By JEFFREY WEINTRAUB
Staff Writer
 

College Chaplain Kerry Maloney aptly prefaced her interview by saying, "It's hard to argue from silence."

One cannot respond to the question of whether Bates is religiously tolerant if there is nothing or no one present to demand tolerance. "Those students who are very active in terms of religion tend to act quietly," said Associate Dean of Students James Reese. "The question becomes, if a student were to show religion overtly would he or she be accepted?"

As an institution built on egalitarian ideals, Bates prides itself on the principle of individual freedoms, and has a history of harboring tolerant beliefs for varying religious values and, therefore, the answer to whether an overtly religious student would be accepted is yes. In theory at least.

In examining whether Bates is a tolerant community for people with strong or different religious convictions, it is necessary to ask why these suppositions seem to be addressed only in theory, and rarely in practice.

Why do so many Bates students claim no religious affiliation and why are so few Bates students openly religious? The answer to this complex question involves not whether Bates students are exhibiting general apathy or genuine soul-searching, but, rather, in examining the necessity and practicality of religion for a Bates student.

Maloney said, "Spiritually, people are fragmented because of exhaustion on campus; people just have so many things to do at Bates."

This suggests that there simply is not enough time for religion on campus if religion held little importance to an individual prior to attending Bates. Those who are willing to hold their religious virtues openly appear to comprise the minority at Bates, and are often involved in the eight religious organizations on campus.

As a 20-year Bates veteran, Reese certainly can attest to the changing religious patterns and trends on campus. "Fifteen years ago there was a survey indicating that 30 percent of students were Roman Catholic," he said.

Today, Reese estimates that the percentage of Roman Catholics is 15 percent, that Protestants make up 30 percent of the student body, and that Jewish students comprises 10 percent of the population.

Judging by these percentages, and given that 40 percent of Bates students claim no religious identity, approximately five percent of the student body must claim adherence to a religious tradition other than Catholicism, Protestantism, or Judaism.

Reese recounted an incident several years ago in which orientation leaders for first-year students asked about students' religious affiliations. When only half the group raised its hands after the leaders summarily mentioned the major religions of the world, the leader asked in an off-the-cuff manner who held no religious affiliation. 40 percent of the group raised their hands. General apathy, genuine soul-searching, authentic disbelief, or confused first-years?

"College is traditionally a time to be on a spiritual search," said Maloney. "Everything should be up for scrutiny in college." Apparently, just as a liberal arts education can inherently demand the student to challenge his or her moral values, so too can a liberal arts education demand the questioning of one's spirituality. Students raised in the tradition of either of the three largest groups of religions represented on campus may simply come to no longer believe in their parents' religion, a relative common college (or pre-college) phenomenon.

At the same time, "People are more spiritually hungry than they claim to be, and are looking for a table to feed from," Maloney said.

Lately, the table from which more and more students want to feed include great Eastern religions such as Buddhism. Maloney has reacted to this movement by purchasing an image of Buddha and constructing a Buddhist shrine on campus.

Maloney has also incorporated a host of other weekly spiritual activities including "Busy Life, Peaceful Center," a weekly program designed to help students transcend religious differences and deal with a broader scope of spirituality through such mediums as music and dance.

Later this month, Bates will be hosting a multi-faith conference in which invited scholars will answer the questions "Who's God?" and "Why God?"

The practicality and necessity of religion in the lives of Bates students is a very tangible dilemma that Reese has been observing throughout the years, and Maloney is working at assessing and, in turn, accommodating students.