Students Insist On God In College - A Place To Post Examples

[Orbit]

Some of you know I am a university professor teaching in a Sociology Department currently. Every semester I get some doozies, and here's one to share. The assignment was for a class on social movements, and they had to do a presentation designing and describing a social movement that they'd like to start. Here's the introduction to one of them:

 

"Many public libraries across the United States are beginning to remove The Bible and other Christian based books from their book collection, but allowing books on Atheism.

 

Removal of one religious preference is unfair and unjust.

 

Freedom of open religion is being impinged by removing Christian books from public places.

 

Public libraries are funded by tax payers, as a tax payer I have a right to show my grievance against libraries removing Christian based books. "

 

 

No citations, no backup, just flaming righteous opinion.

[midniterider]

No citations = grade reduction, I'd say. :-)

[Merlin]

     I recently had to complete an assignment in my history of civilization class in which the professor asked us to provide him with an example of who we thought was the most influential and important historical figure from between the dates 2500 BCE and 1500 CE.  I chose to write up a short exposé on Plato.  Another student chose to write about Alexander the Great.  Most of the students chose to write about legitimate historical figures who actually made a significant impact on the world in which we live.  However,  there were two students who chose to write about Jesus...

     Both of their responses were backed up with little to no verifiable historical evidence whatsoever.  One of the responses was designed to inform the rest of us students that a life without Christ 'just doesn't make sense'.  He proceeded to explain to us how Christianity is the only thing in this world that gives life a sense of purpose and meaning...

     The funny thing about both of these responses is that neither of the students backed either of their claims up with citations from historical references - the examples they provided were just 'mini sermons' in disguise that were based entirely upon their own subjective religious experiences.

[Orbit]

No citations = grade reduction, I'd say. :-)

I tried to find this issue on Snopes.com and came up empty-handed. I have never heard of such a case, and strongly suspect it is from a false Xtian meme the student saw on Facebook. I would have at least expected a citation to a newspaper article or something. Objectively, the rest of the presentation was underdeveloped, left out or gave scant treatment to required elements of the assignment, and was generally shoddy. No doubt when it gets a lowered grade for no citations and leaving out parts of the assignment, I will be accused of persecuting Christians.

[Ravenstar]

Who's removing christian books from libraries?

 

I'd say bullshit… and I agree, no citations, no grade.

[FarflungWanderer]

If I were to do Jesus, I'd talk about how different the values he exposed were to the contemporary Roman values, how as they spread they began to cause a disintegration of order in Roman territories because Christians wouldn't follow the Imperial Cult, which was an extremely effective way the Romans kept stability with multiple religions inside their borders.

 

You could pull from multiple sources, mainly the Bible and any book on Roman governing tactics.

[FreeThinkerNZ]

If I were to do Jesus, I'd talk about how different the values he exposed were to the contemporary Roman values, how as they spread they began to cause a disintegration of order in Roman territories because Christians wouldn't follow the Imperial Cult, which was an extremely effective way the Romans kept stability with multiple religions inside their borders.

 

You could pull from multiple sources, mainly the Bible and any book on Roman governing tactics.

 

And that approach would at least represent an attempt to be scholarly about it.  It would be worthy of some grade for that.  As a social science major, it's the lack of scholarly approach in these examples that bugs me the most.  Studying liberal arts/social sciences at university level is about learning how to assess, analyse and present information to support a point.  It doesn't matter so much what subject you study or assignment topic you choose, as long as you are learning and demonstrating these thinking and writing skills.  Given the fact that much of the world struggles to access even primary education, it's sad that these kids who have such privileged access to higher education are squandering it because they have been brainwashed into ignorance.

[mikey101]

No doubt when it gets a lowered grade for no citations and leaving out parts of the assignment, I will be accused of persecuting Christians.

 

Religious preference is no excuse for not doing your assignment correctly.

[Merlin]

 

 Given the fact that much of the world struggles to access even primary education, it's sad that these kids who have such privileged access to higher education are squandering it because they have been brainwashed into ignorance.

 

 

FTNZ, I couldn't agree more with what you said here.  Maybe, it is time that parents and teachers place more emphasis on this fact both at home and in the classroom.  Those of us who are fortunate enough to have access to higher education need to be grateful for it and take full advantage of it.

[FarflungWanderer]

 

If I were to do Jesus, I'd talk about how different the values he exposed were to the contemporary Roman values, how as they spread they began to cause a disintegration of order in Roman territories because Christians wouldn't follow the Imperial Cult, which was an extremely effective way the Romans kept stability with multiple religions inside their borders.

 

You could pull from multiple sources, mainly the Bible and any book on Roman governing tactics.

 

And that approach would at least represent an attempt to be scholarly about it.  It would be worthy of some grade for that.  As a social science major, it's the lack of scholarly approach in these examples that bugs me the most.  Studying liberal arts/social sciences at university level is about learning how to assess, analyse and present information to support a point.  It doesn't matter so much what subject you study or assignment topic you choose, as long as you are learning and demonstrating these thinking and writing skills.  Given the fact that much of the world struggles to access even primary education, it's sad that these kids who have such privileged access to higher education are squandering it because they have been brainwashed into ignorance.

 

 

Are you saying I'm not being scholarly about it..?

 

Kidding.

 

It is sad how this works. Education has been slipping, though, you only have to look at programs like Common Core to see that, but still it wouldn't be that hard to fix things. The tragedy is that people are denying their children a real education because "everything that isn't in the Bible must be some kind of liberal lie" or some other kind of bollocks.

[bornagainathiest]

Some of you know I am a university professor teaching in a Sociology Department currently. Every semester I get some doozies, and here's one to share. The assignment was for a class on social movements, and they had to do a presentation designing and describing a social movement that they'd like to start. Here's the introduction to one of them:

 

"Many public libraries across the United States are beginning to remove The Bible and other Christian based books from their book collection, but allowing books on Atheism.

 

Removal of one religious preference is unfair and unjust.

 

Then remove ALL religious books to restore the balance of fairness and justice.

 

Freedom of open religion is being impinged by removing Christian books from public places.

 

Public libraries are funded by tax payers, as a tax payer I have a right to show my grievance against libraries removing Christian based books. "

 

 

No citations, no backup, just flaming righteous opinion.

[gall]

No citations = grade reduction, I'd say. :-)

 

no citation should equal rejected work at any level above grade school and even then it should be enforced.

 

Prove it or don't bother saying it or writing it. If it is your opinion surely don't write it like fact.

 

No citation should equal failure. if they can't take the time to back up their shit they will get called out hard in the real world.

[◊ crazyguy123 ◊]

I think this student's problem is that they are not looking in the correct section of the Library to find the Bible and/or Christian books. They are probably looking in the "Non-fiction" section, when they should be looking in the "Sci-fi/Fantasy" Section, or maybe even "Horror" when looking for the Bible.

[TheRedneckProfessor]

When I was teaching at the college level, my students knew they had to back up every claim with evidence.  Granted, I was teaching biological sciences; the the principle should stand for any subject.

[Lilith666]

No citations? That is a grievous sin. What year is this person? Even a freshman should know this--they slather it on in high school.

[FreeThinkerNZ]

No citations? That is a grievous sin. What year is this person? Even a freshman should know this--they slather it on in high school.

Maybe they were homeschooled.  Or thought the bible is such a reliable source citations were not needed.  I guess the walls of the xian bubble can be so thick for some people that they don't comprehend that the bible is just a book.

[earthmama514]

 

 

No citations? That is a grievous sin. What year is this person? Even a freshman should know this--they slather it on in high school.

Maybe they were homeschooled. Or thought the bible is such a reliable source citations were not needed. I guess the walls of the xian bubble can be so thick for some people that they don't comprehend that the bible is just a book.

Just a book? Blasphemy!!! It's THE ONLY BOOK THAT MATTERS!

 

Or at least that's what I was told by my fundy pastor dad growing up. Lol

[ExCBooster]

Some of you know I am a university professor teaching in a Sociology Department currently. Every semester I get some doozies, and here's one to share. The assignment was for a class on social movements, and they had to do a presentation designing and describing a social movement that they'd like to start. Here's the introduction to one of them:

 

"Many public libraries across the United States are beginning to remove The Bible and other Christian based books from their book collection, but allowing books on Atheism.

 

Removal of one religious preference is unfair and unjust.

 

Freedom of open religion is being impinged by removing Christian books from public places.

 

Public libraries are funded by tax payers, as a tax payer I have a right to show my grievance against libraries removing Christian based books. "

 

 

No citations, no backup, just flaming righteous opinion.

*RAAAAAAAGE!*

 

Seriously, though, no citations, no evidence? F. See me after class.

 

I work in a public library. I'm getting a master's degree in library science. Just the most cursory experience with a real, live library, or even a web search would show this nonsense about The Bible isn't true. Or, you know, doing what sane people do when they want research and information - ask a librarian. Did not do the research on libraries? That's deliciously ironic. 

 

The professional organization for library workers is the American Library Association. They're ferociously against censorship of any kind, and what this student describes is entirely against the professional ethic. In fact, they keep lists of the most banned or challenged books, from year to year. It's really fun reading. Oh, and I think you'll notice a pattern as to what gets challenged... It's the stuff the Christians don't like. So, let's add hypocrisy to the irony, then. 

 

Fun fact: most public libraries use the Dewey Decimal cataloging system, or variants, and the Bible (and all things Christian) can be found in the non-fiction 220's. The 200s are the religion section. Atheism is in the 211s, because the position exists in concern with religious systems. Humanism is in the 144s: 100s are philosophy. Non-fiction doesn't equal "fact": non-fiction covers all books that are not fiction. Fiction, specifically, is contemporary (mostly) literature attributable to specific creative writers, even if they're anonymous. Heck, the Dewey Decimal system even has a number for those: 800s, literature. The distinction is completely superficial in DDC because everything can be assigned a cataloging number, even a can of tuna. The thing is, most libraries separate them out into "800s - literature" and "fiction" (usually by author) so that stressed-out college students can find that copy of Ulysses that they need for a paper due tomorrow, and other patrons can find the latest James Patterson novel. Especially large collections or genres can even be shelved separately from the rest of the fiction, so that everything's easier to find. Like pulp westerns, pulp romance, or mysteries. (There are a stunning number of cats/knitting/baking/murder books. I don't even.) 

 

So, Go Ask Alice? Fiction: the specific creative author is anonymous. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban? J. K. Rowling wrote it - fiction. Beowulf? Non-fiction 800s for literature, because while there is a single scribe or scribes who wrote it, it was oral history/folklore/mythology before that, and not attributable to single creative minds. Also, folklore itself is in the non-fiction 398s: this is where you'll find books on folklore vampires. This doesn't mean that vampires really exist, it means that vampires are folklore. Twilight, however, is fiction, not folklore, author is Stephenie Meyer.

 

Find something in your public library now with this Dewey Decimal System schedule! Academic libraries, however, usually use the Library of Congress Classification system.

[seven77]

 

No citations = grade reduction, I'd say. :-)

I tried to find this issue on Snopes.com and came up empty-handed. I have never heard of such a case, and strongly suspect it is from a false Xtian meme the student saw on Facebook. I would have at least expected a citation to a newspaper article or something. Objectively, the rest of the presentation was underdeveloped, left out or gave scant treatment to required elements of the assignment, and was generally shoddy. No doubt when it gets a lowered grade for no citations and leaving out parts of the assignment, I will be accused of persecuting Christians.

I wonder if the person who rote the paper saw that masterful piece of cinema entitled "God's Not Dead"? If they did, their thought process was likely one in which they would emerge a victorious defender of Christ. They were likely picturing a chance to stand for their beliefs against a crusty atheist professor. (Surely Orbit is not crusty. )

 

Or they were raised in a bubble and unaware that the Bible is not a standalone source and that most college writing assignments involve research, citations, bibliographies and the like.

 

Perhaps this is an opportunity to engage your students on the difference of expectations in various communities that they may belong to in life? Religious environments vs. Scholarly environments. Personal space vs. Formal space. Or maybe it's time to suggest the book of bad arguments?

 

Idk. I'm aghast that someone has made it to college without learning how to write a paper. Laziness is one thing; ignorance is another and I'm not sure where this falls.

[mikey101]

Just because someone's in college doesn't automatically mean they're smart.

 

[Guest Furball]

"Many public libraries across the United States are beginning to remove The Bible and other Christian based books from their book collection, but allowing books on Atheism.

 

 

Books on atheism are based on evidence-science-and reality, while the bible is just fiction with a few historical locations thrown in. Either move the bible to the fiction section next to the comic books and stephen king novels or throw it in the trash. 

[ExCBooster]

In a public library in the USA, even the comic books are shelved in the non-fiction 741.5-somethings, like so:

Lone Wolf and Cub Omnibus 1 GRAPHIC 741.5952 LON01  

Batman: a Death in the Family GRAPHIC 741.5973 BAT DEA

 

There wasn't a single creative author of the Bible, anyway, so it can't go in the Fiction, when there's enough of those to shelve "fiction" apart from the 800s. Again, non-fiction doesn't mean "true" or even "based on facts" it just means that it isn't an exercise in creative writing attributable to a known author or set of authors. (Even then, those can be put in the 800s if your library is small enough.)

 

The biggest irony to me, of Christians wanting to see the Bible kept in the "non-fiction" is that The Bible's location in the non-fiction 200s implicitly acknowledges that no single or definite creator(s) came up with it... heh heh...

[Guest Furball]

Well i stand fucking corrected!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RogueScholar]

Hey Orbit. I am going to assume a couple of things. First, I assume you are referring to an undergrad student. If this is the case, I assume you have developed a grading rubric for your students to use as they develop their papers. Simply follow the grading rubric and assign a grade that reflects how well the student met your standards that were outlined in said rubric. Clearly, failing to reference an assertion that appears to be the subject of the paper should be a show stopper in terms of grading.

[older]

When I was a professor I discovered that too many students simply do not know how to write a research paper. I also saw the result of the "self-esteem" movement that existed in elementary education for a while. I had students insist that they should receive a top grade because they "tried," or because they never missed a class session. I also found that too many of them didn't understand that a good opinion should stem from some sort of observation, not just be pulled out of the air.

 

There was a good article on Slate recently by a prof who is tired of looking at term papers, most of which were written during all-nighters just before they were due. She decided to scrap the assignment and use a one-on-one oral exam instead. She said this took less time than slogging through a paper and gave her a better idea of what the student knew.