How to Stay Christian in College (J. Budziszewski)

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RamistThomist

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This is one of those gift-book types you give to high school graduates. Instead of fluffy feel goods, it actually does something. JBudz utilizes all of his strengths in this little book. Some parts were underdone (the first section was a basic worldview primer) and others were rushed (the last section). Aside from those sections, it is outstanding.

College as Another World

J Bud tells his story of how he lost his faith and found it again. He used “radical politics” as a substitute religion while reading Nietzsche in grad school.

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Tips for identifying a school or its personality:

1) Research the school’s personality ahead of time.

2) Remember that homesick feelings are normal.

3) They can even be good for you, since as Christians we are strangers in this world.

4) Keep up your spiritual disciplines (or disciplines is a scary Catholicky word, so we will call them Bible study and prayers).

False Gods on Today’s Mars Hill

Naturalism. Whenever a professor says, “As we now know,” counter with “What do you mean by ‘we’” and what do you mean by ‘know?”

Postmodernism. He doesn’t say there isn’t any truth, only that it is fragmented. That’s why they emphasize stories. In fact, everything is fragmented. Personality is fragmented, which means there is no enduring self or soul.

Jbud gives some good advice on asking the right questions. We will often see people who just keep popping questions, and when you start to answer a question, they will ask another one. It’s important to stop the line of questioning at that point and have the objector ask why he is asking so many questions, some that have nothing to do with each other. The real reason is that he probably doesn’t like the answers, and it is a smokescreen for something else.

That covers the intellectual angle. When you are faced with moral demands you can’t meet (sex, money, etc), remember: “Don’t argue, Don’t apologize, Don’t back down, don’t get trapped.

Campus Myths

When someone says that “searching for the truth is more important than finding it,” he can only say that from a position of having already arrived, otherwise he wouldn’t know.

If someone advocates “communitarianism” or “the social construct of reality,” respond with “Some communities don’t accept your view of truth, so wouldn’t we have to say that your view of truth admits it is false?

If someone says “if it works for you, fine” ask them how exactly could faith in Jesus “work?” Does it give me contentment, find a job, etc.? What’s it supposed to do, exactly? Astrology is false, but if I know how to “game the system” and make it work, I can get a job at the newspaper.

Myths about Love and Sex

True definition: Love is not a feeling. It is a commitment to will the good for the other person.

Myth: you can’t know about sex until you experience. Nonsense. I can know drug addiction is wrong without experiencing it.

Myth: without trying out sex, you will never know if you are compatible. Jbud responds: if this were really true, then the divorce rate among cohabiting couples would be much lower. The essence of marriage is a binding commitment. The essence of living together is not having that binding commitment. And “compatibility” is just silly. Nobody is born with a particular sexual style. And you really can’t learn sexually outside of marriage, since there is no security and “the mistakes are humiliating because you are always on audition.”

And if we want to talk about romance: how romantic is it to stand completely naked in front of somebody who doesn’t love you? Guys, how romantic is it to give someone a disease or get them pregnant? That’s coming close to treating the girl like a prostitute.

Myth: doesn’t sex outside marriage hold the relationship together? Other things being equal, it makes it worse. You don’t do the romantic stuff (movies, dinner) as much anymore. True, you might be having sex more and more but you are enjoying it less and less. Why? Because sex is being forced to do all the work in a relationship. It can no longer enrich a relationship as it would in marriage. There is nothing left to enrich.

Myth: sex is pleasure and pleasure can’t be wrong? Why do people think this? I can do all sorts of pleasurable things that are wrong--trolling NPR, overeating, eavesdropping, drugs, etc.

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Some knock-down comebacks:

If a teacher says, “Science has shown there isn’t any meaning in life,” ask them how science could possibly show that?

When you challenge a professor in a line of questioning, only stick to one point. Never play 100 questions in debate. That’s the sign of a weak debater. In a cross-examination, focus on one point. The other issues can come later.
 
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