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Are there any Muslims at LU?

Posted: August 23rd, 2007, 7:03 pm
by badger74
If so how do they handle the required religious activties. Question came up on college advice board. I think it was sincere but you never know

"I have a few concerns about liberty university. First is I am a muslim kid but I am americanized but still strong in faith, and I would like to go to Liberty University and I read something on a post that said if you are not Christian then you should not come here....something along those lines I do not wish to be of any disrespect to the religion but it would feel very wierd if I were the only person of my kind. Everything else about the schools seems great, but if there are anything about the education or the social scene that some can elaborate on that would be very helpful for furthur decision making. Thanks."

Posted: August 23rd, 2007, 7:36 pm
by Cider Jim
I don't know anything about Muslims at LU, but my understanding is that several students (maybe a dozen or two) came here from India last year who were practicing Hindus. I'm not exactly sure how that was handled in the dorm, but some faculty told me that these students were not allowed to publically display their idols in the dorms.

Re: Are there any Muslims at LU?

Posted: August 23rd, 2007, 7:48 pm
by 01LUGrad
badger74 wrote:If so how do they handle the required religious activties. Question came up on college advice board. I think it was sincere but you never know

"I have a few concerns about liberty university. First is I am a muslim kid but I am americanized but still strong in faith, and I would like to go to Liberty University and I read something on a post that said if you are not Christian then you should not come here....something along those lines I do not wish to be of any disrespect to the religion but it would feel very wierd if I were the only person of my kind. Everything else about the schools seems great, but if there are anything about the education or the social scene that some can elaborate on that would be very helpful for furthur decision making. Thanks."
I do wonder why the kid would want to come to LU when he/she is going to run into confrontational situations every day. I understand the desire for diversity, but I wouldn't want to go to BYU for the same reasons.

Re: Are there any Muslims at LU?

Posted: August 23rd, 2007, 10:12 pm
by SumItUp
Everything else about the schools seems great
Hmmmmm

Everything else is great BECAUSE it is a Christian University.

Actually, this guy "doesn't seem like he is everyone". Maybe he should check out Warren Wilson College.

Posted: August 23rd, 2007, 11:10 pm
by JDUB
i understand trying to reach out and all, but wouldn't letting muslims and hindus come here defeat the purpose of having a Christian university?

Posted: August 23rd, 2007, 11:16 pm
by FlameNForest
Ergun Caner :brightidea

Posted: August 23rd, 2007, 11:26 pm
by mrmacphisto
JDUB wrote:i understand trying to reach out and all, but wouldn't letting muslims and hindus come here defeat the purpose of having a Christian university?
I suppose it depends on what the purpose of having a Christian university is.

I think there have been Muslims at LU, but I don't know if that's currently the case.

Several years ago there was a very traditional Jew on campus (some of you may remember D'vid). He wasn't a Christian at the time, but nevertheless earned a Religion degree at LU.

Posted: August 24th, 2007, 7:46 am
by LUconn
If that's the guy I'm thinking of, he's a Christian. He was just facinated with the hasidic culture and decided to incorporate it.


As for the question at hand, I don't think that guy knows what Liberty is. It's not a just spiritual school. He would be welcome at LU but as soon as anybody found out he's muslim he would be challenged daily, feel completely awkward every Tuesday night, and most likely would not be Muslim by the time he left.

Posted: August 24th, 2007, 7:58 am
by shukcb04
JDUB wrote:i understand trying to reach out and all, but wouldn't letting muslims and hindus come here defeat the purpose of having a Christian university?
tehre are atheists and agnostics at LU, should they jsut get kicked out then?

Posted: August 24th, 2007, 8:02 am
by SuperJon
Yay, I didn't have to say it.

Posted: August 24th, 2007, 8:07 am
by LUconn
kicked out is not the same as let in, when you're openly opposed to Christianity.

We have this same discussion when we talk about athletic scholarships. It's a case by case basis.

Posted: August 24th, 2007, 8:08 am
by SuperJon
But aren't we giving up a chance to minister to the kids? Should we not let in kids who are agnostic or athiest?

Posted: August 24th, 2007, 8:20 am
by LUconn
Possibly. We don't let in kids who are stupid and poor either. We're missing out on the chance to minister to them as well.

Posted: August 24th, 2007, 8:22 am
by shukcb04
LUconn wrote:We don't let in kids who are stupid and poor either.
I highly question the validity of that statement. I know quite a few idiots who have gone to or currently attend Liberty, and I've also known poor people to go there.

Posted: August 24th, 2007, 8:23 am
by SuperJon
We give poor kids scholarships.

We've let plenty of dumb ones in.

Posted: August 24th, 2007, 8:24 am
by thepostman
yeah....that was a dumb statement....there clearly are some people here that couldn't get in anywhere else...

but I have met some idiots that go to LC too...so I don't know if it matters what kind of admissions policy you have

Posted: August 24th, 2007, 8:25 am
by shukcb04
thepostman wrote:but I have met some idiots that go to LC too...so I don't know if it matters what kind of admissions policy you have
Oh yes, plenty of them! W&L and UVa also has idiots, and their standards are quite a bit higher than LC and LU!

Posted: August 24th, 2007, 8:25 am
by LUconn
In terms of non athletes (who get scholarships) You can't be both. If you're too stupid to get a scholly and too poor to pay, you can't be here. You guys need to learn your conjunctions.

Posted: August 24th, 2007, 8:26 am
by BJWilliams
I actually had a roommate in military school that was a Muslim. They made special arrangements at the mess hall so that he could eat and do his daily prayers and what not (of course that usually meant that he was out of the room at around 3 or 4 AM and if he woke me up that usually wasn't a very good start to my day since reveille was at 6). Now Im not saying that LU would or should be that way, Im just sharing my experience with that.

Posted: August 24th, 2007, 8:29 am
by SuperJon
LUconn wrote:In terms of non athletes (who get scholarships) You can't be both. If you're too stupid to get a scholly and too poor to pay, you can't be here. You guys need to learn your conjunctions.
We give scholarships for your pastor signing a sheet of paper or you knowing alumni. We give scholarships just for coming here.

Posted: August 24th, 2007, 8:30 am
by El Scorcho
mrmacphisto wrote:Several years ago there was a very traditional Jew on campus (some of you may remember D'vid). He wasn't a Christian at the time, but nevertheless earned a Religion degree at LU.
I know that guy and he was not a Jew. He was an attention-seeking weirdo with some serious mental issues. I know this because I lived with him for a year. Prior to discovering his Jewish "heritage" (which was basically non-existent), he did a number of really wacky things just to try and get attention. He'd dress up in Halloween makeup and go sit in the edge of the woods watching people walk by, hoping to be noticed. He'd sneak up behind people in the dorms with masks on and just stand there staring when you turned around. He was trying to be creepy but for a guy his size, that didn't really work out.

He did it to me one night when I was sitting at my computer with headphones on and I ended up punching him simply out of a combination of shock and annoyance. It was totally worth the sit-down talking to I got in the RA's room that night.

I have no respect whatsoever for that guy.

Posted: August 24th, 2007, 8:32 am
by LUconn
SuperJon wrote:
LUconn wrote:In terms of non athletes (who get scholarships) You can't be both. If you're too stupid to get a scholly and too poor to pay, you can't be here. You guys need to learn your conjunctions.
We give scholarships for your pastor signing a sheet of paper or you knowing alumni. We give scholarships just for coming here.
alright, there are some circumstances where that is not correct but you're arguing about the wrong thing. The point is, not everyone who wants to come here can.

Posted: August 24th, 2007, 8:36 am
by El Scorcho
Just an FYI, guys:

The debate about whether we should be a Christian university or a university for Christians is almost as old as the school. I've never seen it successfully resolved, but it's still important to think about. I'm not saying you should stop; just letting you know that a lot of the issues we talk about can be traced back to that one debate, so it can go around and around quite a bit.

Now, please continue.

Posted: August 24th, 2007, 8:38 am
by LUconn
truth. The reason it's a case by case basis is because our mission statement is:
To develop Christ-centered men and women with the values, knowledge, and skills essential to impact tomorrow’s world.
If admitting this person can help acheive that, bring em on. If they hurt it, try someplace else.

Posted: August 24th, 2007, 8:42 am
by shukcb04
El Scorcho wrote:Just an FYI, guys:

The debate about whether we should be a Christian university or a university for Christians is almost as old as the school. I've never seen it successfully resolved, but it's still important to think about. I'm not saying you should stop; just letting you know that a lot of the issues we talk about can be traced back to that one debate, so it can go around and around quite a bit.

Now, please continue.
The debate ended the day the school first accepted a non-Christians, that basically told everyone that it was okay to come here if you weren't Christian. Only way to change that now is to make it clear that if you aren't Christian then you aren't welcome at LU.