11/30/07
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 second installment of a three-part series that discusses interpretations of religion and life. This one focuses on some of the different religious faiths on campus.
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.
Life is suffering, which is caused by attachment. The way to overcome: the Eightfold Path. These are truths-the Four Noble Truths to be exact-which junior Derek Holland tries to live by.
“The way I go through life is to accept those universal truths and deal with it accordingly,” Holland said. “Buddhism operates on these main tenets, which really appeal to me.”
Holland is one of many students at Baker who don’t associate with the Methodist faith. According to a self-reported survey, there are 29 religions and beliefs on campus. Accounting for the largest hunk of the pie are United Methodism and Roman Catholicism, both representing 20 percent. Other beliefs include Buddhism, Judaism, atheism and agnosticism.
The survey hasn’t been updated in almost four years, but Minister to the University Ira DeSpain believes the numbers remain about the same.
“In some smaller numbers, there are 29 religious traditions on campus,” he said. “Many of them are mainline Protestants, like Presbyterians and Baptists. But there’s also people who are Buddhist and Jewish.”
Professor of Religion George Wiley said student interest in other faiths is high, as illustrated by course enrollments.
“I get the highest enrollments in World Religions,” Wiley said. “It’s also one of my favorites.”
Wiley said Hinduism is the hardest for students to understand, and students take a strong interest in Islam because of current events. He also said students always seem to be interested in Buddhism.
Worldwide, about 350 million people follow the Buddhist faith, which to some blurs the lines between a philosophy and a religion. Instead of explaining how the world came about, it centers on what to do now that we’re here. At its core, followers believe life is suffering.
“There’s always suffering,” Holland said. “You live your life by accepting that.”
The way to overcome suffering is following the Eightfold Path, which is kind of like the Ten Commandments. The path focuses on cleansing one’s mind, body and speech of impurities. A basic tenet of the religion involves suppressing desire and enhancing awareness of the moment at hand, as opposed to projecting one’s mind into the future.
“What I like about it, is that it’s focused on how you live your life rather than achieving an afterlife,” Holland said. “The Christian religion is centered on heaven and making it to the afterlife instead of how you live this one.”
Holland said when he decided to come to Baker, religion wasn’t a factor.
“I decided to go to Baker initially because I was on the baseball team,” he said. “I didn’t join for any religious reasons.”
There are other students who didn’t consider Baker’s Methodist background when they decided to go here, including junior Brandon Jacobs, who is Jewish.
“They told me that it was a Methodist-affiliated university, and that’s really about it,” he said. “It was more about the (scholarships), and Baker gave me more.”
Although he’s Jewish, Jacobs goes to chapel whenever the subject interests him. Growing up, his mother was Catholic and his father was Jewish, so he shuffled from mass to temple. Ultimately, Jacobs associates more with Judaism.
“Judaism is so ancient, and there’s so much of it that’s involved with your heritage and who you are that the religion is ingrained deep down into you,” he said. “Not only is it a religion, it’s also a culture. It feels right to me, and that’s what faith is-what feels right.”
One core difference between Judaism and Christianity is the belief in the Trinity.
“Christians think of Jesus as this Savior of mankind, the son of God, whereas some Jews think of him as a prophet, and others think of him as just a normal guy,” Jacobs said.
The month of September is jammed with Jewish holidays like Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. During Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Jacobs fasts when able.
Freshman Danielle LaSart doesn’t identify with any religion at all, but still considers herself spiritual. LaSart associates herself with Neo-Paganism, which emphasizes a connection to nature. The term pagan itself is variable, meaning anywhere from someone who has no religion at all to someone who worships multiple deities
“It’s a kind of pick-and-choose religion,” she said. “I feel close to nature. Nature is constantly astounding me. Sometimes it’s dangerous; I’ll be driving and be like ‘oh my God, it is so gorgeous.'”
DeSpain said students, like LaSart, who consider themselves spiritual but not religious, are popping up around campus.
“What I hear a lot right now, is that people say they are spiritual but not religious,” he said. “People separate their spiritual life, prayer and devotion from an institution. Religion is important because it gives structure to spirituality.”
Still, regardless of religious affiliation, students are trying to make sense of the world and their place in it.
“I believe that God acts in a way that God needs to act to relate to people in a variety of religious backgrounds,” DeSpain said. “Some of that’s regional, and some of that’s cultural. What a Buddhist calls sacred might be different from what I call sacred, but I suspect it’s all from the same source.”