Join us on our pilgrimage through the religious fabric of U of T. We may poke the occasional hole through the cloth, but we do so with respect for all religions and beliefs. It is an incredible testament to the civility, respect, and good nature of U of T staff and students that we get along with so few problems. Tip your turban, yarmulke, fez, or plain old hat to your colleagues—we reached this higher ground together.

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When it comes to religion, I feel like I am preaching to the choir.

Maybe that’s the point of this magazine: to highlight the beautiful and peaceful diversity of beliefs that we know makes up our university. From our origins as an entity controlled by the Church of England to our current state as a proud—some might say too proud—world-class institution of secular learning, religion is an inescapable part of our identity.

First, a quick recap of the past 180 years:

The man responsible for founding King’s College in 1827 was the famous Anglican Bishop of Toronto, John Strachan. In 1850, U of T was secularized by vote of the government of Upper Canada. Good ol’ Strachan wanted none of this religion-free learning and founded Trinity College. To ensure their survival, the Presbyterian Knox College and the low-church Wycliffe became federated within the U of T as the 19th century wound down. The move cost them—the colleges had to give up the right to confer all degrees except divinity and theology degrees. Victoria University was reluctant to do the same, and only joined the growing federation of colleges in 1890 after financial incentives were offered. It took the death of stodgy Strachan for Trinity College to join up in 1904 (and they undoubtedly did so with much disdain and many upturned noses). Finally, in 1910, St. Michael’s joined, proving again that Catholics are some of the most stubborn people you will meet.

When all is said and done and scrawled in the margins of revisionist history books, Christianity is the embryo from which the secular U of T grew. As seen by the endless feud between Marshall McLuhan (Catholic) and Northrop Frye (Methodist), and Banting and Best changing the world with their discovery of insulin, we have sought knowledge and truth, often guided by the ideologies, morality, and occasional intellectual clashes of religion.

We try our best to be balanced, open, and fair here at The Varsity. We look at both the lighter sides (see: religion flowchart, page four) and the darker sides (see: scientology, page eight) of belief and faith. If we have missed a religion or focused more heavily on certain faiths, it is unintentional and we mean no disrespect. We encourage you, our wonderful readers, to have your say at the varsity.ca and let us know what your faith (or perhaps lack thereof) means to you.

As for my own views on religion, I think Albert Einstein summed it up best:

“True religion is real living; living with all one’s soul, with all one’s goodness and righteousness.”

Join us on our 24-page pilgrimage through the religious fabric of U of T. We may poke the occasional hole through the cloth, but we do so with respect for all religions and beliefs. It is an incredible testament to the civility, respect, and good nature of U of T staff and students that we get along with so few problems. Tip your turban, yarmulke, fez, or plain old hat to your colleagues—we reached this higher ground together.

Dan Rios Editor-at-Large

Are you there, God? It’s me, Chandler.

I don’t know anyone who believes in God. Okay that’s not true, I have one born again Christian from high school that I’ll occasionally share hot chocolates and favorite psalms with, but aside from my good pal Angela, it seems that faith and a liberal arts education are as compatible as peanut butter and steak sauce. They just don’t mix.

My own religious upbringing is complicated, to put it mildly. My mother grew up in a Catholic/Jewish family where all the boys had bar mitzvahs and the girls, confirmations. When my Dad decided that he wanted to play lead guitar in the Brantford United Church folk band, my Dad, brother, and I were baptized. And let me tell you, it’s not as cute a ceremony when you’re pushing eleven.

I’ve gone through spurts where I’ve truly wanted to believe that something greater than myself is out there, a being I could place complete faith and trust in, that would watch over me, and hopefully guide me when I’m not sure what to do. Generally, I call upon the Lord when I really need to find my glasses, and let the people who care about me do the rest. I’m at an age where I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or not.

But luckily, the choice isn’t up to me: it’s up to you. The “And Religion” issue of the Varsity Magazine is all about that special X-factor in relation to faith, whether it’s shiksa hunting, religious a capella bloggers, or the possibility that dinosaurs might have roamed the earth alongside Jesus Christ. Our industrious copy editor JADE COLBERT delves into the myths and methods of scientology, while photo editor DAN EPSTEIN highlight student believers on campus. Much thanks goes out to our amazing layout designer ROGELIO BRISEÑO, who made this edition look as immaculate as any glossy out there.

John Lennon once confessed, “I don’t believe in Jesus, I don’t believe in Beatles, I just believe in me.” That might be true, but I’m late for a movie, and I really need to find my glasses

Chandler Levack Editor-in-Chief