Sunday, January 13, 2013

College--sex, drugs and Jesus Christ

It's odd that in joining this community, I found myself in a place where "college" has become a dirty word.  Those who attend invariably went to Orthodox institutions (YU or Touro), or completed a degree online in one of those bogus "seminary/yeshiva credit, life skills and CLEP tests take you from high school to a Master's in a year" institutions where I seriously wonder if they're accredited.
Often cited is the fear that college will interfere with one's hashkafa.  That the liberal professors with their teachings of evolution and hating Israel, combined with enough sex and drugs to make Woodstock look tame, will drive these poor kids off the derech.  Soon they'll be scarfing down bacon cheeseburgers at Friday night keg parties.  On Yom Kippur.  And it all comes from college.
Now, I went to college.  Real college.  And, yes, there was some of the "party school" atmosphere at the old alma mater, especially with Mexico and booze for the 18 and up crowd just a short drive away.  However, I was never pressured to try drugs.  I was never pressured to drink.  I only went on one date between freshman year and graduation, and spent the entire time fully clothed.  The biggest danger to my spiritual development in Judaism was...get ready for it...
Missionaries.
That's right.  While the druggie kids didn't care if I joined them or not, I could easily think of several people who tried to sell me on Jesus Christ.  From the guy in my first-semester Economics class who tried to sell me on the truth of NT prophesies (and any prophesy is true when it's written after the fact), to my freshman mentor who dragged me to The Rock church (pass the Kool-Aid), to my RA (who tried to tell me that even the best non-Christians were going to burn in Hell for all eternity--great way to make Jesus look like a jerk), to the man I dated for 18 months (although in all fairness, I was warned about him).  I had more people trying to sell me on Christianity during my college years than I've had trying to sell me on any other vice in my entire life.
So, please remember that the danger may not come in a keg, but in a book.  And prepare your kids for the missionary onslaught.

2 comments:

  1. Many would say the exact same thing about the ever-ubiquitous Chabad campus emissaries. And now I think they have a point.

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  2. harumph! I went to two different universities, never met a missionary. Always wanted to, lots of my friends did, but I never got the chance.

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