The students turning to God
(Re)discovering religion
‘When I was younger I went to mass, I prayed. But when I was around fifteen years old, I moved away from all that, because you know, people rebel.’
For several years, religion didn’t play much of a role in the life of Fionn, a twenty-one-year-old psychology student who grew up Irish Catholic. But that has changed over the past year. ‘I talked to another Christian and her confidence in her faith made me think a lot about my own’, he explains. ‘From there onwards, my actual coming back to religion was more to do with my own research. I feel it’s important to go to sources yourself.’
He started studying the Bible, read books on biblical interpretation, saint’s lives, and church history, and listened to podcasts. ‘Those revolved more around practical matters, like how to live your life, and topics like church versus modern culture.’
Fionn feels that his relationship with his religion is made all the more meaningful because now it was a conscious choice to adhere to it. ‘Being older, I can think about it more, I can understand it better and think for myself. Before, I was mainly just trusting what people said to me.’
Judgement
Students in Groningen can often seem like a very secular group of people, whose life consists of drinking and partying. But for some, like Fionn, their years at uni are the period they embrace religion.
He’s not alone in this. ‘I’ve always had a positive relationship with religion; my dad is very religious’, says Julie Creedon (21), a Protestant European languages student, also from Ireland. ‘We always went to church together and would often spend a lot of time there, as my dad helped out with organisational matters within the church.’
People made me feel like a freak for going to church
That changed when she became a teenager. ‘I didn’t want to stand out, it felt very countercultural. Some people even judged me, made me feel like a freak for going to church. So when my siblings and I were given the choice to go or not go, we chose not to go. I thought that everyone would react with ridicule, so I was scared to embrace the religious part of me.’
When she moved to Groningen, she started to feel the absence of her religion. ‘The only connection to it and to God was through my dad, and the fact that I was no longer living with him made me realise that if I dont go to church myself, that connection would be lost.’
She started going to church again. ‘In the beginning, it was more a decision that I made with my head than with my heart’, she says. ‘What made a big difference was praying to feel closer to God. I really look at it as a relationship: you actually have to spend time with God and build that connection. That’s what praying, going to church and reading the bible are about for me.’
Purpose
Marie (24), a master student from France, did not grow up with religion: her parents are atheist. However, she converted to Islam in 2020. She had been interested in the religion since learning about it from Muslims she met while living abroad for two years, but finally decided to become a Muslim herself during the first Covid lockdown. ‘I had more time to myself to really decide what I wanted to believe in’, she says.
There is a meaning behind all these ups and downs
Believing in God gives her peace and makes her feel like life has a purpose, she says. ‘And Islam is a more practice-based religion than Christianity, I feel.’
International business student Šeherezada Molnár (22) also grew up in a secular household. While one of her parents comes from a Christian background and the other from a Muslim one and Christmas, Easter, Eid and Ramadan were all celebrated in their house, ‘we didn’t actively practise any religion’, she says.
She had already had questions about religion, but what made her find God was a difficult period in her life. In 2021, her family’s house in Germany flooded, which made her realise how dramatically anything in this life can change. ‘It made me think there is a meaning behind all these ups and downs’, she explains.
Community
Islam has given her a sense of belonging. ‘I’m part of many Muslim community groups now’, she says. ‘I’ve met a lot of Muslim girls and we go to mosque together, we go shopping and we cook together. I feel more connected to these religious practices because my Muslim friends have made me feel welcome.’
But while religion has brought her a lot, it cost her the relationship with her old friends. As a Muslim, she doesn’t drink alcohol and doesn’t want to go to places where it is served, and she also doesn’t want to be in mixed-gender areas.
I have this strong feeling that God protects me in all things
Marie has a different perspective of Islam – she isn’t committed to Islamic dress, for example – but she’s encountered her own challenges since converting. ‘I feel very isolated within the Muslim community because I don’t look like one’, she says. ‘I also think that the community here is very focused on rules and superficial practices, which I don’t believe is the essence of being religious.’
She has found it difficult telling people she is Muslim now, she says: ‘In the West, Islam is the most controversial religion.’ That can make things hard during Ramadan, for example, when she has to fast. ‘I lied once and pretended to be sick, because I didn’t want to tell a friend of mine that I’m fasting’, she recalls.
Marie hasn’t told her parents about her conversion either. ‘I don’t want any issues with them. They were always polite about it outwardly, but behind closed doors my parents thought that religious people are dumb.’
Joy
Even though, as a teen, Julie also feared the prejudice of the outside world, she’s found that most of the people she talks to about her religion have been positive. ‘Even if they don’t agree with your beliefs, they respect and admire you if you are confident in who you are and what you believe in. That’s something I have really appreciated.’
She is in a bible study group that has brought her a lot of joy. ‘We meet up every Monday, discuss the Bible in detail and talk about the ways in which we can apply this in our own lives and live out the word of God. I enjoy having conversations with friends about it.’
Returning to her faith has given her peace, she says. ‘I felt in my heart it was the best way to live my life. And no matter what is happening, I have this strong feeling that God is with me and God protects me in all things. There is a Bible verse that goes “cast all your anxiety onto Him because He cares for you”, and I think that captures it.’
Fionn’s life also has seen a positive change since coming back to his religion, he says. ‘I feel a lot happier in myself, a lot more confident and purposeful.’ He even thinks that it helps him with university work. ‘I am more productive, I procrastinate less – less messing about, I guess.’
Marie is a pseudonym.