Title: God's Harvard: A Christian College on a Mission to save America
Author: Hanna Rosin
Summary: a familiar with religious-based higher education. When I decided to attend Brigham Young University, my friends couldn't believe I was willingly signing the Honor Code which outlines the behavior I would ascribe to as a BYU student...no tobacco, alcohol, premarital sex and modest dress among others. After reading Hanna Rosin's God's Harvard, I feel as though I attended Berkley! Hanna Rosin was given complete access to Patrick Henry college and its staff and students. Founded by home schooling activist Michael Farris, PHC seems to have the agenda to place as many of its students as possible into government, especially Washington, D.C. Female students may dabble in government as students but there is an expectation that once graduated, they will marry, have children and home school (home schooling was not introduced only to protect children from worldly education, it was a way to keep women at home and engaged in Christian work). Much of what I read reminded me of the best and worst of my own college education...the excitement of being in a large group of similar believing students, having access to religious education and seeing that my beliefs wouldn't necessarily hinder my further education. It also contains stories of students turning others in for not believing as rigidly as they felt they should, teachers feeling confined by theology as they taught philosophy or science, and young men and women looking for heavenly guidance as they navigate the minefield of "courtship". Students also talk openly of their struggles with doubt, testimony, the collision of the individual with the "group think" and the collision between belief and the world. It seems strange to me that this school focuses so much on becoming a pipeline to Washington, D.C where even the most fevered can easily become jaded.
Recommendation: I would recommend this book because it reminds me of this area. I was amazed at the access this author had with her subjects and their openness. It is a must read for anyone interested in politics, a real
eye-opener.
Hearts: 4
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1 comments:
I attended PHC while Hanna was reporting - and so can say that the reality doesn't match the over-the-top prose of the book. I barely recognized the place when I was reading about it. She lives about two hours from PHC and would come out for a few hours two or three times a week for a couple months. That's a lot of reporting, for sure, but don't think she actually "embedded" on campus. Just for the record.
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