Three years after being sued for requiring freshman students to read a book of excerpts from the Koran, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill is now offering a minor in the study of Christianity and culture. But at least one UNC alumnus is skeptical about the school's decision.
The Christianity and Culture minor is the brainchild of sociology professor Chris Smith, who says while researching the religious lives of young people, he realized how little many young people know about their own faith traditions.
He notes, "It got me thinking that there are probably tons of students at Carolina who are interested in Christianity or come from Christian backgrounds that may want to learn more about it and that this would be a perfectly legitimate thing for the university to help them to do."
The minor is interdisciplinary, Smith explains, so students are allowed to study Christianity in English, Philosophy, and other disciplines. However, one UNC alum, Terry Moffitt of the Family Policy Network, views the Christian-themed course of study as a public relations move by the university, and has concerns about how the program would be implemented.
He says, "I think my only question is, in studying the historical foundations of Christianity, are the professors at UNC truly going to give it an objective treatment, or is there an underlying political motive there?"
According to Moffitt, UNC offers courses in Judaic and Islamic studies and has an entire comparative religions department that essentially ignores Christianity. He maintains his belief that the new Christianity minor is a "P-R" strategy designed by the school in an effort to heal its strained relationship with Christian groups on campus, particularly after the lawsuit involving opposition to the freshmen's required Koran-based reading assignment.
However, Smith is enthusiastic about UNC's adoption of the new Christianity and Culture minor, and he points out that the program is unique, because no similar ones are offered at other state universities.
"It's not devotional or evangelistic on the one hand," the professor says, "and on the other hand, it's not out to destroy students' faith. It's purpose is an academic, intellectual liberal arts mission to help people that want to learn more about Christianity - how it has influenced the world around it over thousands of years and how it's been influenced by the world it's been in - to learn more about that."
Family Policy Network (http://www.familypolicy.net)
(c) 2005, Agape Press
