Years ago, when I returned to college after an enlistment in the USAF,

[MineralMan]

I became an English major at the university I attended. Since I had completed 2.5 years of college-level study previously, as an engineering and then a Russian major, I had very few elective classes.

However, I decided to take an upper division class in "Comparative Religions." Since I had been studying various religions for a few years already, I figured it would be a class I could breeze through. So, on the first day of classes, I showed up for the first lecture.

The professor for the class began by telling the class that everyone would "please sit in the seats you currently occupy throughout the semester." I thought that was an odd sort of thing for an upper division class, but shrugged. Then he introduced himself, and told us that he was an active Baptist minister and named the church for which he was the pastor. He invited the class to attend services, but said that it was "not a requirement." My spidey senses were activated.

His next statement, however, floored me completely. He said, and I paraphrase: "While this class is named Comparative Religions, do not make the mistake of thinking that all religions are equally valid. Christianity is the only true religion, and we will devote ourselves to understanding why other religions are false this semester."

Uh, nope. I stood up, walked to the front of the classroom, presented my registration card for the class, and asked the man to sign me out of the class. "Why are you withdrawing from the class?" he asked. "Because you have already stated that it will be completely biased toward Christianity, and will discuss other religions only to dismiss them. That is not even close to intellectual honesty, and I do not have time for such nonsense, sir."

I wasn't some 19 year old kid. I wasn't about to deal with such nonsense. He signed off on my withdrawal and I left. Later, I wrote a letter to the Dean of Humanities at the University, explaining my concern. That professor did not return the next semester.

The arrogance of many Christian clergy people is shocking.

[wryter2000]

1. This Christian

Is glad you did it.

[MineralMan]

2. I didn't mention that it was a State University.

Ugh!

[wryter2000]

3. Crap

Now I'm really glad you did it. I'm also glad the university didn't rehire him.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Interesting. I also took a religion course in college,

which was a private college that was then affiliated with the Presbyterian church. The religion class (which at that time was required) did not tout Christianity as the one true religion, though its concepts were studied in some detail. It was actually pretty interesting. Sounds like you got one bad apple that shouldn't have been teaching at a public university and I'm glad you complained.

[MineralMan]

5. Well, while that professor/pastor probably wasn't aware,

he should have been glad that I withdrew from his class. From my seat in the front of the class, I would have been a constant thorn in his side. He would have had to contend with my pointed questions often. It was always my habit on my return to college to take a seat in the front row of my classes, and to participate whenever appropriate. Some professors encouraged that, while others were sometimes discomfited by questions. I preferred the former group.

Really, I was more or less killing time by returning to school. There was the GI Bill, which I considered as back pay for my time in the service, and I got a couple of years to try to decide what to do next. I never actually did decide, though, so I did many different things over the next few decades. Fun, but not conducive to a relaxing retirement. Oh, well...

[The Genealogist]

6. I was a Religious Studies major in college

Well it was a double major with Near Eastern Antiquities. I also hold an MA in Religious Studies, and I made it through most of a PhD in the field. Funny field of study for an atheist, I know, but thus is is. I never once had an experience like yours. I'd have done the same. Knowing the faculties under whom I studied, this guy would have been out of there ASAP. The fact is, both schools i went to were very careful, lest someone report a proselytizing instructor and the departments get the ax.

[MineralMan]

7. That's why I was so surprised to hear him say such a thing.

Were I still going to school, though, I'd probably have stayed in the class and made him try to prove that Christianity, like the other religions, is not also a false religion. I'd probably cause him to offer to pay me not to attend his classes.

But, in those days, I had other things to do, so I settled for blowing him off and complaining to the administration about a proselytizing professor at a state-funded school. That took less time and energy. In those days, I had not learned patience as thoroughly as I did later.

I had one other class that was taught by an incompetent professor, but this time in my own major. It was a "Dramatic Literature" 300-series course. I did not withdraw from it, because my future wife-to-be had caught my eye as a fellow classmate in that course. So, I stayed. The class, which was supposed to look at plays not written by Shakespeare as literature, of course. Instead, the lectures were a tedious recounting of various productions of the plays we were studying that the professor had attended in different cities, often with a blow-by-blow description of after-parties with the cast.

In one notable class session, the professor described her chagrin at appearing at such a party, only to discover that a player was wearing the exact same outfit as the professor. That, apparently, spoiled the entire event for her. We never did discuss drama and the structure of it during the classes.

I wrote another letter regarding that professor, who was not there the next semester. I'm a very convincing letter-writer, it seems.

[The Genealogist]

8. That example from your own major

Not only a waste of money for you, but it sounds like a complete lack of academic anything. It is one thing to relate an interesting and timely anecdote to a class, but what you described is totally unacceptable. Glad someone in authority listened.

[MineralMan]

9. Well, the university I attended is known more for its agriculture

and engineering curricula. The English Department existed so there would be enough people available to attempt to make the rest of the student body literate. Since they had those people available, they created an English Department, which granted degrees up to the M.A. Other majors in the Humanities existed for the same reason.

A rigorous academic environment it was not. It suited my purpose, though, and there were a few talented people in my department.

[Lordquinton]

10. Makes me greatful all that stuff is online now

Just a couple clicks and minimal anxiety.

[MineralMan]

11. Back in the late 60s and early 70s,

there were libraries. One of the advantages of being a full-time student was access to the University's library. Most of my education came out of that building, really.

The internet is an amazing thing, but vetting the quality of information found on it is more difficult. That problem was less troubling when doing research in actual books, which underwent at least some vetting before being published.

All things considered, though, I prefer the immediate access to knowledge that is available now.

[The Genealogist]

12. I do miss aspects of "how it was" regarding the use of university libraries

I remember using good old interlibrary loan, photocopying articles from paper journals and books. Lugging around stacks of books. Most of that has been replaced I am sure with the internet.

I did nearly all my studying at the library. For study breaks, I would just walk among the books to stretch my legs, and sometimes read old magazines as well. One of the hard copy magazines I would read during study breaks was "Better Homes and Gardens," and many were from the WWII era. In grad school, I took a comparative religion course that focused largely on American civil religion, and immediately thought of certain ads I had seen in those Better Homes and Gardens magazines over the years. So, I wrote my big paper for the course on apocalyptic imagery and language in WWII American advertising. My favorite paper in grad school. My teacher loved it, and coerced me into presenting it at a conference in Chicago. I got positive feedback on it there too. In today's more net based environment, I'd probably never have gotten the idea for a successful paper.

[MineralMan]

13. The library in my small town was oversized for the demand on it.

So, the county library system used shelving at the back of the main room to store bound volumes of several magazines. Some of those bound volumes dated back to the turn of the century (19th). Among those were Scientific American and Popular Mechanics.

It was also the only air-conditioned public building in the town, so I spent hours and hours there on hot summer days. Over a couple of summers, I paged through every volume of those two magazines, starting with the earliest volumes. I read some articles, but not all. Still, I got exposed to the development of science and technology through about 75 years.

The head librarian once asked me why I was looking through all those old magazines. "History," I said. "I'm learning the history of things that interest me." I didn't realize it at the time, but that history taught me a great deal that became useful later in my life.

Today, one can browse through such collections on the Internet, but it's not as much fun as it was paging through those old pages. the advertising, too, in those old magazines also taught me a lot.

That librarian was a nice man, but he was sometimes puzzled by my choices of books, as well. I read in almost any subject you could imagine, and he didn't quite get what I was up to.

[The Genealogist]

14. "...it's not as much fun as it was paging through those old pages."

I don't mean to knock using electronically-based materials, as electronic formats do have many advantages. There is just something about using the paper materials themselves, a part of the experience that the net just cannot provide.

[Lordquinton]

17. We still have libraries

as much as some sectors would love to just get rid of them. But for things like class registering and dropping, I much prefer doing it online, I just wish they'd keep it simple and straightforward instead of trying to make everything new and slick to the point of uselessness. Oh, I have to click not the button that says waitlist, but the register options button and go down to the manage waitlist option. Which, btw, just opens a popup that is a simple redirect to the old page.

The best part of college these days is learning how to navigate these systems, you learn Quality pretty quick.

[Major Nikon]

15. My imaginary friend can beat up your imaginary friend

It doesn't get much better.

[MineralMan]

16. Imaginary battles are imaginary.

Nothing to do with me, so I think I'll ignore them. Actually, since they're imaginary, I really have no choice.

The Greeks and Romans had a much better deal. Their gods were always arguing with each other, and are said to have shown up and interacted with lowly humans. I think they all died, though, long ago, so...

Then there are the Hindu gods, and boy are there a lot of those. But, nobody's seen them, either, as far as I know.

The human imagination can come up with almost anything, it seems, and often does.