3 Famous People Who Majored in Religion 

“What are you going to with that degree?” How about thinking, communicating and solving problems?

In some of John Green's Crash Course history videos he does focus on various religions as a part of history.

I'm totally not famious by any means, but my degree in Religious Studies has gotten me the most incredible job in the world: Director of Faith Connections for Global Vision 2020. Global Vision 2020 is a Charity that, with the help of Oxford, John Hopkins and New England College of Optometry, has invited a way to prescribe and give out prescription eyeglasses to the world's poor for under $3 a pair of eyeglasses. I travel the world teaching religious leaders how to use this invention in schools and medical clinics. I just got back from working in the West Bank and I am soon off to Malawi and Zambia. Religious Studies rocks!

I earned my MA in Theology from Fuller TS in Pasadena, CA...I very seriously considered ministry as a vocation. As it happened, I ended up working in higher education in academic advising. As a professional in higher education I have often advised students that it is more important to major in a discipline that interests them. I spent a lot of time asking myself "What the hell were you thinking!" Yet, in the end, I'm glad I have a degree in Theology.

I hate it when people commoditise education like that - what are you going to do with your degree? As if the study can’t be an end unto itself.

“What are you going to with that degree?” Anything I want, the liberating arts give the student a toolset, not a table of pre-defined answers.

Though Bon Iver is a secular singer himself, he's collaborated with explicitly religious singers, such as the Blind Boys of Alabama. I think a big part of this whole thing is that people tend to approach college from two different, often contradictory viewpoints: what will spur growth and fulfillment as a person, and what will help to secure a lucrative future job. They're both valid goals that higher education can serve, and society pushes people towards both goals in various ways, but the enormous (and, I would say, unreasonable and unnecessary) cost of higher education in this country remains the same either way. So before you graduate, it's "study what speaks to you, explore your options," while afterward it becomes "you fool, you've wasted your money and time on a 'useless' degree!" The problem, in my mind, is not with this or that degree, but with the fundamental way in which the United States approaches higher education.

I graduated in august with a degree in religious studies :) thankful for this channel because I miss my classes (even tho college was tough overall lol)

Stephen Colbert has an Irish Catholic back ground from Limerick, is a Sunday school teacher and a philosophy major. It is a part of why he's interested in interviewing people with religious majors....he's a bit of a personal hero of mine, and why sometimes, when he jokes about God on the Colbert Show in the past, he's been seen to jokingly do an aside to mime (God forgive me for making fun using you!).

greetings thank you so much for your channel

love this series

I got a BA in religious studies , and I get a lot of interviews it seems mainly so people can ask me why I got that and pick my brain

I know this is off-topic, but can you make a video about the extinct Persian religion called Manichaeism. The religion sounds very similar to the early Christian Gnostic teachings and Saint Augustine of Hippo was originally a Manichaen, so it could have influenced Christianity a lot. it would be great to cover this topic since it's not really spoken about. Love this channel btw :D

Never heard of these other people but I absolutely love John Green and his brother and RU-vid thing crash course!!

I have a bachelors degree in Religion Science, and Im afraid there is little in the way of jobs in this field (as I am not a theologist, but holds the scientific outside in view). But, it have helped me develop as a person and understand the world better, as well as given me insights that are very valuable when wrighting a story.

I think everyone should learn about religions, anthropology and philosophy and always be humble when talking and engaging in conversations. Your videos rock and also crash curse haha I would love to see you in some of their curses 😊

You can always watch cc mythology while you wait

BA in religion/psych from Univ. of Hawaii (while living in Buddhist monastic environments). Psych was an afterthought to make sure I would have something to "fall back" on. Recently retired after 40 years as a psychologist, but my religious education taught me to care for others who are suffering with an open heart and an abundance of compassion.

I have the particular experience of not just having attended the same university as Justin Vernon, the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, and not just attended at the same time as Vernon, but I happened to hang around in a social group that, at the time, was made up mostly of philosophy and religious studies students. I didn't know Justin himself but his first band, Mount Vernon, was a UWEC fixture at the time. UW Eau Claire's religious studies program at the time (and likely still) was quite robust. They even had some good undergrad courses on textual criticism of the Bible and early Christian texts. I gained a lot of my knowledge and interest in the topic from my time there, though I studied mostly unrelated fields. Most of my friends in the program have done just fine for themselves, financially, though I don't grill them about their finances. Only two remained in the field. One became an ELCA minister (I know, devotional, but still) and one I haven't kept up with but I believe he's still working in a related field. The rest became teachers, nurses, sales people, etc. None, to my knowledge are unemployed or in poverty.

There are quite a few others who are not as prominent. Filmmaker/director is Marshall Curry was a Religious Studies major. One of the former religion majors at my college is now a talking head on Fox News! But why do you think these people gravitate to entertainment fields? I just don't see the connection between the choice of major and their careers. You really need to make this clear if you are building a case for "why" students might choose Religion. It seems pretty random, and as a teacher, I can't sell this to my students as a "useful" degree. Great site, btw, subscribed

I got my MA in Religious Studies from Indiana University, Bloomington in 1988. they started their PhD program around that time. of course they also have undergrad degree in Religion. IU has a rather extensive program in RS more well rounded than many schools I looked at, especially for a more affordable state university. I found most RS programs are more heavy on judo - christian courses. state schools tend to be more evenly balanced. of course, that was 30 years ago. not sure how they have changed (for the better) today. but I would still recommend IU for Religious Studied degree (or music or folklore).

I picked up a minor in Religion while I was studying Psychology. my goal at the time was to become a school psychologist, and people in that field told me that doing something in religion would help me get a job in the field. this is because where live - in Quebec - the school systems were run by the catholic church until the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s, at which point the provincial government took over and quickly got rid all the priests and nuns who had been teaching. however, the ones in counseling roles were kept on, and apparently many schools today still like their counselors to have a religious studies background as a result. it probably also helps that the city I live in (Montreal) is becoming increasingly diverse, and it would be good to have people educated in these kinds of matters. I had great teachers and absolutely loved the field (much more than Psych) and I already had a Master's in History, so the skills transferred. I ended up not going down that path, but I am so glad I did that minor.

As well as Win Butler (the singer for the band, 'Arcade Fire'). Listen to their songs 'Joan of Arc' or 'Afterlife' and you will see the obvious influence of his degree.

This is just the average university department "choose this course" spiel. Sure, you got me interested. I'm ever so slightly tempted, BUT no, I can't be bothered to change. Maybe an elective sometime?

Win Butler, the lead singer of Arcade Fire, majored I’m Religious Studies. They have a lot of great music with religious themes, like (Antichrist Television Blues) and Afterlife.

theres also Win Butler (Singer of Arcade Fire)

I think the Archbishop of Canterbury may have studied religion as well, and he's pretty famous. Heard he leads a giant religious sect and pals around with a Queen, or something like that.

I second you teaching religion

I get this question all the fricken time ahahaha I hope to be a teacher someday - maybe even on youtube !! hah - but I feel worse for my colleagues who don't know what they are doing with the degree ---but it doesn't matter cause whatever they do -They will ROCK

Well I've long wanted to get a degree in this subject. But, I'm not good at learning foreign languages, and it gives me anxiety.

I have a Master's degree in Humanities, majoring in Religion as comparative studies, and yes, it's just about as useful as "underwater basket weaving." But it you ever need a basket, don't forget to soak your reeds before you try to weave them. It helps a lot. Just saying, not sure if it helps to weave your religion that way.

hahaha, I love your shameless promotion! ;)

Haha as a Political Science major those first 30 seconds were 110 % truth

I majored in Biblical Studies, so I say I got a B.A. in B.S... Hermeneutics (the study of interpretation) I thought was very helpful as it can be applied to just about anything.

I've studied religious studies. I am working in the same field and I am proud of it. : )

Become famous for something completely different seems to be the key

This aged well, you're quite famous now I would say

Rashida Jones is also Angie Tribeca!

Don't knock underwater basket weaving, it imparts useful practical knowledge that could potentially save your life!

Interesting, but not everybody gets famous. I know when I visited a study information talk of a university the computer science professor pitched in his talk just the great opportunities you had after studying computer science while the philosophy professor exclusively talked about the content of the study and when asked what you can actually do with the degree he just knew that philosophers weren’t much less unemployed like people with other degrees. But he couldn’t really answer what you can do with it. I studied CS then, but maybe you want to do a video about job perspective of religious studies

Bon Iver's new album due out at the end of this month seems set to be pretty influenced by this thought

Not sure this helps your case: an actress, a musician and an author/internet entrepreneur. You don’t need a college degree to be any of those things, and it’s doubtful that the three people you mention couldn’t have done what they’ve done without religious studies.

My mis-hearing: Bonnie Bear? Holocene....Bon Iver! (Yeah I knew that...)

Just checked crash course and they still don't have a religion series specifically. Really weird, perhaps they're playing it safe and shying away from any potential controversy. You'd be perfect for that series though if they decide on making one.

Nathan W Pyle is not that famous but he is considered the Supreme Being by the fans of his Strange Planet comics and his job is to do comics but he studied religion in college.

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Have you any studies of Native American religions?

Does underwater basket weaving have a BSc level study? 😱 I thought this is only boot camp exercise for Navy SEAL? 😄

Just the discipline it takes to degree in Religious studies is enough to make you successful in life! That's why the twelve were called Disciple's.Well, mostly...

Sadly, I'd have to say it's a useless degree if you're someone that comes from a working class background. If yo' daddy's rich, by all means indulge.

Bon Iver is totally a religion major. I believe it does reflect it's studies

Now rashida Jones as a slight advantage as her father is QUINCY ACTUAL JONES

Rashida Jones is awesome!

You know, That is the most hilarious video I saw so far about religion without any humiliation.

Unrelated question. So, are you guys just going to talk about christian topics with a few generic religious studies things thrown in, or are we going to get some topics talking about non-christian religions as well?

Underwater basket weaving, the old way of saying "lesbian dance theory". LOL

Are you RELIGIOUS?

Moshe Kasher

Nothing is completely useless. You have to teach your replacements after all.

I think religion is a great thing to study especially if you are going to be in the field of worship arts as a worship leader at your local church

James Comey. Shane Battier.

I can assure that religious studies did not get these people to their carreers. Other skills and education did that. Millions of successful people in similar vocations didn't study religion at all. Religious studies had fuck all to do with their carreers. Stop trying to establish cause and effect where it doesn't exist. Also you need to understand that some people hate religion or get bored by it and want as little to do with religion as possible. If I forced you to study something you disliked would you be interested? No you'd be pissed off. You seem to have this single minded fixation on religion (I don't know why) as if everybody else should give a shit about the things you do. You need to realize that not everybody else is interested in what you are and would much rather spend their time doing something else far more practical.

John Green is such a despicable man.

There is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion. It may be defined as a cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, world views, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that claims to relate humanity to supernatural, transcendental, or spiritual elements. Different religions may (or may not) contain various elements, ranging from the divine, sacred things, faith, a supernatural being (or supernatural beings), or "some sort of ultimacy and transcendence that will provide norms and power for the rest of life". Religious practices may include rituals, sermons, commemoration or veneration (of deities), sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trances, initiations, funerary services, matrimonial services, meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, public service, or other aspects of human culture. Religions have sacred histories and narratives (which may be preserved in sacred scriptures), and symbols and holy places, that aim (mostly) to give a meaning to life. Religions may contain symbolic stories, which are sometimes said by followers to be true, that have the side purpose of explaining the origin of life, the universe, and other things. Traditionally, faith, in addition to reason, has been considered a source of religious beliefs. There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide, but about 84% of the world's population is affiliated with one of the five largest religions, namely Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or forms of folk religion. The religiously unaffiliated demographic includes those who do not identify with any particular religion, atheists and agnostics. While the religiously unaffiliated have grown globally, many of the religiously unaffiliated still have various religious beliefs. The study of religion encompasses a wide variety of academic disciplines, including theology, comparative religion and social scientific studies. Theories of religion offer various explanations for the origins and workings of religion.

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