College Is Pitting Me Against The Church-PART 2

[maryharket]

Hello Everyone

Wow! Well I think the issue got taken care of for me but not in the way that I expected. Some caring individual on the thread CALLED MY COLLEGE and spoke to the higher ups! While I am grateful for the concern (I can't believe someone would care enough about me to do this) it ended up blowing up into a huge situation and I ended up having to answer to the teacher's superiors about what all went on because they reprimanded her. Sigh! I was hoping this could be dealt with more discreetly and while this did prompt my professor to address the use of speech in the classroom this turned out to cause quite the uproar and now I'm left to fix it. 

I would have rather the person ask me first if I wanted them to intervene instead of doing it on their own. I might have asked them to hold off for a bit. So I guess this was a blessing and a curse. The blessing being that the reprimand from the professor's boss prompted her to face the issue and become proactive but the bad side is that now I am having to straighten out this whole mess because the last thing I want is for this instructor to lose their job. Sigh! 

 I am very grateful for all the advice and yes we should all be ready to go into battle to protect our faith and stand up for the weaker amongst us but not without permission.

Once again, thank you. I feel very cared for. Whats funny is the dean stated that someone threatened the school with the media. Wow! I guess Anderson Cooper was about to parachute in and keep 'em honest! Just Kidding.

Hopefully this guy chills out now and hopefully some lessons have been learned for all sides.

Take Care Mary M.

 

[PbloPicasso]

Most schools have a process in place to protect everyone in such a climate. Most of the students are adults. If you check around you’ll notice that some of the students are still in high school taking dual credit. This is one of the reasons students and teachers should maintain control over their tongues. By speaking up you’ve protected a child - if not now, somewhere in the future. I’m in the process of working towards teacher certification as well as teaching in a community college. Anytime I hear a story about abuse in the classroom it crawls under my skin.

Once, a professor told me I was not college material. Years later after the military and my new found confidence, I learned to speak up. I also graduated with honors and was the favorite student by most of the professors because of my tenacity. I was very diplomatic, yet prone to stand up for people, including my professor and chair that tried to get me to testify against each other. They were in a hate war and chose to drag me into it. It broke my dreams for a while. But now I’ve found the time, support and motivation to return after 16 years.

What you’ve done is put professors, who are employees of the college, and students that have a code of conduct to follow, and minor children attending college in your classrooms. What you may think was for you, may be in part, but I’m sure it was for those children, too afraid to speak out when someone else like that rude and obnoxious student tries to railroad someone else.

 

[Catholic90]

Someone claiming that God does not exist-for me-is the same as if someone were to come to one of you one day and say that your parents are not your parents. You would be hurt and probably not believe them and any proofs they gave you would be subject to rejection. You know what you know and would be appalled if someone tried to say that most important thing in your life is a lie!

Take Care Mary M.

I am glad this is getting resolved! That is good!

However, I had to address this comment you made:

If someone told me my parents were not my parents, I would laugh at them! I KNOW my parents are my parents! I KNOW I have faith in God. Having someone else tell me otherwise would not hurt me! I know better. So to say I would be “hurt” and “appalled” is simply not true.

 

[3DOCTORS]

Which brings me to another concern that I have with some of the posts- my level of faith should not be measured by how much I am willing to tolerate. **To assume that my faith is “weak” because I find this person offensive is way off base! **I have a very strong faith and do not look for others to validate my faith, I only want the same respect that I show to others who do not share my faith to be shown to me. Just because a person finds another person’s hateful remarks unbearable does not mean that their faith is not strong. On the contrary, if I was weak in my faith I probably would let this guy convince me that all that he is saying is true or should at least be considered. I know the truth and that’s why this person is hurting me deeply.

Someone claiming that God does not exist-for me-is the same as if someone were to come to one of you one day and say that your parents are not your parents. You would be hurt and probably not believe them and any proofs they gave you would be subject to rejection. You know what you know and would be appalled if someone tried to say that most important thing in your life is a lie! **So please, don’t get carried away in judging mine or anyone’s level of faith. It is not helpful and only shows me that some of us may call ourselves, Christians or Catholics but think we reserve the right to judge one another’s level of “catholic-ness” or christian-ness and that is just as hateful as what is going on in my issue. **

That’s exactly right. :sad_yes: People should never presume to judge another’s level of faith - there are many factors involved in a situation like this. I have anxiety disorders and have gotten judged by others that I didn’t have enough faith because I couldn’t just recite a Bible verse and have my panic attacks vanish. It’s easy for the armchair quarterbacks to think they know all about it but they don’t.

Likewise, the person who opened the can of worms for you by intervening without your permission acted with possible good intentions but not with wisdom and prudence and gave you more stress. Hopefully they will think twice before doing anything like that again. I guess we have to be careful online and be vague about locations and such. You never know. Well, at any rate, I hope things get worked out and I’ll pray for you.

 

[mkinson]

As an atheist myself, I personally believe that education and service to the community are essential to the betterment of humanity. The actions of the avowed atheist in your class do no service to himself, but instead shows him to be an arrogant self-aggrandizing fool (based upon your description). This is not a trait unique to atheists, but one shared by people of all walks of life.

Please do not allow his disruptive attitude and hostile nature dissuade you from your goals! I seem to recall the Bible (yes, I’ve read it) giving many stories of such struggles. Perhaps seek solace in Deuteronomy 20:1-4.