The University of Wyoming is one of the few universities nationwide that offers a class on the history and various philosophical movements of non-belief. This growing field of study within religious studies programs is an under utilized and misunderstood field.
Many people demonize this class and see it as a threat to traditional Christian views. However, this class and field of study are important fields which the university has a responsibility to provide.
People commonly perceive education on such matters as an attack on their faith, but this is an ignorant view. The purpose of the class is to examine different beliefs, thoughts and historical movements important to the growth of these ideas, just the same as any other religious studies class.
What truly bothers people about this class is it forces them to see a view different from what they have held as true their whole life, and unlike other religious studies classes that expose students to different religions and allow one to see a different view of God, non-belief classes allow students to see arguments that say there is no God.
And that is what bothers people about this class, it is not that it attacks their faith, but rather just shows views completely different, than what they are told, and the information is presented in the way that the authors of the textbooks intended it to be presented.
So for once people are forced to look at non-belief, not through the filter of their faith that presents it as corrupted and evil, but rather as a view that may be logical and rational. It is this possibility that upsets people. It is that during their college education they are forced to understand, not adopt, a narrative different than their own.
However, the purpose of an education is to learn and understand different views and be able to develop belief based on all the information available.
This is why the university has a responsibility to provide this class, because the university’s goal should be to give students an education and not a trade.
