I grapple with this every semester. Should I or shouldn’t I? Some semesters I announce to my religion classes that I’m a “thinking theist”. I’m not ashamed of being a person of faith, but I realize that I take the risk of alienating some students right off the bat. But I work hard to assure all students that being they won’t get a free ride if they fill their essays with theistic blather”. I also make sure students feel safe being critical of religion. However, those criticisms have to be thoughtful otherwise the “philosopher” in me will rear her analytical fangs. Ada Calhoun describes her trials in this recent Salon.com article:
It was Sunday morning in my scruffy Brooklyn, N.Y., neighborhood, and I was wearing a dress. Walking to the subway, I ran into a friend heading home from yoga class. She wore sweats and carried her mat over her shoulder. “Where are you going so early all dressed up?” she asked, chuckling. “To church?” We shared a laugh at the absurdity of a liberal New Yorker heading off to worship.
The real joke? I totally was.