Collegiate Times

Virginia Tech, in its mission statement, values "discovery and dissemination of new knowledge" and emphasizes "teaching and learning, research and discovery." Perhaps that's what brought many of us here in the first place, the promise of a university that fosters a sort of marketplace of ideas among its students and faculty.

Tech does a commendable job encouraging us to "invent the future," so please don't take this as a critique of the university. But how much richer could our collegiate experience be if we included the exploration of faith in this process of shaping our future?

Often, there seems to be this invisible boundary that many are unwilling to cross concerning matters of faith, thinking the topic of religion too personal to approach. Our society emphasizes this counterfeit view of tolerance; we must err on the side of silence in order to forgo offending those around us.

But doesn't tolerance actually mean having an interest and respect for the ideas, opinions and practices that are not our own?

This suggestion of interest and respect implies we know the ideas, opinions and practices that are foreign to us. It implies that we seek to comprehend what is unknown or contrary to our own beliefs, realizing the worth in a well-rounded understanding of the world. This understanding is gained through an active pursuit of new knowledge, which is why many of us are attending school in the first place.

So the question becomes this: can we, as students, include discussions of religion and faith in our manifestation of true tolerance and the pursuit of knowledge on our campus?

Yes, as the very mission statement of our university supports it. We are called to teach and learn from one another, researching and discovering new thoughts in community.

A college campus is the perfect environment to wrestle with hard issues, issues of existence and death and meaning. Wouldn't it be refreshing to promote open conversations about questions that extend beyond the academic realm: How did I get here? What is my purpose? What happens after death?

No matter if you are apathetic, atheistic or a committed disciple of one of the many faiths on campus, we can learn a lot from one other. College is the ideal time to take advantage of the opportunity to hear the various answers to the above questions from our peers and friends, to engage in respectful debate with those around us.

Robert Maynard Hutchins, a well-known American educator and advocate of academic liberty, once said: "Freedom of inquiry, freedom of discussion, and freedom of teaching - without these a university cannot exist."

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