12/07/07
Editor’s note: Methodists founded Baker 150 years ago. Today the religious roots represent a crucial part of the university. However, Baker is not hinged on one ideology. This is the third installment of a three-part series that discusses interpretations of religion and life. This one focuses on the atheist and agnostic student body.
Check out all our coverage of religious life on campus.<a href="http://www.bakeru.edu/orangeline/specials/religiononcampus.html" target="_blank">Check out all our coverage of religious life on campus.</a> Check out all our coverage of religious life on campus.
Certain books are key on campus, but does the Bible make the list? For some, denial of God is unthinkable. For sophomore Katie Adams the notion is natural.
“I believe in science and humanity rather than any higher power,” Adams said. “I believe more in the natural order of the universe. The way things can be explained by science pretty much works for me.”
A study conducted by the University of California stated the number of students with no religious affiliation rose from 13.6 percent in 1966 to 19.1 percent in 2006. While a 2004 self-reported survey shows Baker’s numbers fall below national averages, 2 percent of students consider themselves atheist or agnostic.
In high school, Adams noticed a stark conflict between her Biblical belief and the subjects she studied. To her, Biblical scripture on the origin of the species and scientific interpretation differed greatly.
“I think I always questioned it, even when I was a kid,” Adams said. “It just didn’t quite make sense to me as I started to get older.”
Adams’ family is non-denominational Christian. She said her father borders on being a fundamentalist.
“He’s the kind to believe that the world is 6,000 years old and men walked with dinosaurs,” Adams said.
“I guess that might have impacted my extreme break from religion.”
Because of their beliefs, Adams family did not take her conversion to atheism well.
“They’re pretty much afraid I’m going to go to hell,” she said. “It’s kind of strange; you tell your parents you’re an atheist, and they start worrying for your immortal soul. They’re so clouded by their beliefs that they have a hard time sensing logic.”
After being introduced to different religions, Adams’ new perspective quickly spiraled into a clean separation from the church.
“Ultimately, logic won out, and I decided there couldn’t really be one belief system that was absolutely right,” she said. “They’re all just made by man.”
Freshman Eric Loux, also an atheist, said science wasn’t the strongest force pushing him away from believing in God.
“I took biology in the ninth grade, and I wasn’t immediately like, ‘Aw man, Darwin was right,'” he said. “For awhile, I was agnostic and then I just decided that I didn’t think there was really any chance for a higher being.”
Loux, a confirmed Lutheran, was raised in the church. Because his mother was leader of a youth group, he spent 10 years in Sunday school.
“When I was real young I just believed, and I was okay with that,” Loux said. “As I got older, I figured if there was a real truth, there would be more unity among world religions.”
Professor of Religion George Wiley believes today’s society is a difficult place to foster belief.
“The culture that we live in emphasizes rationality, and thinking is influenced by the sciences,” Wiley said. “It can seem like belief in the supernatural is a mistake. I think this is a hard culture to be religious in.”
Though many tend to experience doubt-even Mother Teresa had her fair share. Most people are reluctant to extinguish belief entirely. Senior Lesley Gillaspie has concluded there is just no way of knowing.
“I don’t deny the existence of God. I don’t say that the Christian religion is wrong, just as I don’t say the Islamic religion is wrong,” she said. “There is no proof to me that there is a God. There is also no proof to me that there is not a God.”
Susan Emel, professor of mass media and communication, is an ordained minister and admitted that not everyone who attends church acts in ways that reflect the values espoused by the institution.
“I’ve had plenty of faith questions, like ‘Why is there evil and lots of doubting specifics in the Bible or behaviors of church people,’ and I just think that that’s all really important to face,” Emel said. “The problem with churches, the problem with organized religion is that they let people in. When you let people in, they bring with them all the foibles of humanity, the good and the bad.”
Doubt can creep into anyone’s heart. Minister to the University Ira DeSpain said his time as a student was a struggle.
“My time here at Baker was a time of real spiritual thinking for me,” DeSpain said. “I had always grown up in the church, and I had always been around church things and church people. I didn’t know if it was authentically God calling me or I was trying to make my parents happy.”
Like a last name, religion ran in the family. Both DeSpain’s father and grandfather were ordained ministers. In order to be certain about his path, he separated from the ideology his parents had presented him and reexamined its value. He spent his time as an undergrad severed from the church activity he facilitates now. But after graduation, the call still summoned him, so he began to study ministry.
Doubt still inches its way back into his mind at times.
“There’s been times of doubt, times of fear and questioning where my call is leading me,” DeSpain said. “When I’m backed in a corner, when I don’t see any way out, those are the times I doubt.”