THURSDAY, AUG 22, 2002
LIFESTYLE
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 11
Faith tested by student lifestyles
The temptations of a college existence often collide with religious backgrounds, leaving students to examine their beliefs.
By Leslie Kimmel Jayplay writer
College gives students the freedom to make up their own rules, learn new concepts and form new ideas. And some University of Kansas students, like Amanda Forbes, Roeland Park sophomore, say it also gives students the freedom to change religious views.
"It's a college thing," she said. "The more educated you are, the least likely you are to fall back on religion."
Forbes said she was raised in a
Christian family, and "believed it all because that's what kids do." But she struggled mixing college freedom with staying true to her religion. Her loss of faith was prompted by making a large number of friends with atheist andagnostic views, she said.
"In college, in the cafeteria and stuff, you start getting into all of these religious conversations," Forbes said. "I started arguing my point and started realizing how ridiculous everything I was saying was."
Forbes said an atheist friend helped
her open up, not just because he was constantly challenging her Christian faith, but also because he had facts to back up every one of his arguments. She said archaeology and anthropology classes also had a strong impact on her faith by offering proof against her Christian creation beliefs.
Other students like Brendan Cope, Leavenworth senior, put their faith on the back burner when they come to college.
"I did the typical college student thing in not caring," he said. "It just didn't strike me as something I needed to do. I never fully left, I just became a twice-a-year Catholic."
Cope said toward the end of his sophomore year he started attending services more often and he returned to the church after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"It helped me to get the answers I needed all along," he said.
Cope said the quirks of college life, such as sidewalk chalkings about parties and drink specials, could tempt students to do things that didn't coincide with their religious views.
"This is completely parent-free. You
"I did the typical college student thing in not caring... I never fully left, I just became a twice-a-year Catholic."
can do whatever you want," Cope said. "If you want to completely indulge yourself you can; you don't even have to seek it out."
—Brendan Cope Leavenworth senior
Not all students who come to college lose their faith. Rev. Vince Krische, director of St. Lawrence Catholic Center, said the freedom and education a university setting offered could help students more firmly grasp their religion.
"In a secular education system there is no integrating principle," he said. "If I have a theological education, it provides meaning to why I'm learning something else. I think that there is a myth that when you go away to college you can put the person you knew aside."
The challenge for students trying to remain faithful is integrating religious life and college life. Jay Lewis, executive director of Hillel, said a particular
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