Lehigh is a nondenominational school, as anyone who attends
could tell you. To someone
unfamiliar with Lehigh, though, being unaffiliated with any religion might mean
that Lehigh avoids any involvement with religion. This, however, is very far from the truth. Lehigh permits clubs for various
denominations, allows any type of worship in Packer Memorial Church and takes
the stance of allowing any religious belief rather than restricting the student
body from all beliefs. The
positives of this view point are numerous. From a rights perspective, every person has the ability to
practice whatever set of beliefs they see fit. From an academic perspective, there is no requirement to
take classes pertaining to a certain religion. Coming from a Catholic elementary school and high school
where theology was easily the most boring of my classes each year, I especially
appreciated this aspect.
Despite
the positive aspects of Lehigh’s acceptance of all beliefs, there is one major
drawback. By accommodating all
religions, Lehigh puts itself in a tough position to be accommodating for
particular religions on especially important holidays. Take Judaism, for example. Judaism’s most serious holy day, Yom
Kippur, fell on Wednesday, September 26th last semester. The very next day was the first day of
four o’clock exams. While this
timing was unusual and unfortunate, the fact remains that someone Jewish would
have a very difficult time observing this “Day of Atonement.” Yom Kippur involves fasting as well as
taking the day off from work or school.
Although most professors are very understanding, Lehigh cannot
accommodate Jewish students on this holy day by giving them the day off. If Lehigh did, there would no doubt be
uproar anytime a different religion needed a day off for a holiday. This fact left Jewish students in the
position last semester where, on a day meant for reflection and penance, they
had to worry about missing class and about an exam the next day.
As
for myself, I only recently began thinking about this issue when I encountered
a religious conflict of my own. Holy
Week is the most important week in the Christian calendar. In particular, Good Friday and Easter
Sunday of Holy Week are very important. In my experience at Lehigh, it is an
inconvenience that we are not given off for either Good Friday nor the Monday following Easter. For people with classes on
Friday and early on Monday, like myself, going home to celebrate the most holy
and joyous day in Christianity with family becomes a terse and stressful
experience. Easter Sunday becomes
a rushed event, worrying about getting back to school for classes the next day. To make matters especially bad this
semester, Good Friday fell on March 29th, with Easter Sunday landing
on March 31st. This year has had such magnificent timing that, like Yom Kippur, both
holy days fell during four o’clock exam time. I was faced with the difficult decision of whether or not to
go home to be with my family. I
would barely be home two days, spending all of Saturday home but only getting
to enjoy some of Friday and Sunday with my family. Then there was the fact that I had an exam on Monday that
would be difficult to study for while celebrating with relatives. Ultimately, I decided to go home
because I value spending time with my family during the holidays. Whether or not I will regret the
decision remains to be seen (at the time of my writing this I have yet to take
my Monday exam), but it is upsetting to me that it is so difficult to go home
for such an important time without feeling guilty that my time could be better
spent preparing for exams the next week.
Part of me understands why Lehigh can’t do anything, but another part of
me wishes Lehigh would make it easier for any religion to observe their most
important holidays.
There
is no clear solution to these issues that arise as a result of organized
religion. Lehigh offers so many
great opportunities for everyone to practice their belief system of choice, and
I do not mean to sound ungrateful for those opportunities in writing this article. I am very happy with my decision to be
at Lehigh and aim not to complain, but rather raise the question: by
accommodating every religion, can Lehigh really accommodate any religion when
it really matters? I like to
believe there is some way, but it’s times like these when I’m rushing back to Lehigh
after a hurried Easter dinner that make me frustrated it hasn’t been found yet.
-Colin Orr '15
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