There seems to be a lot of praying happening on College Green at Penn these days. I hadn’t been on a morning run through campus for a week, so saw for the first time today both the Penn for Jesus House of Prayer tent near Van Pelt Library and then an arch of balloons over Locust Walk at 36th Street with a sign nearby announcing the Muslim Students Association Islam Awareness Week.
The House of Prayer tent was up last spring and even garnered a favorable cartoon in The Daily Pennsylvanian. I am not on campus regularly, so I may have missed it, but I do not recall such a public witness by the Muslim Students Association before.
I see positive things in both of these efforts. First is the toleration that apparently is being shown, at least by not damaging their public displays, for both Muslims and conservative Christians, neither of which is a huge presence at Penn. I think too many undergraduates in particular combine a little smarts with a little education and have a know-it-all attitude that takes some experience with life to soften. It is too easy to reflexively oppose what is different and students, like so many others, want to “fit in.”
As for the two groups, I am pleased to see conservative Christians doing something other than confrontational “witnessing” that I find counterproductive and, as a Christian, embarrassing. If the Muslim Students Association is finding its public voice, that may be a sign that Islam is moving beyond a post-9/11 defensiveness and is dealing with the violence issues it has. All in all, I sensed a refreshing openness that perhaps signals a renewed place for the religious viewpoint in the public square. I hope this leads to a larger place for the Christian Association’s peace and justice focus in our civic and religious life.
Cheryl | 17-Nov-06 at 11:38 am | Permalink
You can see one student’s take on religion on campus at http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2006/09/08/Opinion/Stephen.Danley.Hallmates.Your.New.Family-2262719.shtml?norewrite200611171032&sourcedomain=www.dailypennsylvanian.com
Steve Danley — captain and star of Penn’s basketball team — wonders in an essay why more Penn students don’t invite their hallmates to church.
It’s an interesting question. When I was an undergraduate, I snuck out to church as if I was doing something shameful.
Now as an adult, I may talk about being “spiritual” but don’t necessarily volunteer that I’m a church-goer. Partly this comes from my disgust with right-wing Christianity and what those political groups stand for. If they define “Christianity”, I don’t want to call myself Christian. Nor do I want to associate myself with the proselytizers who creep around asking “Are you saved? Won’t you accept Jesus as your personal savior?”
A friend of mine once declaimed at a party “Cheryl goes to church, but it’s ok. She’s a good person.”
I’m glad some Penn students are reclaiming public space to talk about having faith. I’m trying to reclaim space for my faith and hoping to join others to reclaim the public discourse so people of all faiths can claim their beliefs — and still be “good people.”
Naomi Carey | 12-Nov-08 at 5:12 pm | Permalink
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