Practicing religion on campus

Do you find that you're a little short on faith?  Maybe you've been too busy to attend a church service. Well, you can find all the religion you need on the NEIU campus. However, some proponents of agnosticism, atheism, or some other faction of anti-church sentiment believe that a state-run university campus is not an appropriate place to practice one's personal profession of faith. 

"What happened to the separation between church and state," some wonder. It is merely a matter of principle. Is it okay for there to be various fraternity and sorority groups on campus? Is it fine for the GLBTA to post information on their bulletin board and have bake sales? Then it should be okay for religious groups to be 'out' on campus as well. 

But this is just one way of looking at the situation. There are many people who feel that the religion of others is pushed onto them, and that they shouldn't be subjected to solicitation by religious groups. The whole purpose of most religious people is to spread the word of God and lead more people into salvation. So, what would they do if they were banned from the particular practice of recruiting? 

Over the centuries, civilizations have been governed in various ways. Many of the ways included giving the church power and authority over the laws and the people. Many times, those laws were directly from the church and the philosophies of a particular religion. Eventually, leaders thought it necessary to separate the church's influence from the power of the government, introducing the concept of the separation of church and state.

In 1773, prominent Baptist minister Rev. Isaac Backus stated, "church and state are separate, the effects are happy, and they do not at all interfere with each other: but where they have been confounded together, no tongue nor pen can fully describe the mischiefs that have ensued." This sentiment describes the centuries of mishaps due to the church's influence on government. The reason this doesn't work is because there are a plethora of differences in opinion among the constituents of a government. To attempt to make everyone think the same way is virtually impossible. You upset your constituents when you force them into being or thinking a certain way. But this isn't the government and no one is attempting to make robots of the NEIU population.

Should we force peaceful, law abiding groups into hiding? It would be ridiculous to do so. For a student body that consistently galvanizes for peace and justice, that would be completely contradictory. I am a firm believer in allowing people to be who they want to be. As an agnostic, I feel that it would be hypocritical to think otherwise. Free speech is free speech - allowing religious groups the rights to attempt to convince people that their way is the right way is exactly the type of campus we all strive to preserve. Just like in other political and societal arenas today, we must consider that to ban the freedom of religious expression is akin to banning the expression of same gender loving groups, or racial pride groups, or Greek life or whatever else might tickle the fancy of our student population. It just isn't healthy or right.