What can God do for you?Why religion is good for the soul

At Brown University, many different religions are represented through the University’s Office of the Chaplain and Religious Life. Several different Christian denominations are present, from Protestants and Catholics, to Mormons and Imani Jubilee (a contemporary worship group). In addition to these, also represented are Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Baha’i, Unitarianism, and Paganism (yes, there is even a Pagan group on campus).

Outside of these individual religions, there is a large push for interfaith initiatives, based on the idea that if people from different religions meet, mix, and talk about their beliefs, only good will come from this cordial discourse. These initiatives include a weekly Interfaith Supper, which serves as such a forum for these discussions. There is also a Multi-Faith Council, directed by student leaders from different religious communities, who discuss ways to strengthen bonds between the different communities, and as such strengthen their own beliefs. Finally, there is an Interfaith House, a residential space where members from different communities can come together and live – perhaps as a shining example of cooperation between different religious groups.

All these religious activities on campus would lead one to expect that Brown was a very religious place. That would be incorrect.

Before I left for college, my father sat me down and talked to me about how great a force religion is on college campuses, and how transformative collegial religious worship can be. The experience of Mass changes completely: rather then attending Mass as a family and seeing your parents’ friends, you are attending Mass with your own peers, which has the potential to be a great exercise in spiritual growth. (It might be worth noting that my father went to a Catholic university as compared to the more secular Brown.) And so, needless to say, I was excited to come to campus and see what religion at college was all about. My first Sunday at Brown, I showed up for Mass in Manning Chapel and was shocked, not only by the small crowd, but by the manner in which it slowly dwindled away throughout the semester. And the extremely liberal priest (in my admittedly conservative opinion) came close to gravely misinterpreting Catholic Dogma several times. Long story short, this was not what I had expected.

The point I am trying to make is that the University does the requisite work to have a religious life on campus; but, for whatever reason the students fail to take advantage of the opportunities that exist. And those groups which do manage to pull enough attendees to exist are so hamstrung by their small membership numbers that they fail to have any real presence on campus. What most of campus will never know first hand is that these are great groups in which students have highly rewarding spiritual experiences.

Unfortunately, many aspects of the University outside the second floor of Faunce House unintentionally fail to support those who choose to be more devoted. On Fridays during Lent, for example, the dining halls offer very few non-meat dishes for Catholics. Why don’t more people care about such religious neglect? The sense I get from walking around campus is that the average student is not very religious and, despite all the supposed support for multiculturalism, chooses not to fight for religious accommodations for us traditionalists.

Why is the religious aspect of campus largely ignored? Personally, I feel that many religions are too “mainstream” for many students. I have jokingly said in the past that religions not well represented in the United States, Paganism for example, have more of a place on campus than the various Protestant denominations, which 52% of people nationwide practice. Yet, having taken the time to do research for this article, I found how soberingly true that fact really is. As every member of this campus knows, Brown students are generally overworked, and religion takes time and effort. Unfortunately, few will ever realize that the effort is worth it. Young adulthood is perhaps the greatest time for spiritual growth that one will ever have, especially as one comes to terms with life-goals before entering the working world.

I guess only those individuals who make the choice to not participate in religious life, are the ones who know their exact beliefs. If I were forced to give my opinion, I would say the majority of individuals at Brown are Deists, where they believe in God but they just do not think God has such a profound role that other religions believe Him to have. I find this unfortunate because I feel that religion adds a needed dimension to the human spirit. I do not care what religion one practices, but I do feel strongly that religion is important and I hope that more students become actively involved in religious life – if more students do, Brown would as a whole be strengthened.