A young medical student at Stanford University stood before the table of RZIM [Ravi Zacharias International Ministries] books and resources beaming. “We don’t see these things very often,” he said, clarifying, “Not books; there’s no shortage of books. I mean Christianity without the hostility.” He proceeded to describe students and friends who deride the possibility of possessing both faith and intellect, medical professors who actually apologize when the language of design inadvertently slips into lectures on the body, and the isolation that comes from trying to stand in the shadows of this increasingly antagonistic majority. When I inquired as to the availability of support from campus ministries or local churches, his response was equally dismal. “There are groups that speak to the emotionality of faith, but academically, there is no one.”
– from Jill Carattini’s recent RZIM report from Stanford and Berkeley. How different are things here in Rochester, and what can we do to foster a more open forum in our own academic town square?
