At some point during four years on College Hill, nearly every Brown student briefly wonders about the origins of the university’s unquestionably theistic motto, In Deo Speramus. For a notoriously liberal school where religion hardly plays a visible part in campus life, it is a bit jarring to see the Big Man get a front-row seat on the university seal. The motto, however, and the large red cross under which it’s usually found, are symbols that speak to a time when things were a bit different in Brunonia–a time when Deo, predominantly the Judeo-Christian Deo, got a lot more face time on the Main Green.

Of course, with the exception of the people that pass out Bibles, visible displays of religion on campus, like focaccia sandwiches, now belong largely to the past. Mirroring a process which has taken place in many of the secular countries of Central and Northern Europe, Brown has become decidedly “postchristian.” That is, while Brown’s founders and early culture were undoubtedly influenced by Christian beliefs and practices, these things have long since been de-emphasized or replaced by non-Christian or secular traditions. It’s safe to say that today, though a number of students consistently attend religious services on and off campus, Brown is predominantly non-religious.

With a glut of religion-themed opinions articles published in the Herald these past few weeks, however, religion as a topic of discussion is back on the university radar. Some have written about the ups and downs of the Catholic or the Jewish experience on campus. Others have discussed atheism at Brown. What hasn’t come up are the secular students who, like Brown itself, have been exposed to Christianity at some point in their development or education but who no longer can be considered anything but ostensibly Christian. These postchristian students, like many of the secular students in Brown’s Jewish community, have grown up in practicing or non-practicing religious families but are not actively involved with religion on College Hill. As a cultural rather than a religious identity, however, postchristianity is less about religious practice and more about Christian influence on values.

Though many postchristian students are agnostic, atheist, or apathetic, that fact that they were raised in Christian families or educated in Catholic schools means they have undoubtedly been influenced by faith communities.

In fact, some postchristian students, in moving beyond the religion of their parents, find new non-sectarian faith communities. Robert Warner ‘10.5, for example, is member of the Unitarian Universalist religion and attends services whenever he returns home. Unitarian Universalism is an open faith with Protestant Christian roots that encourages Christians and non-Christians alike to come together in general worship.

“It’s really a lot about community. It attracts a lot of people of different faiths to join, a lot of Buddhists and a lot of Jews. And most of the time they still maintain their religion outside of church.”

Still, most postchristian students don’t end up joining a new religious community. Roman Gonzalez ‘11, who was raised in a Catholic family, is an avowed atheist who says he first began to see problems with the religion of his parents while on a retreat in preparation for his confirmation.

“There were just certain things where I said, ‘I don’t know how I feel about that. I don’t know if that’s right.’”

Gonzalez’s skepticism is a sentiment shared by many postchristians on campus who feel that the religion of their parents is out of touch with the social and political realities of the 21st century. Nevertheless, unlike Gonzalez, most postchristian students may feel uncomfortable with the idea that there is no God. Indeed, like Brown maintaining In Deo Speramus on its seal, most postchristian students aren’t quite willing to leave God completely out of the picture, calling themselves agnostic rather than atheist. And even Gonzalez, who describes his atheism as “soft,” still believes that one cannot be entirely sure about God’s existence.

“Logically, I don’t think we can know that kind of thing.”

photo: Lucas Janin