Parents who must send their
children to public universities often fear the negative influence some
professors proclaim about God. Some
teachers do mock religious beliefs and force students to research ideas
contrary to God’s teachings. However, this
concern often proves an ill placed fear.
Remember, many teachers who strive to live by God’s Word teach in public
schools because not all live near a Christian college. Such remained my local for years. I taught at three universities and never
missed an opportunity to teach God’s Word, in ways that supported the psychology
courses the school employed me to teach.
Let me give examples.
When studying what helps create successful marriages, we
discussed issues with cohabitation and how one of the partners tended to lack total
commitment. A student, usually a female,
always disagreed and insisted she cohabited to avoid paying double rent. I questioned, “Are you focused on money or
bonding a permanent relationship?” She felt
pressured to say, “A relationship but we can’t afford to marry. We can’t afford the marriage license.” In
response, I handed her a $20.00 bill saying, “If, indeed, you both are fully
committed, I will pay for the marriage license so you can marry today. Although, God condemns sex without marriage,
marrying someone you aren’t fully committed to or who isn’t fully committed to
you would be another wrong, so don’t do it.”
No student ever accepted my money.
However, one did return later tearfully regretting her living
arrangement.
We discussed how abuse of alcohol damages brain cells and
how people must continually increase the amount they drink to receive the same
buzz. I asked, “Who knows a person who
drinks regularly but has never been intoxicated?” The discussion allowed a review of the number
of people killed yearly by drunk drivers, the number of homes destroyed, and
the number of babies born with alcohol syndrome. I explained how sexually active women and men
who drink can damage their unborn babies.
My young men failed to understand that alcohol passes through a man’s
sperm. I cautioned that if they drank,
they needed to keep their pants zipped tightly because no one wants to cause a
tiny, helpless baby to suffer. Plus, they
risked finding themselves responsible for a handicapped child before age 20. Such statistics show why God condemns
drunkenness. I admitted I don’t have
enough good brain cells to risk damaging any and after seeing their last test
scores I knew that neither did most of them.
I am not sure why they found this humorous.
When we studied memory and moving items from short-term
memory to long-term, I sang the Apostle Song, “Jesus called them one by one,
Peter, Andrew, James and John. Then came Philip, Thomas too, Matthew and ____.” I asked what apostle came next. This demonstrated how using both music and
rhyming words help to remember something long-term. I offered five bonus points to anyone who answered
correctly. They offered unique guesses,
but not one knew the correct answer.
However, they will remember it now.
When we studied the
brain, I included how watching pornography on the internet rewires the brain in
ways similar to drug use. I reinforced
the danger by showing how it destroys marriages and shared my
experience counseling several involved couples.
In every case, the man reached a point he could no longer have sex with
his wife. It no longer satisfied. I asked my young men how they would feel if they
discovered they couldn’t enjoy sex on their wedding night and questioned how
many new brides might tolerate such husbands. This study resulted in another
private counseling session.
When we studied human sexuality, it surprised me how
little facts these college kids knew. We
discussed research finding about one-fourth of students have two or more venereal
diseases, and some Aids, with many unaware of it. I told them that of all of God’s commandments
to break this particular one resulted in the largest harm to themselves. I insisted they were crazy to have sex before
marriage with anyone unless they spray painted their body with 12 coats of
Teflon. When a student asked how long
(how old) a couple enjoys sex, I assured him that his grandparents did. The students gagged and groaned. I explained God didn’t design intimacy just
for the young and when he became granddaddy’s age he would be thankful.
We discussed that
God condemns tattoos. Research shows many
employers refuse to hire someone displaying such looks and while students thought
this discrimination was wrong, their thinking changed nothing. I suggested they look at senior level
managers in any company and see how many touted tattoos and challenged if they
attended college to remain forever in an entry-level position. I explained that when I worked for a large
corporation, we received 20 applications for each available position. I asked, “Why would we hire someone who wouldn’t
fit our required dress code?” especially when research showed people with
tattoos tended to rebel and challenge authority. I explained it is possible to remove tattoos, and
how an elder at my church paid for any member willing to remove theirs. This elder asked those with tattoos how they
planned to teach their own children to obey the Lord if they flaunted rebellion
to His Word on their arms, legs, or face.
I
could describe our discussions about leaving one car length between you
and the car ahead for every 10 miles per hour driven. If going 70, to drive safely, you leave seven
car lengths between you and the car ahead, 60, leave six. Or I could detail why students needed to wear
ear plugs at concerts, but you get the point.
God’s Word remains alive in public universities. Certainly, if a family can send their child
to a Christian school they ensure God’s Word receives support and they avoid having
wrongs taught as right and preferable.
However, when children must attend public institutions, know that many
professors still uphold Christian family beliefs. Some even squeeze in direct Biblical
messages.
