerial skill), in terms of their work with homeless shelters and food banks. I’d suspect that the number of people in need in the greater Boston area is greater than the corresponding number around Waco. So at Harvard, there is much scope for Christian volunteerism (alongside others motivated by different ethical traditions, including atheism). Similarly, Yale students do a lot of work in the New Haven community. Princeton is a pretty suburb, but the students probably travel to volunteer.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, a student at a Christian college might experience more frequent faith-based calls to volunteer, and perhaps fewer distractions in terms of the emphasis on personal “success.” </p>
<p>Also, on CC there are a number of threads posted by students who seem to me to fit Tom Wolfe’s description (from the Bonfire of the Vanities) of “young men baying at money.” I find this really off-putting. Mostly the students in question are Ivy-wanna-bees. A few are actually headed to Ivies. I would venture that comparatively few of those students are headed to Baylor.</p>
<p>QuantMech, Great post,particularly the last paragragh.</p>
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<p>Indeed. </p>
<p>Now show me where s/he did so.</p>
<p>As far as I can see, you are operating completely upon assumptions.</p>