Religion continues to ignite debate on campus, a trend made clear by the recent election of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio to the Papacy. Facebook News Feeds exploded with comments, pictures and links about the new Pope, activity akin to the hoopla that surrounds events like the Presidential election. Our community’s continued fascination with religion, regardless of whether we personally practice one or not, leads us to re-evaluate the multi-dimensional facets religion brings to the college experience. Given our campus’s liberal disposition, we often view religion in a critical light, but it is important we recognize the value religion brings to the undergraduate experience.
Brown was founded in 1764 by a group of Baptists, including Nicholas Brown, who would eventually lend his last name to the University. But it is widely known that Brown was the first institution to accept students regardless of religious affiliation. This legacy holds strong today: The undergraduate body’s religious dynamism, not to mention the other profound factors that accentuate the diversity on campus, is a tremendous asset and strength. Just like students of different races or socioeconomic backgrounds, students who practice divergent faiths or no faith at all, have their own unique stories and experiences, providing other perspectives to learn from.
But it would be misleading to claim that religion’s main role on campus is to foster increased diversity and perspective. Rather, religion serves as an avenue, especially at Brown, where students have the opportunity to continually question everything. In a sense, religion inspires by philosophically and fundamentally challenging moral and ethical existence. Religion’s existence, especially in such an academic setting as Brown, leads us to ask the most difficult questions about ourselves. Examining religion’s place has a profound effect on each individual, from atheists to theists, through its role as both a guiding light and an intellectual challenge.
Even for students who find religion to be contrary to their own personal viewpoints and lifestyles, faith can be a source of intellectual growth, allowing them room to analyze it. In a way, the non-religious members of the student body have a more objective point of view on the nature of religion, especially regarding its institutional role.
While we believe religion at Brown can supplement the overall intellectual journeys we are all on, we acknowledge its delicacy and potential to be abused and misunderstood. Both religious and non-religious students can be guilty of these things. We saw an example of this two years ago, where volunteers from the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property held a demonstration advocating traditional heterosexual marriage. The inevitable existence of a clash in ideologies — highlighted by this occurrence — should further challenge us to navigate and negotiate these passionate differences instead of eliciting such vitriolic responses.
Regardless of our religious identities, we are all part of one community that strives for intellectual growth and understanding. Whether we find faith to be a fundamental fact of existence or an intriguing academic pursuit, we cannot deny its importance in the cultivation of the university experience.
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editor, Dan Jeon, and its members, Mintaka Angell, Samuel Choi, Nicholas Morley and Rachel Occhiogrosso. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
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