NDSU Atheist Prospectus

In Response to “An Atheist Perspective at NDSU” - CLICK HERE

“Every single day when I walk to class, I see at least five or 10 people with Bison Catholic shirts.  Then I get to class and usually have to stare at some more for 50 minutes.  Insert expletive here.”

When I was a freshman I was uncomfortable with people even knowing I was a practicing Catholic.  I don’t know why, but I was embarrassed to go to mass.  I was embarrassed to love Jesus and the Eucharist.  I was even embarrassed to say, “I’m Catholic.”  In those days, at least for me, being a Catholic at NDSU felt like a lonely proposition.

After I graduated, I was privileged to come back to NDSU as a FOCUS missionary.  As a community we wanted something which united the Catholics on our campus.  Something to let Catholics know they weren’t alone.  But mostly, we wanted to give people an opportunity to think of God, even if for just a moment.  We wanted to be present on campus, but we didn’t want to be obnoxious about it.  So with Fr. Cheney’s help, we got our first batch of bisonCatholic T-shirts.  Things have come a long way since then.

I’m so proud of this generation of bisonCatholics.  The campus felt like foreign territory when I was a student, and the Newman Center was the last holdout where I could escape after a tough day.   Now, the Newman feels like home, and the campus doesn’t feel like an enemy encampment, but a field ripe for evangelization.   Here we are, almost 8 years later, and bisonCatholics are everywhere.  A freshman can walk on to campus and say, “I’m Catholic” and not be alone.

Others are noticing too.  When a Catholic, a Baptist, an atheist, or anyone else sees one of these shirts they know there is someplace to go if they want to practice the faith.  They realize that their friends are people who take God seriously, but still live normal lives.  Whether they agree with the Church or not, they are confronted with the reality of a Christian trying to live well.

That doesn’t mean we don’t have room to grow, though.   How seriously do you take the words of Jesus, “Everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.” (Jn 13:35)  Are you caring for the elderly?  Are you treating others with dignity and respect?  Are you giving to the poor?  Are you serving your fellow students?   Are you treating non-believers with love?  A T-shirt is a good place to start, but the impact isn’t the shirt, it’s the person wearing it.

When you are parodied, it means you’re making a difference.  So if you start seeing Bison Atheist shirts on campus, don’t be angry, don’t be disappointed, be thankful

- Tim Olson