The Muslim Students Association sponsored its first Thinkers' Forum, entitled "The Status of Our Freedom: Religious Expression in America," on Thursday, which focused in on religion's role in a secular society.
University Chaplain William Gipson introduced the event's two prominent scholars, Law professor Sarah Gordon and Religious Studies professor Stephen Dunning, to an audience of around 20 students in Logan Hall.
Gordon, author of The Mormon Question: Polygamy and Constitutional Conflict in Nineteenth-Century America, discussed the tense relationship between state and religion.
"The law is very manipulable," Gordon stated as she introduced a constitutional and historical backdrop for the evening's discussion.
She noted the peculiar paradox between the Constitution's Establishment and Free Exercise clauses. The two clauses assure that the government may not establish a religion as its own or "interfere with beliefs and rights to worship and practice religion," Gordon said.
Although the founding fathers devised the two clauses to separate government from religion and vice versa, Gordon notes that in modern society, they are "in tension" with one another.
Explaining this tension, Gordon discussed Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's 1990 decision in a case that outlawed the use of illegal drugs by Native Americans for religious purposes, when he ruled that "religion can be no excuse for violating the law."
Gordon regarded Scalia's ruling as reflective of the "relatively sad state of the law," which limits actions but paradoxically permits unlimited religious beliefs.
The second speaker, Dunning, who is the author of several articles related to religious and secular life in modern society, discussed the need for understanding among conflicting religious beliefs.
"We have profound differences," Dunning said. Although the reconciliation between conflicting religious groups "is a very painful process," Dunning urged that for a peaceful co-existence within a secular society, people must be willing "to learn to live with our deepest differences."
Dunning ended his discussion on an optimistic note.
"We have a spirit as a people to appreciate" the diverse religions around us, he said, adding, however, that society has a "long way to go in making it a reality."
Dunning believes that as long as disputing groups converse with one another, they "can find within [their] own traditions resources to accept others."
College freshman Nathan Lazarus said in response to Gordon's disappointment with Scalia's decision, "I tend to support the government's current position."
College senior Katrina Goyco agreed.
"I support the statement. ... Laws are primarily created to protect society as a whole. Religion enriches life on individual bases."
