Atheist Professers

[Nurse Ker-Ker]

Hi everyone! I'm kind of new here, and I have a question: Right now I'm in A&P and my professor is an all out atheist. I realized when I decided to go the nursing route I would encounter many scientific minds, but whew! How do you fellow believers keep this from getting to you? Just a little friendly conversation starter, not trying to start a creation vs evolution debate. Hope to hear from yall!

[indeed]

Tension? Nay, just a bit of light-hearted sarcasm in response to a statement that sounded like you were looking "down your nose" as they say. I am unable to keep me sarcasm in check anymore, nothing personal....we are not our words, our words are merely the part of us that everyone can see (in other words (there's that word again (WORD!!!)) no ill feeling was intended).

Indeed.

[debralynn]

I did not mean to be sarcastic, I guess you could say I'm a little close minded where God is concerned. Didn't mean to step on anyones toes! And I am not the kind of person that looks down on anyone, but I dont expect anyone to know that thru a computer!

[mark_LD_RN]

i had one and i just made it perfectly clear to him that i was here to learn but not to be indoctrinated to his views! i ended up filling a complaint with the dean of the nursing program and the president. they reprimanded him and by some miracle he stopped giving his one sided views on things.

i am fine with some one sharing opinions but i will not tolerate instructors trying to change my beliefs.

[kimtab]

Well, no one should ever make lecture a platform for either attacking someone else's religion or promoting their own. I don't think anyone should have to hide their views and I am also of the camp that doesn't hold to the belief that people have a right to go through life without ever being offended, but why is A&P class an appropriate place to even bring religion (or lack therof) up in the first place?

Kim

[Sleepyeyes]

Originally posted by Kaleigh

Ker-Ker,

There were several times when we had students (myself included) walk out in the middle of a lecture because of degrading remarks he made about Christians.

This sort of religious persecution should not be tolerated in any college; this is America and even Christians have rights.

The professor should have been reported to the dean. If the school cannot improve the situation quickly, contact the American Center for Law & Justice at http://www.aclj.org/

They have sucessfully litigated cases such as yours where it seems that everyone has religious freedom except the Christian.

[Mkue]

i used to attend a catholic college and i don't think there were any athiests there, or at least i ddn't have any that i was aware of. sister led us in a prayer every day of a&p... boy we really needed it..lol. she was tough as nails but that's a whole nother thread.

i agree with stephany, as long as the instructor does not try to convert students, i don't see anything wrong with them sharing it with the class.

[sbic56, BSN, RN]

What purpose does demeaning the Christian faith have in teaching A&P? This guy has some serious issues. Why can't he be an atheist and just teach the subject at hand? It never occurred to me one way or the other what my A & P instructor's belief system was. I can empathize, Nurse Ker-Ker; I'd find it offensive if a professor forced his beliefs on me! He is way out of line.

[nursecheryl]

As a nurse you will come across many individuals with many beliefs. Some, will tell you their beliefs because they just want to talk about it and some wanting to argue with you, but most will not bring it up. This is a good time to learn to listen without giving oppinion back because as a professional we are not here to save anyone as some call it. I have learned to listen to people and what their beliefs are with interest and no oppinion. Just because I don't say anything dosen't mean I believe or disbelieve what they are saying.

[Love-A-Nurse]

originally posted by nursecheryl

as a nurse you will come across many individuals with many beliefs. some, will tell you their beliefs because they just want to talk about it and some wanting to argue with you, but most will not bring it up. this is a good time to learn to listen without giving oppinion back because as a professional we are not here to save anyone as some call it. i have learned to listen to people and what their beliefs are with interest and no oppinion. just because i don't say anything dosen't mean i believe or disbelieve what they are saying.

well said, cheryl.

[BetterBursary]

Hello all,

I heard about this sorta thing when I was in college before starting uni and my nurse training, how some teachers had been sacked/stopped teaching Darwin's theory of evolution n all that in the US. Quite shocking really.

I say grin n bear it, what he's teaching is likely to be in the module proforma critrea and on the exam/assignment so pay attention whether you believe it or not. Stuff like that is all accepted over here in the UK and I was taught it in college whilst doing my a-levels. Pretty good theory if you ask me, I believe it. But anyway, I'm going off the point of what I wanted to say (I'm so bad for babbling! :)) so yeh, let us know how it all goes and good luck cos A&P is hard!!

:)

[delirium]

Ok, I don't see what difference it makes if he's an atheist, a christian, a satanist, or a follower of the great Juju. Who cares? What does that have to do with anatomy and physiology?

I say: if he is being rude or degrading or targeting a certain religion, report him. That's uncalled for, inappropriate, and unprofessional. However, now would be a good time to start developing a tolerance for other belief systems. So... try to be less of a victimized religious person and more of a serious biology student and see where that takes you.

[Peeps Mcarthur]

I don't see why evolutionism and creationism can't be the same thing.

It is rather obvious that there is fossil evidence that can be construed as having a development.

It is also rather obvious that such complex organisms(all the organisms) would not likely just "happen" along one day through an incredible series of happy-go-lucky biological accidents.

Think about how there are entire careers devoted to simply understanding how a cell works one of its many functions.

How many cells in one organism? Making tissues, making organs(check out the liver and heart incredible!) making the brain, making cognigzant choices out of continual data, interacting with other organisms. All this a product of the little pieces of code on code, in each chromosome, within an allele on that piece of chromosome, uniquely making up the "you".

By pure random chance?

Just by the sheer volume of information that your professor's science does not yet understand, it doesn't seem easy to operationalize a hypothesis to be tested there.

My question is where the dinosaurs came from that they are evolutionizing? They certainly existed as we can see through fossil evidence. We can also see that dinosaurs evolved through that same fossil evidence.

But we can't see where they came from, and we don't have a free billion years to observe how the first elements became the complex organisms that dinosaurs must have been. Dinosaurs had livers, brains, and alleles on thier DNA. As simple as they were they were certainly difficult to imagine as having been products of random elements.

Just some "random" thought, but it gives insight as to the difficulty of rationalizing an atheist viewpoint with a scientists training. Perhapse your instructor believes less in the scientific method than they do in God.

As you learn about the complexities of the biology of life on this planet you will see that the professor must have other issues to be so firmly planted in atheism, but also that you must recognize the evolutionary evidence also. Fossils are observable and tangible fact that we must also see as reasonable hypothesis.

Learn all as hypothesis. Proof has no place in science. Let your professor believe as they will, their mind is closed to new ideas for some reason, but your mind is the one to be concerned with.

Develop your own beliefs. That is why you are there.

Peeps