Irony

[BigT3x]

Here we go again.

Baylor only requires 6 hours of religion. SMU requires 0-3 depending on which general courses a student chooses.

They are both church schools. Sorry if you don't like hearing that.

SMU "requires" 0-3.

I took 0.

So SMU does NOT "require" a religion class. Period.

SMU offers SCUBA as an option for wellness. I guess that means they require 0-3 hours of SCUBA. Does that mean SMU has a SCUBA requirement? Are we a SCUBA school?

[johnbayBear]

Baptist as a denomination is getting smaller. Many former Baptists are now non-denominational. Baylor is still very much a Christian school, just not very Baptist any more. Even funds given to Baylor by Baptists is reduced.

SMU is much more secular than Baylor and less Methodist than Baylor is Baptist. Not complaining, just stating an opinion about playing on Sunday.

[CenTXpony]

"SMU "requires" 0-3.

I took 0.

So SMU does NOT "require" a religion class. Period.

SMU offers SCUBA as an option for wellness. I guess that means they require 0-3 hours of SCUBA. Does that mean SMU has a SCUBA requirement? Are we a SCUBA school?"

Maybe if the scuba club would have established SMU and put forth the effort and funds necessary to get the ball rolling, until then, like it or not it's founded by the Methodist Church. All kinds are welcomed though obviously.

[BaylorHistory]

Baylor is barely Baptist, SMU is even less Methodist.

I don't know about Baylor not being very Baptist. Everyone I know that went there was super religious. A girl I know from SMU that transferred from there said she was a science major and had a professor refuse to teach evolution... She said she couldn't stand how religious it was and left.

What? We have entire courses on evolution. She must have been pulling your leg.

[Oliver]

SMU is secular, having just graduated in May, I was never forced or even asked to take any religion based class. I did however take a couple of very interesting classes on Islamic history with Ates. Also took a Western and Eastern religion class that were both pretty fascinating, and easy

The Methodist in our school name is now nothing more than a reference to our roots and foundation by the Methodist church. At least that's what I've been led to believe..

[whitwiki]

[quote="johnbayBear"]Baylor is barely Baptist, SMU is even less Methodist.

I don't know about Baylor not being very Baptist. Everyone I know that went there was super religious. A girl I know from SMU that transferred from there said she was a science major and had a professor refuse to teach evolution... She said she couldn't stand how religious it was and left.

Plus religion is a requirement there.

Here we go again.

Baylor only requires 6 hours of religion. SMU requires 0-3 depending on which general courses a student chooses.

They are both church schools. Sorry if you don't like hearing that.[/quote]
SMU requires a religion or philosophy class. So, no religion requirements.

Baylor requires chapel.


I didn't say it was a bad thing only that Baylor is more religious

[BaylorHistory]

SMU requires a religion or philosophy class. So, no religion requirements.

Baylor requires chapel.


I didn't say it was a bad thing only that Baylor is more religious

Chapel was horrible, but at least they let you study for other classes now. The actual religion classes at Baylor made me less religious than before I took them.

[ojaipony]

SMU is the best of all worlds IMHO. No REQUIREMENT for anything remotely considered religious (most of my professors were very liberal). However, we have a great (and beautiful) theology school (the library alone is like a museum) and I took a couple of really cool religious science courses while there (not theology, just the study of religions from a historical perspective - one of my favorite classes while there).

[BaylorHistory]

I took a couple of really cool religious science courses while there (not theology, just the study of religions from a historical perspective - one of my favorite classes while there).

That's what BU's religion classes are that you are required to take. One is on scriptures and the other is Christian Heritage (basically history of Christianity). When my parents went to BU it was two semesters of theology. I really hope that Baylor drops chapel sooner rather than later...nobody enjoys it or gains anything from it.

[BigT3x]

I took a couple of really cool religious science courses while there (not theology, just the study of religions from a historical perspective - one of my favorite classes while there).

That's what BU's religion classes are that you are required to take. One is on scriptures and the other is Christian Heritage (basically history of Christianity). When my parents went to BU it was two semesters of theology. I really hope that Baylor drops chapel sooner rather than later...nobody enjoys it or gains anything from it.

Uh, I think you guys are talking about different things. The religious studies classes at SMU focus on a wide range of religions. Christian history and scriptures is not that... At all.

[BaylorHistory]

I took a couple of really cool religious science courses while there (not theology, just the study of religions from a historical perspective - one of my favorite classes while there).

That's what BU's religion classes are that you are required to take. One is on scriptures and the other is Christian Heritage (basically history of Christianity). When my parents went to BU it was two semesters of theology. I really hope that Baylor drops chapel sooner rather than later...nobody enjoys it or gains anything from it.

Uh, I think you guys are talking about different things. The religious studies classes at SMU focus on a wide range of religions. Christian history and scriptures is not that... At all.

Yeah it seems he took a world religion class, which isn't the same thing (I misread). I still think it's important to separate faith from history with these courses which is what Baylor did. You can go to sunday school for the faith stuff.

[ojaipony]

Yeah it seems he took a world religion class, which isn't the same thing (I misread). I still think it's important to separate faith from history with these courses which is what Baylor did. You can go to sunday school for the faith stuff.

It was really more like a politics of religions course. Not about the religion themselves like a World Religions course. It was much deeper than that. "This line from the New Testament was really referring to this political figure from 500 years ago to make X point" etc etc. Nothing to do with theology or scripture ... fascinating course ...

http://www.smu.edu/Dedman/Academics/Dep ... ousstudies

[whitwiki]

[daubeart]

Baylor is barely Baptist, SMU is even less Methodist.

I don't know about Baylor not being very Baptist. Everyone I know that went there was super religious. A girl I know from SMU that transferred from there said she was a science major and had a professor refuse to teach evolution... She said she couldn't stand how religious it was and left.

A Baylor professor cannot "refuse to teach evolution." This is Baylor statement on it:
"Evolution, a foundational principle of modern biology, is supported by overwhelming scientific evidence and is accepted by the vast majority of scientists. Because it is fundamental to the understanding of modern biology, the faculty in the Biology Department at Baylor University, Waco, TX, teach evolution throughout the biology curriculum. We are in accordance with the American Association for Advancement of Science's statement on evolution. We are a science department, so we do not teach alternative hypotheses or philosophically deduced theories that cannot be tested rigorously."
http://www.baylor.edu/biology/index.php?id=77368

Your statement is ironic because Baylor is seen as an enemy of intelligent design and creationism. In conservative evangelical and Baptist circles, Baylor is viewed as a very liberal institution. Here is an article about how a Baylor engineering professor's personal website involving intelligent design was shut down by the University:
http://robertmarks.org/InTheNews/2007_M ... n-BLOG.htm

Anti-evolution "scientists" claim lack of academic freedom at Baylor because the university won't let political science, engineering, or mathematicians research or write about intelligent design in non-Baylor affiliated periodicals:
http://www.evolutionnews.org/2007/09/ac ... 04189.html

Baylor computer science fellow locked out of university for researching intelligent design issues on Baylor campus:
http://www.uncommondescent.com/intellig ... ship-2006/

Baylor ousts intelligent design mathematician (he wrote a book on it, he didn't teach it at the university).
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/200 ... 18.20.html

So the argument that Baylor doesn't teach evolution is wrong. Baylor is seen as the enemy of intelligent design by anti-evolutionists. So the idea that it is anti-evolution is even more strange. It's like saying SMU is against the Mustangs.

[daubeart]

Two semesters of religion at Baylor is subversively liberal. Some people naively think its indoctrination of Christianity. In reality, it's the opposite. You "unlearn" much of what has been taught to you in church. It's a great class that teaches you what the Bible actually says: the inconsistencies, the history of the writers, the manuscripts and some of its violence and genocide.

Most people who take the Christian-oriented classes come away with a much more liberal worldview. People from other institutions claiming it's a Sunday School class are naive or willfully ignorant. When I went to Baylor in the nineties we could take any religion (study of any world religion or comparison thereof). It changed a lot of minds from conservative to liberal. That's one reason the conservatives think Baylor is a liberal institution.

SMU ranked number 15 on the most conservative college list. Baylor was unranked.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/g ... ml#slide12

Our last Democratic governor and Lt. Governor were Baylor alumni. (Ann Richards and Bob Bullock). Willie Nelson attended Baylor. The largest donors to the Texas Democratic Party are Baylor alumni. People claiming that Baylor is a very conservative Christian Republican school are ignorant about the university. It's especially ironic coming from SMU, which suffers from the same conservative-Christian prejudice in most of the country. (you went toa school that was Southern and Christian, oh my you must be a creationist!)