I don't know whether to post this in RGT, or student life, but here it goes. I am considering getting a degree in religious studies, and was wondering what type of career options would be open to this type of degree?

I am planning to be a poker pro when I do this, I've been very interested in religions and how they apply to people throughout history and today. I'm not aligned with a certain religion, but am very interested in learning more about them in general.

Do religious study courses in college go into atheism pretty deep, or not at all? It's another thing I'm wanting to know more about, or is what I'm looking for a history type of degree?

O one last thing, what colleges are highly recommended for this type of study? Thanks for any help.

Job prospects: pretty much the same as any other liberal arts degree.

On covering atheism: not likely in a Religious Studies Dept.

I would take a couple RS classes, a couple History, and see what you like.

Atheism isn't a religion and I'd be surprised to see it covered extensively.

This is probably better suited to a post in Student Life than RGT, I dunno if anyone here was a religion major and what they planned to do with it.

I may (I think I do but I'm not 100% sure) have the most college hours in religion classes out of anyone in RGT, but at the time I thought I was en route to becoming a pastor. I don't know what everyone else planned to do with theirs. Mostly it was people planning on being pastors or missionaries, history majors that picked it up as a minor, and those planning on going into archeology that were just dabbling.

Oh, and of course those that spent the first few years of college not knowing wtf they were doing, but that goes without saying.

Edit: Oh and of course those few that just liked studying religion and likely ended up as religious studies professors.

It's going to depend on the University.... but some do offer courses in atheism..or actually ...during the course you will discuss atheism.
I'm not sure why atheist are quick to point out that atheism is NOT a religion sometimes but if asked "Why are you posting in a forum titled Religion, God and Theology... it's OK to be lumped in then.
I took several World Religion and History of Religion classes and some touched on atheism but there's really not much to learn there when it comes to belief/non-belief part of it. One of my professors was an atheist and one of the most incredible persons I ever met. He tended to leave the idiotic sarcastic hat in the closet and avoided statements like "the magic man in the sky". He was very educated and I wish I had more classes with him. Very interesting man.
Anyways... your job options are probably going to be limited to teaching. I have a friend that worked as an interpreter for a while...basically helped research and interpret religious writings but ended up becoming a professor at Virginia Tech.

I'm going to school right now for a different major, but since I was little I was very interested in learning about how religions work, and also the effects on different types of religion throughout the world. I guess the atheism part was because I'm interested in learning the side that believes in no God.

As I said in the original thread I'm not looking to become a pastor/priest, nor am I going to be an atheism advocate. I want to objectively learn both sides of the argument, and apply it to myself.

This was something I was thinking about doing if I go pro. I want to take some classes that would be more religion studies than history, but also want a course load that will give me a degree of some sort.

I'm not sure about what kind of jobs would be available with just a B.A. in Religious Studies, especially given the job market (here i the U.S. that is). But for the most part a liberal arts degree is a liberal arts degree. As a back up, I would highly suggest you look into what you might want to study in grad school (just in case you don't go/stay pro). A RS degree will be perfectly fine for admittance into a lot of grad programs, but if you may want to do some things that are more techincal/hard sciency you may want to pick up a minor more applicable to those programs.

And the offerings available in RS are pretty wide but defiantly depends on the University. Many, at my school, could also count as RS, sociology, history, or anthropology courses, so it may be pretty easy to pick up a dual major with a RS track. I was an anthro undergrad that took a great RS class (that also counted as antro/sociology credits) called: Cults and New Religions. It was interesting and defiantly reshaped my idea of what a cult is and how cults and new religions are often stigmatized somewhat unjustifiably. But yeah, most departments allow a wide enough selection that you can focus on a certain religion, religions of a certain area, or do comparative study of world religions. And it is often the kind of track that allows great flexibility as well as provides the opportunity to really get some research/thesis writing skills.

And, I'm not biased or anything, but the University of Florida probably owns in the category. Just saying.

If you're majoring in another subject and want to learn, read this forum. The posters are better than you'd expect. Both sides - theist and atheist - are represented by well-spoken regulars, however atheists outnumber theists by a decent margin.

Why are you asking about colleges if you're already in school?

The major I'm in now is something I am interested in but it's more for a financial/career future. If the poker thing works out I'll probably take a year or 2 off before starting my career, and in the mean time while playing I want to be in school learning as well.

It's kind of a dumb thought but I was watching Penn & Teller's show and was very interested in the episode about religions, and brought back an old curiosity. I used to go to church back when I was little, and used to be very into the God idea. I would say I was a bit more agnostic then theist up until a few years ago, and now I want to know more.

Please keep the atheist vs theist discussion out of this thread. Prefer not to have the flames of mods up in here if possible. Thanks.

Yeah, this.... I like this forum so no offense to anyone, but even the "intelligent regulars" often don't have much past what you'll find on wikipedia.

A good religion professor would rip this forum apart with depth in a second.

I mean, just watch the Yale videos posted here awhile back, read some Karen Armstrong, or find anyone else that makes religious studies their profession and compare it to anything you'd find here.

It is not close.

True. However I have still learned a lot here.

Back to OP: school is for getting degrees. my suggestion is save the money, and if you want to learn you can go to the library (or other sources).

Do a history degree instead. It will teach you far more about religion than theology will.

At one point I was eager myself to do the formal theology studies OP and I still might but I think if I were you I would read the bible very carefully. Particularly the NT several times. The reason why is that once you put yourself into the hands of the "experts" you also put yourself in the hands of their mistakes and any possible false teachings and doctrines as well as their individual preferences and I think even among some of the greatest names in religion there are some false doctrines floating around. Frequently people seem to be correct on one theological point while they've totally blown others and it takes quite a bit of crosschecking and thinking to get it all straight. Reading the bible and knowing it yourself helps you spot errors.

Luke 2:51: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/...51&version=KJV

Daniel 7:28: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/...28&version=KJV