OPINION

On various occasions over the past few months, I have been mid-bite into a sandwich during my normally peaceful lunch free time when voices from the corner of the student center have risen above the already-noisy room. The raised voices, naturally, belonged to two of my favorite people: Gus Benson and Romberg York. Gus and Romberg are outspoken and opinionated on everything from what goes into their coffee to politics to – in this case—religion. In order to settle their dispute over their religious beliefs(in the hopes of having more peaceful lunches for all of my fellow juniors), I decided to conduct a debate/discussion to get to the bottom of their beliefs. This discussion is meant, in no way, to discriminate against religious, non-religious or some-in-between individuals– but, rather, to understand the root of Gus and Romberg’s beliefs. Enjoy!

 

1. Were you raised religious, non-religious, or somewhere in between? How did this shape your current religious belief?

 

Gus: Religious. I used to always go to church. My parents made me be pretty involved – I was an acolyte and was in a youth group. But I never felt any type of connection to the religion. I think this was partially because my pastor was not interesting and kind of bigoted. After doing more research, I found that I don’t agree with a lot of the aspects of religion.

Romberg:  Religious. Basically, my parents really wanted me to be very devoutly religious. And, I found that I do believe in religion for myself. But, at this point, I have kind of altered my original belief to have a more reformed view than they had originally taught me. 

 

2. Do you believe that religion is fact, belief or neither?

 

Gus: For me, neither. That being said, it is belief for other people. 

Romberg: Belief. It’s not fact because a lot of the Bible is a metaphor.

 

3. What thoughts do you have about each other’s belief system?

 

Gus: I respect having an opinion or belief—I don’t think that religion is bad in any way. However, I think that there are a lot of discrepancies between what religious people believe. I respect Romberg’s ability to believe in her religion— I’m demonstrating that same ability by not believing in religion.

Romberg: In relation to atheism, I don’t understand how the entire world could have just appeared due to a random sequence of events. 

Gus: But it did—science proves this.

Romberg: I can’t wrap my head around that concept, though. I just refuse to believe that this life has no meaning and that there is nothing after death. The whole world works in correlated events. How does that just happen?

Gus: Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t believe in it. I may not understand Quantum Physics, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t real.  Why do you feel the need to give meaning to an arbitrary system of science? I certainly don’t think that it all happened because of one man in the sky. The fact that it is a white man really bothers me, as well.

Romberg: It could be a rainbow-colored woman! It doesn’t matter—God isn’t a human figure, we just assign a body to him. He provides a sense of order to the world. 

Gus: You sound more agnostic than anything.

Romberg: I definitely am shaky on what I believe—like I said, the Bible is a metaphor in a lot of ways. Some days I think Jesus died, and in others I think he’s B.S.

Gus: If you can prove to me that God is real, I have no problem switching my belief. But no one can prove it to me.

Romberg: That’s not the point, though. You know, Gus, I’m going to miss you when I go to Heaven and you’re not there. Just kidding, you can’t be sad in Heaven.

 

 

4. Do you think our society should be more religion-based or less so?

 

Gus: Less—I think there is a good code of conduct that religion establishes, but the separation of church and state is really important. One of the major breeders of injustice in the world is over-devout governments that discriminate against religious minorities. That being said, not all morals come from religion. If we had no religion in the world, there would definitely still be moral people; I think that most laws in our world are just coming up with advantageous concepts to make society as benevolent as possible.

Romberg: Less—I agree with Gus. Religion and politics don’t mix, although religion does establish a good code of conduct for the world.

 

5. Going off of the recent DAF forums, what do you think religion is going to look like in 50 years?

 

Gus: In America and developing countries, I think there will be a much more people who have less faith. Statistically, the Muslim population will grow. I also think religion will become more divisive—if you look at the bipartisan nature of the American political system, it’s becoming more divisive even now. I see a trend between intolerance and the political system in relation to religion.

Romberg: There will be much more people like him (*points to Gus*). I also think the way that we practice religion will change a lot. 

 

6. Any finishing comments?

 

Gus: I don’t really care what people believe, I just think they need to know why they believe it.

Romberg: God’s real – and he has Plans. Haha, see what I did there? Just kidding, I refuse to believe that everything just happened and that our lives have no meaning. For me, religion is that meaning. What is living for an atheist even mean?

Gus: It means trying to make the most out of this life rather than preparing for the next life. All of the time that you spend thinking about God, that’s time that I take to better myself. Buddhist monks devote their entire lives just thinking about one thing – and it consumes their life, and if that’s what makes you happy then go for it. That being said, I’m a lot more happy focusing on music, hiking or academics – something that will uplift me during my life—rather than something that will uplift me after my life.

Romberg: I think religion gives me a sense of security before and after I die. I feel like religion should be your own and you shouldn’t have to live it with other people. To be honest, I hate going to church, I would much rather sit in the woods and read my Bible (*laughs*). I would much rather embrace what God has made, rather than sit in a Church. That’s why I go to camp! All of the beautiful people and scenery helps me to understand and feel God. 

 

So there you have it, folks. Clearly, both Gus and Romberg have a lot of reasons to believe what they do. What interviewing them taught me is that each person has their own beliefs – and we’re not one to judge. My hope is that each of us will take this with us in order to have constructive conversations, while being tolerant towards others’ beliefs that don’t mirror ours. Happy discussing!