If likeminded individuals want to get together and talk about a common interest, they should be applauded.

My parents did a really cool thing when they raised me: they didn’t force religion down my throat.

What they did is expose me to religion and then gave me the decision as to what I wanted to do with religion. And I commend them for that. They understood that whatever relationship I decided to have with God — if I decided to have one at all — was going to be between God and me.

Not only has it allowed me the freedom to study other religions and make decisions for myself, it has allowed me to be much more open-minded toward other people and their religious beliefs.

Recently, a resident assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire has come under fire for holding Bible study in his room. I understand that he is an employee of the university, but I also understand that he is a resident.

What he chooses to do in his room is his decision. What his friends choose to do in his room are also their decisions. If they want to sit and have a discussion about the Bible, who are we to stop them?

If likeminded individuals want to get together and talk about a common interest, they should be applauded. And I must have missed some sort of memo saying that as a college student, we weren’t supposed to have intelligent conversations with our peers.

UW-EC is suggesting that the Bible study be conducted in common areas. That isn’t going to work. When I lived in the dorms, I would have been upset to be studying in a designated study area and find a Bible study going on.

This goes back to the fact that a person’s relationship with God is their own personal relationship and you shouldn’t subject other people to it. It makes me uncomfortable.

I wouldn’t want to feel as though a Bible study group was trying to expose me to its beliefs, and I wouldn’t want to feel as though my beliefs were going to offend them.

By having privatized study groups, they are able to voice their opinions and share them, without offending or making anyone else uncomfortable. Because what we can see in this issue is that religion makes people uncomfortable.

We should respect that this resident assistant and other individuals have a right to discuss their religious beliefs. I would rather them do it in a dorm room, where the conversation can be beneficial instead of threatening.

There is nothing wrong with the fact that likeminded individuals want to spend time together discussing issues that are important to them. If you and your friends were playing “Halo” together in a dorm room and you found out that by doing so you were offending people, you’d think it was ridiculous.

You are simply spending time with friends doing something you enjoy doing.

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