The Religious Funding Exemption Bill: I Thought We Were Aggies

Religious persecution and anti-gay as well as phrases similar to those terms were used an innumerous amount of times Wednesday night at the Student Senate meeting which focused on a bill, previously named “GLBT opt-out”, called the Religious Funding Exemption Bill. Do these phrases really describe Aggies? The irony of the controversy of this bill during GLBT awareness week is not lost on me as I even chuckled to myself, but this issue is nothing to laugh about.

This bill would allow an already occurring process that students can go through to ‘opt-out’ of (choose not to pay) any mandatory student fees because of religious beliefs more accessible and feasible. This bill seems to be an attack at the GLBT community because of the process it went through. Opposers of the bill say that it is just a change in jargon but not a change in the principle of the bill. Proponents object, arguing the process is already in place and the bill only makes students more aware of their options as well as constructs an easier process.

Among all the controversy that has spurred from this bill and the decision made, I can guarantee you that the A&M faculty will most likely not take this suggestion from the students. I’m not saying that its wrong or right, I’m just saying that on a high administration level all universities tend to stay toward the safe side. This can be seen most recently by the hastiness of universities in firing big name coaches like Mike Rice as well as Joe Paterno without an in depth thorough investigation in order to clear the schools name from any hint of controversy. Those turned out to be the right decision, but it shows how cautious and ‘safe’ universities want to be.

SO STOP ARGUING!!!

Right now, I’m not here to tell you to stop the logical and informative debates. Right now, I’m not here to tell you to stop defending your prideful American freedom to support or not support something that you feel is morally incorrect. And right now, I’m not here to tell you how to live your life. It seems like y’all are already doing that perfectly fine yourselves. Some of the retaliation is quite frankly pathetic and as much as it pains me I have to say, and this is the first time I’ve had to say, I’m literally embarrassed to be called an Aggie right now. I’m embarrassed almost to the point of tears. Both sides just need to stop acting like immature children fighting over who gets the bigger half (51%) of the sandwich. I’m saying this as a brother to my fellow Aggies and sisters. There are times when I have been out of line and I love when someone tells me that I’m doing things wrong, it’s the utmost profession of love to someone. All of us that are involved have to grow up.

I could give you possible outcomes of this bill, and I strongly debated it before settling against it. All you need to know is there are two things that could happen. First, the bill could be discarded throughout the process. What this means is things would stay exactly the same. Wow! Then all of a sudden we spent all of our time arguing over absolutely nothing. Students who are against the funding could still apply to get their refund and the resource center would still get funded. The second option, Texas A&M administration could accept the students suggestion to make the process more feasible for students. This only puts more work on the administration. They’re not going to let everyone opt out of student fees for religious reasons that are unheard of. We’re college students, come on, be logical. Either way, we’ve wasted at least a week arguing over who gets to be first in line when we’re all going to the same place, it’s childish. It hurts me that I felt the need to explain and express that before I could even get to the meat of the issue.

 ‘We are the AGGIES, the AGGIES are we, true to each other as AGGIES can be’

There are many ways to twist the Aggie core values and traditions to fit what you want, but lets take it all at face value. Honestly, fish camp or midnight yells or bonfire apparently hasn’t been enough for us so let’s start from the beginning. What are the Aggie Core Values? Excellence, Integrity, Leadership, Loyalty, Respect, Selfless Service. That should be all I have to say, but every single one of these ‘core values’ are now being questioned around the world not because of the debate that is going on, but because of the lingo and hatred that is expressed toward each other. Let’s check our views and remember our values when we leave the student senate meeting or after we type the letter to the president or administration. There’s no need to blast opposing views on Facebook posts or to call people foolish names. The last two Core Values: Respect and Selfless Service.

This is my desperate plea while I’m on my begging knees to Aggies everywhere. Remember those down home Texas roots of family and love that we’re supposed to translate to our second family: our Aggie family. Remember the very reason you came to Texas A&M. Children, because that’s how we’ve acted, we’re supposed to be grown men and women. We can talk civilly about our views and opinions, we can let our voices be heard to senate and administration, we can debate and argue informatively and professionally, but what we must avoid is looking like barbaric cavemen because we can’t agree on a lone topic. Those on both sides feel persecuted, but because you feel persecuted doesn’t mean you have to result to inhuman reciprocation. Lastly, I want to softly and gently say that it is only out of true love and respect that we will be able to listen to each other and try to truly understand the other side’s viewpoint. I hope the time comes, sooner rather than later, when I can finally say I’m proud to be an Aggie again. Grow up, God bless and Gig’ em.