Going to a religious university is intimidating to say the least.

I am a Christian, I love to sing worship songs and go to church, but at the same time I feel uncomfortable because rather my faith may be the same to my peers, my social and political beliefs are not.

I remember last semester we had to go into groups and side with a topic that was presented to us. One of the topics was about gun control and immediately everyone in my group started talking about how they hated gun control and how they don't see the point in it. A few negative references about Obama came out when we talked about it as a class, but almost everyone said they didn't want gun control when I felt like I was the only one for it but didn't feel like I could speak up for myself because of the negative attitudes of others around me.

I'm not here to shove my beliefs down ones throats because I am not sure where I exactly side on the political end because I have seen the benefits and reasoning's on both ends. I am here to talk about how it felt thinking that I was wrong for my beliefs.

The topic of homosexuality and abortion seem to be the two topics that never want to be talked about because of a religious interference. People need to realize that there are reasons why people think gay marriage is okay or that abortion isn't.

Just because you are a Christian does not mean that you are assigned to a political party.

People come to college with a wide set of diversity and struggles at home. People are shaped by the environment around them so it would make sense that people who don't want gun control are because they grew up around guns or not violence, or people who have gay friends and family think that it's okay for them to get married and to adopt.

Whether you agree with it or not, you should respect and love the person. Arguing and trying to prove why you're right all the time will not solve anything. I want to be able to go to a place where I feel like I can talk about my beliefs and values without being afraid because everyone in a room will think I'm wrong for believing the things that I do.

I am a relator, so for me to understand and not judge someone on why they believe something is natural and easy to me, but I feel like we need to bring awareness as we go into this election because politics are always hard to talk about with others, but to be able to have a respectful environment where you can not worry that you're going to get eye rolls when you share your opinion can really make a difference.