Religion is one of the most important aspects of my life. I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.

I believe that he died on the cross and rose on the third day.

And I believe that he resides in my heart.

Finally, I believe with all sincerity that my beliefs and religious convictions do not, by any means, make me a universal spokesperson for all Christian believers nor the resident expert on all things religious.

With the same fervor with which I have faith in my religion, I also believe that an individual’s opinion on religious topics is not invalidated simply because that person is not a religious scholar or devout Christian, or Jew, or Buddhist or Taoist.

What we print in the Viewpoint Section is not the end-all, be-all in the area of political perspective, or any perspective.

It is simply a representation of the vantage point, insight or opinion of an individual.

This is why the section is appropriately titled Viewpoint.

Our intent is never to print an article and pretend that it is the only opinion.

Rather, our intent is to present perspectives on certain issues and provoke conversation on campus, be it in student classrooms or in the form of letters to the editor.

One thing I can say of Shope’s ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ piece is that it fulfilled that criterion. Some of us disdainfully dissent and others fervently agree, but everyone is expressing their reasons – their viewpoints.

The East Tennessean serves as a public forum – a platform reserved exclusively to express the sentiments of students and the issues that matter to them.

For this reason, I am seeking a contributory piece on this topic because I believe that it is a sensitive issue – one that should be addressed with respect and civility.

My goal is to give someone else an opportunity to shed light on the issue as they see it.

In my opinion, a great deal of political and religious discord stems from experience or the lack thereof.

Some of us were raised as devout Christians, attending church every Sunday and reading the Bible faithfully.

Others were brought up in atheist homes, where they were taught to question religion and decide for themselves which elements they believe and why.

But there is no simulation for life experience.

The Southern Baptist cannot switch upbringings with the atheist.

All we can do, on both sides, is try to understand each other.

And the expected outcome is not that we may all think alike.

But rather that we may be educated and enriched by someone else’s perspective that we may better understand the reasons why we think differently.

Many people take religion to be a personal issue.

And when it is discussed on a public level or in conjunction with political issues, they may take offense and choose to defend their beliefs.

And my hat is off to all of them. It is your hard-won right to hold steadfast to your religion.

Tireless efforts were invested in a document to guarantee and protect that right for you.

But not just for you.

For all American citizens who hold dearly to their right to worship the god that they choose in the way they choose.

And that same document guarantees that government will establish no religion for the people who invoke their Constitutionally-guaranteed right to worship no god at all.

Keep this banter going. Continue to write letters to the editor on this issue and others that come up.

I will continue to read them. I will continue to write articles and editorials.

But in my capacity as an editor or as an American citizen, I will never silence anyone.

For to take away another’s right to express herself freely is, indeed, to forfeit my own.

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