Why Study Religion

 

Religion is about people.  When people search for their identity and for meaning in their lives, they turn to religion.

Religion is about what people feel is most important.  Religion reflects people's deepest beliefs, needs, anxieties, and hopes.

Religion unites and divides societies.  Religion has played a central role in national identity for many of the world's people.  For many in the U.S., it has been Protestantism; for India, Hinduism; for Pakistan, Islam; for China, Confucianism and Buddhism.  In many nations, the U.S. included, religion has also divided people from one another.  Protestants oppose Catholics, Sunni Muslims resist Shiite Muslims, and Hindus confront Sikhs.

Religion matters.  Religion continues to play a major role when people decide who they are and how they should live.  Religion can be enlightening, thought provoking, controversial, and even scandalous.  Whatever form it takes, it cannot be ignored if you are concerned with understanding human life in all its variety.

The study of religion helps you understand yourself and others.  It promotes a wide-ranging acquaintance with human nature and human culture that is the mark of an educated person.  Studying human beings at the point of their ultimate commitments finds them in some of their most interesting, joyous, sad, poignant, enlightened, and appalling moments.

To see such variety in the forms religions take within their cultures will broaden your intellectual horizons, and help you develop insight into your own way of life and the lives of others.

The Department of Religion at Gettysburg takes a multi-disciplinary approach, nurturing a deepened appreciation for the complexity of human life and the dynamics of people and societies.  Students consequently develop the ability to evaluate different points of view and approach issues from a variety of perspectives, skills that can be applied to any academic field or profession.

Religion is one subject where the vitality of the liberal arts is preserved.  Understanding religion involves the exercise of both a sympathetic imagination and critical standards of judgment.  Studying religion provides a solid grounding in some of the world's most significant literature, ideas, and cultures.