Recovery Board
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Recovery from Mormonism (RfM) discussion forum.
I've never heard of this. Wow.
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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/dec/27/druids-college-religion-lifestyle
The Reformed Druids of North America began as “a gag, a finger in the eye of the administration”, said Howard Cherniack, one of the group’s founders. Nearly 60 years later, it’s become something much larger: a movement that has spawned new sects, “groves” across the country and, arguably, a religion.
Northfield, Minnesota, 1963
The later 1960s were a revolutionary time on American college campuses. But in 1963, freedom summer and free speech movements were years away. At schools like Carleton College, a liberal arts college in Minnesota, the administration still took a paternalistic approach that many students began to find stifling, with men and women relegated to separate dormitories (although only women were subject to curfew). Universities of the era essentially played a parental role (legally, in loco parentis). This included overseeing the students’ moral character.
“ One of the minor irritations was that we were required to go, I think six or seven times per 10-week semester, to something that would presumably be ‘spiritually good for us’,” explained Cherniack, who was a Carleton student in 1963. This would be a religious service on campus or in town, or a lecture on a spiritual topic. While some of the lectures were admittedly interesting, students resented being forced to attend, Cherniack said.
Sitting in a dormitory room one night, Cherniack, along with his friends Norman Nelson and David Fisher, hatched a plan: to invent their own religion, and attempt to get credit for attending its services.
“After all, any religion we invent is no more or less true than any other religion,” laughed Cherniack.
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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/dec/27/druids-college-religion-lifestyle
The Reformed Druids of North America began as “a gag, a finger in the eye of the administration”, said Howard Cherniack, one of the group’s founders. Nearly 60 years later, it’s become something much larger: a movement that has spawned new sects, “groves” across the country and, arguably, a religion.
Northfield, Minnesota, 1963
The later 1960s were a revolutionary time on American college campuses. But in 1963, freedom summer and free speech movements were years away. At schools like Carleton College, a liberal arts college in Minnesota, the administration still took a paternalistic approach that many students began to find stifling, with men and women relegated to separate dormitories (although only women were subject to curfew). Universities of the era essentially played a parental role (legally, in loco parentis). This included overseeing the students’ moral character.
“ One of the minor irritations was that we were required to go, I think six or seven times per 10-week semester, to something that would presumably be ‘spiritually good for us’,” explained Cherniack, who was a Carleton student in 1963. This would be a religious service on campus or in town, or a lecture on a spiritual topic. While some of the lectures were admittedly interesting, students resented being forced to attend, Cherniack said.
Sitting in a dormitory room one night, Cherniack, along with his friends Norman Nelson and David Fisher, hatched a plan: to invent their own religion, and attempt to get credit for attending its services.
“After all, any religion we invent is no more or less true than any other religion,” laughed Cherniack.
Reeks of BYU Idaho & Provo, IDK about Hawaii.
btw, with church membership (claimed) growth, it's another campus justified? My Bad!!
OTOH, members are having fewer children, correct?
btw, with church membership (claimed) growth, it's another campus justified? My Bad!!
OTOH, members are having fewer children, correct?
I was glad that in loco parentis had disappeared by the time I went to college in the mid- to late 70s. I lived in a coed dormitory where residents could come and go at any hour of the day or night. Signs on the dormitory's bulletin board directed residents to the student health center for birth control, if desired. No one cared if you went to church or not.
It was very different from my high school friend's experience at BYU.
It was very different from my high school friend's experience at BYU.
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Northfield MN is a pretty small town (20-something thousand) but it has two very highly regarded liberal arts colleges - St Olaf College and Carleton College. Both were founded by churches. St Olaf is Lutheran, and Carleton was founded by Congregational churches.
They tended to, and as far as I know, still tend to draw the best and the brightest, and Mr Cherniak's decision to found his own religion sounds like the sort of student prank you would expect from the best and brightest. If his prank is still going, that just proves P T Barnum was a prophet. ;)
They tended to, and as far as I know, still tend to draw the best and the brightest, and Mr Cherniak's decision to found his own religion sounds like the sort of student prank you would expect from the best and brightest. If his prank is still going, that just proves P T Barnum was a prophet. ;)