An agnostic's time at Clemson
I spent four years studying in Clemson university which is nestled in the middle of nowhere in the Southern, bible state of South Carolina.
Surrounded by forests made up of pine and other trees, it was so remote that you had a real chance of coming across a skunk in one of the many gardens that were blotted all over the campus. Road kill consisted of anything from Deer or Groundhogs to Possums or wild cats. Thanks to the University, the whole area had a large population, but it was all scattered and spread out over a large expanse. I lived 3 miles off campus and had to take a bus to and from my Apartment Complex. Public Transportation only consisted of that bus network and nothing else. It was really convenient if you had to go to Campus. But that was it. If you wanted to go to the theater or a Walmart you could only get around if you had a car. Otherwise you had to hope that someone would waste their own time for you and drive you around.
The general atmosphere at Clemson was relaxed. Though probably because at least 95% of the kids were fanatically religious and had were expecting to go to heaven with almost a 100% certainty in the afterlife. Now I'm probably exaggerating the percentage, though, I'm sure, only slightly. Everybody greeted each other with incredible friendliness and exquisite southern charm. And if you didn't return a similarly enthusiastic greeting in return, it was considered immensely rude. Nobody used cuss words like shit, fuck and hell. You never said Damn, as in "God Damn! what bad luck", You said, "Darn it!". If you did use Damn, people would always flinch a little.
Religion was really, really important. I never woke up before mid-day on Sundays. However, once for French class I decided to help the French Club set up a food stall early Sunday morning in the main campus field to gain an extra bonus point for a French class that I was taking. It was the first time that I saw the huge swarm of well dressed kids going to Church for Sunday mass or whatever they call it. I'm still amazed by what I saw that day. You may find it odd, as I did, to be studying in a college where there is a mix of such heavy scientific discussion with an equally passionate religious zeal especially since the religiously zealous are the very same members of the college community who take engineering, material science, physics and chemistry as their majors. But that's the Deep South for you.
That attraction to religion often got annoying. By blood and ancestry, I belong to a religion of an eastern land(not Islam), but I am actually in between being an agnostic and an atheist. I don't openly publicize the former. That is why I got approached by three different kids who seriously wanted to convert me to Christianity, the best religion of them all in their mind, and "save me". from the horrible path I was heading toward. These were not some half hearted attempts; the three individuals were genuinely concerned about my future. They brought me Bibles, asked me to read particular passages from the text, and ambushed me from time to time so that they could discuss with me the amazing revelations found in their holy book. Now, my parents have done a good job of bringing me up, and taught me politeness. So, I humored these three men. I took the bible, I read some passages (with extreme lethargy ), I discussed with them the facts of the bible, by which I mean that they did most of the talking and explaining; there's nothing more religious nuts enjoy than preaching their own religious dogmatism. It's good because that way you can make them expend all the energy while you mentally wander towards other, more important thoughts.
These guys were serious enough, I'm sure, that at least one, if not all, of them cried when I made my intentions clear to not join their faith. I never told them that I was an atheist. That would have just caused resentment and maybe even hatred. Religious people, and I'm basing this on my own experience, are more accepting of people of different faiths than people with no faith at all.
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