Melody Cox remembers what her church was like the Sunday after Sept. 11.
“I couldn’t believe how packed it was,” Cox said. “People were standing in the church; that never happens.”
The trend was national. Across the country, students turned to their faith for answers.
The churches are a bit emptier now, Cox said. This trend is also national.
But despite the perception that people have abandoned their faith two years after it carried them through tragedy, many LSU students continue to cope with Sept. 11 by seeking a spiritual answer.
Alana Nichols, a business sophomore, is one of those students. She said that she understands why so many students returned to church after Sept. 11.
“I think a lot of people realized faith is important,” she said.
Nichols said she also thinks people returned because they were afraid.
“When the world is in crisis, people use religion to give them a sense of security,” she said.
Darnell St. Romain, a music sophomore, said he has always found that sense of security in God. He said he understands why people without that security would turn to their faith.
“Something very real and very scary affected us,” he said. “I think people were searching for comfort.”
Bilal Ghosn, a biological engineering graduate student, said his search for comfort was fulfilled through his faith.
“It was a tragedy,” he said. “And it is very difficult to accept.”
Ghosn said as a Muslim, he believes God is in control and all things have a purpose. He said people must seek to understand why things happen to be at peace.
There are other students, like Meghan Hartwell, an international studies sophomore, whose faith played little or no part in helping them understand the tragedy of Sept. 11.
Hartwell said she thinks using faith to cope is understandable because the times were so confusing and people wanted to make sense of it.
“We were all at a loss for answers,” she said. “Personally, my answer wasn’t faith; I found it within myself.”
Hartwell said she thinks people may not be attending church as much now because the tragedy is less immediate and they are less afraid.
David Merrick, a communication studies sophomore, said he wishes students would return to church not because they are afraid, but because they want to be there.
“I want students in church because they realize that life is fragile and that we are not invincible,” he said. “Sept. 11 definitely taught us that.”
Various churches and religious organizations will be focusing on Sept. 11 during their weekly youth meetings this week, including Chi Alpha, the Wesley Foundation and the Baptist Collegiate Ministry. Christ the King will hold a mass for peace today at 6 p.m.