Posted on Jul 1, 1997
Quests and Questioning
I believe that a truly educational environment facilitates the examination of matters both academic and soulful, so I was happy to see the cover article on “Quests and Questioning” in the May 1997 issue of
Union College. I looked forward to reading about the many paths different individuals usually walk in order to connect with important truths concerning life, death, meaning, and context. I must admit that I was disappointed to find instead what I thought to be a one-sided treatment of the somewhat limiting aspects of monotheism and the Judeo-Christian tradition.
I understand that Union College might still be relatively homogenous in terms of its student body profile, and I'm sure that the majority of its undergraduates come from traditional religious backgrounds. Therefore I believe that
such an article should indeed focus on these methods. However, I would like to point out that we are currently undergoing a significant surge in nontraditional spiritual thinking in this country-one doesn't need to go any further than the New York Times bestseller list to see this trend in such books as
Care of the Soul, The Celestine Prophecy, or The Road Less Travelled. While I don't personally believe that one can find one's own truth in the latest pop-psychology book, the wild popularity of these books seems to point to some dissatisfaction with familiar modes of belief.
I'm sure that there are at least one or two students at Union College who follow the lessons of Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, modern paganism, Goddess-centered spirituality, or others much too numerous to list here. More important, there might be a larger number of students who would benefit from knowing that there are many alternatives to monotheistic religions.
I remember my experience at Union as one of transition and moving away from outmoded forms of thought and belief. My classmates and professors fostered this metamorphosis with their vastly different ways of looking at the world. All of a sudden what used to look like a clear picture of black and white started to look more like a colorful prism of all different shapes and shadows. The strong, established religion in which I was indoctrinated as a child could no longer address my questions.
Unfortunately at the time there was no structure within Union to help me seek other paths. From the looks of your article, it is clear that that structure still does not exist.
Janice C. Thompson '86
Cambridge, Mass.
Ned Abbott says he “disagrees with the Church on a number of issues.” Now, if this is the case,
there is nothing particularly Catholic about his position. Faithful Catholics accept, understand, and act upon the teachings of the Church. One reason the U.S. is in such disarray is the absence of a sense of sin.
Julianne B. Carl
Westfield, N.J.
From the editor.
The issue of student spirituality proved an interesting and sometimes frustrating challenge. Finding students who considered themselves spiritual, or who wanted to talk about their spiritual struggles, was a long process, and many of those we approached aligned themselves with the traditional religions of the western world. Although the College has become increasingly diverse, as yet there are no formal groups for students exploring the “non-traditional” religions mentioned in the letter from Ms. Thompson. One student expressed initial interest in talking with us, but later decided that she did not
want to share her personal experiences. In our article we tried for a diversity in beliefs as well as how the students were questioning their religions.
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