Word: religion
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Boston Church of Christ is about hand-clapping, hosannah-saying, old time religion. And religion that hasn't been defanged and coralled in stately Memorial Church is something Harvard is never comfortable with...
Watching churchmembers go table to table in the dining halls, one could sense a sort of horror. These people had breeched a rule of decorum by bringing religion into the sanctity of the dining room. It is not that religion has disappeared as a topic of conversation at Harvard. But how often is religion discussed in terms of what people actually feel and believe rather than as an abstraction...
CATHOLICS who want to discuss Catholicism go to the Catholic Student Center, where they know they will be with other Catholics. Jews go to Hillel. Religion may be a part of many peoples' lives around Harvard, but it is not really a part of Harvard life. To a great degree, religion is something for like-minded people to share, or something to be snuggled in nicely before brunch or dinner...
...English section last week, the section leader asked if anyone believed that Christ actually rose from the dead. Although there were a large number of Catholics and Protestants in the room, the teaching fellow was greeted with muffled silence. Harvard students, for some reason, are embarrassed about religion. And the unease comes to the fore when someone is so thoughtless as to discuss religious beliefs in public...
This reticence is especially ironic on this campus, founded to educate future Puritan ministers. Puritans found religion a part of every moment of their lives. They discussed and debated their beliefs endlessly, not just amongst themselves but with the world at large. In college, they learned Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, both to read the Bible and to become familiar with other faiths...