The rhetoric in
this story is a great example of how we interact these days - especially politically:
"'There's free speech, but this isn't free,' said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation. 'This amounts to taxpayer subsidy of worship.'"
Both sides of the argument use extreme positions to state their case:
(US Rep Mark) Green wrote a letter to UW System president Kevin Reilly urging him to investigate policies at other University of Wisconsin campuses and to "rid the UW system of this deplorable mandate."
I believe the majority of people in the state see this not as a "taxpayer subsidy of worship" nor as a "deplorable mandate". The university does not have a policy that requires RA's to teach Bible studies (which would make it a "taxpayer sudsidy"), and it is not saying that the RA cannot teach Bible studies (a "deplorable mandate") - just not in the dorm. It's a close call for me whether or not the RA should be allowed to use a room in the dorm for this group, but as long as the university doesn't make it so onerous that the group would need to relocate completely off-campus, I think they are being fair.
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