After high school graduation, making the choice to attend college can help you mature not only in your knowledge and understanding of subjects, but also in the five main essences of your being: physical, psychological, social, mental and spiritual.
UNF has done its best thus far to cater to all areas of its student’s lives.
We are provided with a variety of fitness centers, classes and exercise fields to improve our overall physical health. The counseling and advising centers are open to students seeking emotional or psychological aid. There are innumerable social, academic and sports clubs, which create a sense of community to improve our social lives. And all our courses in general work to increase our mental capabilities.
With the last area of spirituality, students are welcome to create and/or join any religious club on campus, which create a sense of community within each religion. And recent plans to build a religious sanctuary on campus would seem to provide even another outlet for students to explore their spirituality.
That is, if you define your spirituality by your religion. But not everyone does.
Just as our student population is diverse, so are our beliefs about how we should live. And although religion is commonly tied together with spirituality, some students might not consider religion a necessity to have peace with their own spirituality.
And this particular group of students would be exactly who the future religious sanctuary would be excluding.
The funding for the religious sanctuary is proposed to be provided by religious organizations on campus and in our area. This is assuming these religious groups have extra dollars to throw around.
The plan is for each contributing religion to have its own worship area. Will this leave all the remaining members of the thousands of other religions stuck to share the same worship room, yet not the same practices or beliefs?
And that is exactly the problem with providing a plan to accommodate thousands of different religions in one building.
E-mail April Schulhauser at asst.features@unfspinnaker.com.
Ryan • May 7, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Josh,
If you need to see turtles, go to the beach, it’s nesting season. Why did you choose to come to UNF and upset the turtles? You surely could have gone to school somewhere else in order to “let the animals enjoy their habitat.” I guess tolerance only applies to someone who agrees with your way of thinking. Have you ever had turtle stew? Your argument sounds pretty stupid, right?
Josh • Apr 20, 2009 at 1:08 am
Good Points, Peter.
If students need to go to church, they should go off campus. If there is one thing that Jacksonville is not short of, it would be churches. They’re everywhere. We dont need a religious center. I also agree we shouldnt mess with the land, and let the animals enjoy their habitat. Me, personally, I would watch 100 churches burn before I agreed to injure the habitat of even one single turtle.
Peter Lowe • Apr 16, 2009 at 11:32 am
I expect students who live on campus and do not have cars, are already familiar with public transportation. I’ve used the local bus system multiple times and it’s always been a pleasant experience. Car pooling is also an option. Chances are, there is more than one student on campus of the same religion. I expect a local church with a church bus would even offer to transport a group of UNF students to and from their church, so they could join their congregation during worship or prayer meetings. These are all possible options for current and future UNF students. Has anyone looked into these options? How about the campus ministry office? Have they contacted local churches to see if they would be willing to work with UNF students? Or is a new multi-million dollar sanctuary truly needed for quality reflection? Maybe they should try walking the campus trails or gazing across the water at the Geese. I’ve said all I care to say on this topic. Have a great day.
Ryan • Mar 24, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Rachel,
I’m not that religious either, I don’t think it’s rambling at all, but I think that having a sermon in a classroom that was designed for a mess hall is different than having it in a sanctuary. I think that it does directly contribute to the educational experience when experienced in the proper setting. Most Americans share some sort of religion and if they have a place to worship, then I think they should be able to, wherever it’s at.
Rachel • Mar 23, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Ryan,
Yeah, it would enhance the quality of learning if it provides opportunity for new technologies, etc. I guess I just kind of am against building new structures when the current ones work fine. If education is hindered by the old buildings though, if the buildings do not allow utilization of new technology, then new ones should be built.
I guess my point is just that a university’s purpose is to provide education. Although it is nice to have other amenties such as a Starbucks, the Green, and religious centers, I feel they do not directly contribute to the main goal of obtaining an education.
Maybe I just feel different because I am not particularly religious, but after considering it, even having the Green could benefit education. You can’t study 24/7, and sometimes students need that small escape, whether it is a cup of coffee or a prayer in a sanctuary, in order to make it through the day and complete all their academic responsibilities.
Sorry for the rambling. Crazy day lol.
Ryan • Mar 21, 2009 at 12:56 am
Rachel,
Does the music department need a “fancy” new building to meet and teach? Does the art department need a “fancy” new building to teach? Of course not. After all, UNF has plenty of buildings where these classes can meet. Does this affect the quality of their education? It probably enhances it by utilizing new technology and new teaching methods. Using your premise, UNF does not need to build any new buildings. The new buildings shouldn’t affect the students quality of education simply because there is space for them to meet. In case your professors haven’t told you, the majority of the U.S. is religious.
Rachel • Mar 9, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Ryan,
I seriously doubt a group concerned with global warming and other Earth-related things would destroy the Earth simply to have a gathering place.
You do however make a good point about students living on campus without cars. But UNF has plenty of buildings and meeting rooms where many religious groups currently meet to worship. A fancy new building should not affect the quality of their worship, I would hope.
Ryan • Mar 7, 2009 at 5:19 pm
God forbid UNF might destroy some trees (and possibly even a turtle!) while building a campus sanctuary. Where are people going to go to worship the trees? How many trees are in UNF’s zip code?If this were a “cultural diversity” center or even a global warming center, I ‘m sure it would have no problem being built. What about the increasing number of students who live on campus and who don’t have cars? They aren’t able to go to a church that has their religion.
Peter Lowe • Mar 6, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Let’s try getting back to the very basic reason UNF exists. To provide students with an education in a field of study they’re pursuing a career in. I support the freedom of ones choice regarding religious freedom. I do question the need to spend millions of dollars on a religious building, while we destroy Gods work (e.g. trees, animals habitat) to add one more religious building to the thousands of churches already located in and around Jacksonville and millions already existing in the US. Please, enough is enough. Agree or not, religion has evolved to a business (Tax Free) in the US. I truly don’t believe God cares about one more building. but He does care how each of us strives to be a better person each day and NOT just on sunday or when were in a religious building. In case you havent noticed, there are at least 9 churches in UNF’s zipcode (32224) and 35 combined for the zip codes above and below UNFs.
Ryan • Mar 5, 2009 at 9:41 am
So there are “thousands” of religions at UNF? Not likely. Should UNF have built the music building? After all, not all students utilize the building. Just because you can’t accommodate every single person who attends UNF doesn’t mean that you can’t accommodate a sizable population at UNF.