Chapel refers to a church or a chapel attached to a large church, school, hospital, or private mansion and refers to the attendance of a service or service held at a university. In other words, it refers to the worship required by a mission school or a seminary to honor students. There is also a mix of traditional craftsmanship and worship services. In this way, there are many pros and cons in that each school learns its own religion through chapel or Christian classes.
Pros
Even if you don't have a particular religion, all schools founded by religious organizations are called religious schools, and these schools are becoming more and more numerous. Many people in religious schools think that it is a waste of time to take a class where you mostly only pray or think. I disagree with them. I'm in favor of taking chapel.
Firstly, chapel gives students a chance to work for money. A person who has completed the chapel class and is baptized in the church is allowed to act as a student of Chaplain Work. The scholarship students are said to be in charge of guiding students who come to hear chapel or events at the chapel. Those students get one million won per semester. Many people think that not many students apply, but many students do apply.
Secondly, it helps students with self-improvement. Many people think that they only pray for a few hours quietly in chapel. However, in chapel, one takes time to learn how to find oneself, how to make dreams come true, and so on through an instructor. Also, right before finishing chapel, students have a moment of prayer and meditation together. They also watch performances to relieve stress and fatigue from their studies. They can also enjoy various performances like singing, playing musical instruments, or just listening to music. Also, there are many for presentation students who have just entered the school. So, teachers also have time to give detailed information about things at the university like school- clubs or how to use the library.
I'm in favor of chapel and religious schools,which is conducive to self-improvement and provides students with money and available services. Everyone wants to improve themselves, but you don't have time to look back on yourself because you're busy studying or doing your homework. I'd like to tell you that that's what chapel is for. I also think that chapel time is to a time to laugh or encourage students in many ways.
●Opinion from a reader
(Lee Seon-ah, Department of Tourism Management)
Universities are the flowers of higher education, not the means of employment. Neither learning philosophy nor religion at universities is ever ridiculous. However, what should be clear in this education is that it should be possible to learn life, not just from developing an antipathy to non-Christian religions, but to develop an understanding of all religions in general. If you balance your understanding of the overall religion and your learning about life, chapel will be the basis for your university culture.
Cons
An act of religious coercion under school rules and regulations violates freedom of religion according to Article 20 of the Constitution. Some schools which has been established on a Christian foundation designated chapel as a required class that students must take before graduation. That means if students don’t take chapel they can’t graduate.
First, forcing students to attend a certain number of chapel because the university was founded as a Christian school is illegal in Korea. There are cases where students who didn’t participate in chapel were disadvantaged not only for students but also for professors’ promotion. For example, Namseoul University forces professors and students to have a certain religion and that if they don't follow suit, they are either excluded from promotion or disadvantaged in assignment of dormitories. The university president scores the number of professors attending the chapel and affects their promotion and reappointment. Like this, most Christian university give improper disadvantage for not attending chapel and forcing religion indirectly on people.
Second, students chose a university not a religion. Someone may ask why didn’t you find more information about the school. However, just because a university was founded on Christian principles doesn’t mean students should be forced to take a chapel class without any details about the course. Also, most students don’t recognize and anticipate that there might be a course which is related to specific religion before entering a university. In Korea, students undergo complex procedures to enter university. During that time, it is hard to consider which religion a school has because students must concentrate on the possibility of getting admitted. Even if a school has a religious foundation, they should focus on their education not the religion. Since a school is a serious place for learning, chapel should be discontinued if it interrupts the education of students.
Opposing chapel does not mean rejecting Christianity. It means students should focus on studying and schools should focus on developing excellent curriculum. Finally, schools should guarantee the freedom of religion to their students and executives.
●Opinion from a reader
(Lee Dong-geun ,Department of International Relations)
The Chapel program in Keimyung University is absolutely useless academic system to its students. Actually, this system is a representative example of violating “the right of freedom of religion”. However, this kind of force to take chapel has been in effect for a long time. In this situation, executive of Keimyung University should amend this inhumane program as soon as possible. In fact, Keimyung University has desired to be international education institution for a long time. Thus, to approach its goal, I personally think that Keimyung University needs to discontinue the chapel program soon.
