Are you religious?

Over the weekend, Hasket sent me a message via facebook, alerting me to some pretty ridiculous shit on Wikipedia: Pensacola Christian College.

PCC also has strict policies regarding mixed-gender interaction. Physical contact between members of opposite gender (including shaking hands) is not permitted under any circumstance. Written permission of the dean’s office must be procured for all off-campus meetings between members of the opposite gender. In addition, all mixed-gender meetings (on and off-campus), must have a PCC chaperon present. All stairwells and elevators on campus are segregated by gender. In the absence of being able to have physical contact, a fad has developed among dating students on campus where couples stare deeply into each other’s eyes. This practice by students is variously called “eye kissing”, or “optical intercourse” and is jokingly called “making eye babies.” This activity however is discouraged by the administration.

I attended a christian high school (not by choice) and their rules weren’t even this out of control. No shaking hands? I think deeper issues exist here. I’m not going to start the religion debate but I will say that, to me, it’s more important to have faith than be religious.

It has been alleged that Alumni who criticize the college are removed from the college mailing list and are put on a blacklist. In March 2006, the college banned several alumni from returning to campus because they criticized the college on the popular website MySpace. Students are eligible for expulsion if their MySpace profiles contain material the college considers inappropriate, such as unapproved music or pictures. The PCC administration surf the MySpace and Student Voice websites regularly to review what current and former students are saying about the college.

Hmm…