Diversity Disdained
Claire Harter
Issue date: 1/24/08 Section: Opinion
At Hillsdale College, many shun anyone who dares to be different. Last semester's opinions article by Joel Pavelski brought up yet again Hillsdale's struggle to accept anyone who doesn't believe as we do.
And then, of course, we should be appalled at how some at Hillsdale consider religious diversity- as merely the difference between Catholicism and Protestantism. As if this is more drastic than the rift between Christians (as a whole) and atheists, Jews and Muslims.
Though there are Jews and atheists on campus, they are swallowed up by whom? and ignored because they are different, and therefore seen as inconsequential. So I ask: Why is it so wrong to be anything but a Christian on the Hillsdale campus?
It shouldn't be this way. If I converted to Hinduism tomorrow, I wonder how much more I would be ostracized. But I also ask, why would my beliefs be more worthy of condemnation than yours?
I came to Hillsdale because it appeared a place where I could stimulate my mind and explore my own political beliefs without having to combat the liberal-minded environmentalists that come in droves at many other colleges. Hillsdale differed from any other college I had encountered, and that intrigued me.
But I was not prepared for the surprised, even negative, response to the words I have said many times since I fell away from the church I grew up in: "Yes, I'm an agnostic." I hadn't realized Hillsdale's high focus on religion.
I don't believe in the Christian God, or the God of any other religion. Agnosticism may not seem as dramatic an aberrance as homosexuality at Hillsdale College, but it still provokes controversy.
When I wake up on Sunday, it's generally 2 in the afternoon; I stroll down the hall to brush my teeth in the bathroom in my pajamas, while everyone around me wears heels and a white skirt.
The first Sunday here, someone asked, "Which church did you go to?"
I was flabbergasted because I had been told that Hillsdale was a non-denominational college, and I expected I would be able to concentrate on academics without having religion stuffed down my throat as it had been back home. When I responded, "I don't go to church," I received a cold look and soon found that, to my surprise, many conservative Christians were unwilling to consider a libertarian agnostic a friend.
As Joel said, Hillsdale does not embrace the differences in people. People form surprising cliques, and they turn a uniform cold shoulder on anyone who is different.
For a college that has gone out of its way to tell the world how different it is, how unique, the students seem almost afraid to embrace the differences among their own peers. It makes me want to proclaim my lack of belief even more, if only because I am proud of being different-and that's why I'm at Hillsdale.
We all have rote phrases we use to explain why we are here, but I think beneath the various reasons of scholarships and proximity to home and size, there is an undercurrent of pride in difference and diversity.
So let's embrace that in each other, and learn to accept and celebrate the differences, rather than allowing them to build a wall between us.
And then, of course, we should be appalled at how some at Hillsdale consider religious diversity- as merely the difference between Catholicism and Protestantism. As if this is more drastic than the rift between Christians (as a whole) and atheists, Jews and Muslims.
Though there are Jews and atheists on campus, they are swallowed up by whom? and ignored because they are different, and therefore seen as inconsequential. So I ask: Why is it so wrong to be anything but a Christian on the Hillsdale campus?
It shouldn't be this way. If I converted to Hinduism tomorrow, I wonder how much more I would be ostracized. But I also ask, why would my beliefs be more worthy of condemnation than yours?
I came to Hillsdale because it appeared a place where I could stimulate my mind and explore my own political beliefs without having to combat the liberal-minded environmentalists that come in droves at many other colleges. Hillsdale differed from any other college I had encountered, and that intrigued me.
But I was not prepared for the surprised, even negative, response to the words I have said many times since I fell away from the church I grew up in: "Yes, I'm an agnostic." I hadn't realized Hillsdale's high focus on religion.
I don't believe in the Christian God, or the God of any other religion. Agnosticism may not seem as dramatic an aberrance as homosexuality at Hillsdale College, but it still provokes controversy.
When I wake up on Sunday, it's generally 2 in the afternoon; I stroll down the hall to brush my teeth in the bathroom in my pajamas, while everyone around me wears heels and a white skirt.
The first Sunday here, someone asked, "Which church did you go to?"
I was flabbergasted because I had been told that Hillsdale was a non-denominational college, and I expected I would be able to concentrate on academics without having religion stuffed down my throat as it had been back home. When I responded, "I don't go to church," I received a cold look and soon found that, to my surprise, many conservative Christians were unwilling to consider a libertarian agnostic a friend.
As Joel said, Hillsdale does not embrace the differences in people. People form surprising cliques, and they turn a uniform cold shoulder on anyone who is different.
For a college that has gone out of its way to tell the world how different it is, how unique, the students seem almost afraid to embrace the differences among their own peers. It makes me want to proclaim my lack of belief even more, if only because I am proud of being different-and that's why I'm at Hillsdale.
We all have rote phrases we use to explain why we are here, but I think beneath the various reasons of scholarships and proximity to home and size, there is an undercurrent of pride in difference and diversity.
So let's embrace that in each other, and learn to accept and celebrate the differences, rather than allowing them to build a wall between us.
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