I am not a religious man. My personal history with religion is a turbulent one, fraught with issues stemming from my distaste for religious institutions and the baggage of their dogma. But spiritual contentment is not reached through a universal path, and so out of a spirit of good faith, I have attempted  to be considerate of the creeds which satisfy other people insofar as my taste would allow.

To that end, I maintain an interest in reading religious texts, researching dissenting points of view and engaging in conversation with proponents of alternative ideologies. Which is why when I was approached by Nathan, a representative who was tabling with students in Anderson for Hamline’s Intervarsity Christian Fellowship chapter, I thought I could develop my knowledge further through close Bible study. I was sure to share my perspective with him, not wanting the group’s members to be surprised and rustled by the presence of an apostate at their meetings. He assured me I was welcome and that the discussions hosted were open to wide-ranging talk and interpretation, so I agreed to attend an introductory meeting.

Time passed, I attended meetings and at first it seemed like an easygoing way to explore Bible passages. But Intervarsity’s problems began to show in  ways that revealed an unfortunate modus operandi.

“Our goal is to be saturated with scripture engagement in every way,” reads the organization description on the Intervarsity website. “We want to form a socially and racially diverse community where hard questions can be explored and lifelong friendships can start….As Christians, we don’t want to ‘huddle’ together in a safe place, but go out and engage the reality of this broken and beautiful planet earth.”

The reality of Intervarsity’s Hamline chapter proves their claimed intentions to be categorically dishonest.

The group’s meetings are organized like so: Bible study group leaders meet with Intervarsity’s Hamline representative every week to discuss the gist of the week’s designated passage, and what interpretation ought to be extracted from the passage in the small group meetings. Of course, this leaves little room for more liberal interpretations of the text, like, say, examining gendered language, or the reinforcement of hierarchical structures through various stories or parables.

I learned about this process from the leader of my group, Alex Lessard, with whom, incidentally, I developed a romantic relationship. When the group’s leadership found out Lessard was dating me, a heathen, they gave her an ultimatum: step down as a Bible study leader, or end our relationship and keep her post. In the end, we had the last laugh (we’ve been dating for nine months now), but their crude dismissal of our relationship was enough to put Lessard off from the group for good.

Lessard and I are not the only members that have been harassed out of membership because of romantic relationships that were not tolerated by Intervarsity. Gabby Dodd, a sophomore, joined Intervarsity during spring term of 2017 with the goal of exploring her faith. Having had a positive first impression, she decided to try her hand at being Bible study leader. But upon attending a retreat for leadership training, she found their teachings were not what she expected.

“As I was trying to learn how to be a leader, the training was more about shoving Intervarsity’s views down everyone’s throats and it felt almost cult-like,” said Dodd.

Upon returning, Dodd had to meet with an Intervarsity representative to discuss whether or not her character was a good fit for Bible study leadership.

“When I told him that I was getting married to someone in the military, he snickered at me and proceeded to tell me that what I was doing was wrong in the eyes of God because of how young I was, and that we weren’t going to be living together,” said Dodd. “He then proceeded to tell me, as if he was my father, that I wasn’t allowed to marry my fiancé because it would be sinful, because I’m not there to support him….I asked him, what about me, isn’t my husband supposed to also be there for me and such, he told me no, that it is a wife’s job, according to the Bible, that the wife is supposed to be there for her husband and take care of him.”

Needless to say, Dodd is no longer involved with the group.

The content of discussions should not be dictated by actors from outside the Hamline culture. Morality should certainly not be dictated either. Groups such as Intervarsity, that are not of the school and advocate for regressive social codes at the expense of their members, should be discouraged from engaging with the student body. In their place, I would like to see a Bible study group developed solely by students, free of ideological machinations that peddle reactionary social norms ripped from 1950s Christian America.

Intervarsity, at least in its Hamline iteration, is evangelical propaganda disguised as a forum for inclusive discussion of faith and scripture, and it should be known as such.