As an International Relations major, a
great deal of my courses have been in the Political Science department. In all
the classes I took surrounding political affairs, both international and
domestic, I rarely thought much about the values or motives behind certain
political affiliations/agendas.
However, the “Religion and Politics”
course most of us are taking with Bonita has changed that entirely. Bonita’s
class has opened my mind up completely to searching for deep societal patterns
and examining a person or culture’s narrative rather than simply taking for
granted that two or more parties don’t get along.
This new mindset was put to the test on
Monday when we went to the Legislature, and I sat in on a committee meeting of
particular interest to me. The State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee
was hearing a bill called “Religious Exemptions for Certain Persons”, which was
being disguised as a way to protect clergy in “exercising their religious
freedom” predominately by not performing gay marriages. However, the language
in the bill was so loose and vague that it could have applied to much more than
clergy and could have been used as an instrument in discrimination. Thankfully,
the bill was killed in committee, and will be postponed indefinitely. However,
as we were waiting for the proceedings to begin, Bonita said to me, “It makes
you wonder what his [the senator who introduced the bill] narrative is”. And it
did. Up to that point I had just been upset with the guy, he was just the other
side, my oppressor. But, after Bonita said that, I had to really think about
why someone would write a bill condoning discrimination. What was his
narrative? I definitely don’t have all the answers, but I like to think that
Bonita’s class has certainly opened my mind.
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