Martin Forward, a professor of religious studies at Aurora University, urged lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender students Tuesday night to keep faith in their religion despite scriptural objections to their lifestyle.

Forward spoke to an audience of more than 20 people at the Holmes Student Center about the importance of understanding different faiths.

“Not to know about religion is to fail to see why Osama bin Laden got his following,” he said. “A lot of people do have the sense that staying in [a religion] matters, that religion matters. It could provide security and a way of being spiritual if people weren’t so damned bigoted.”

Forward addressed whether it is possible to “rescue” religion for people who are LGBT.

“The trouble with religion and homosexuality and other related issues is religion has a very bad press,” he said. “And, largely, that bad press is deserved.”

Forward spoke specifically about Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. He gave examples in each faith of gay-friendly religious communities around the world.

“There are plenty of gay people out there who are wanting to be members of their birth religion or at least wanting some kind of spirituality,” he said.

Forward emphasized his belief in the importance of religion as opposed to individual spiritual development.

“A number of people have decided to be spiritual instead of religious,” he said. “Well, I’m not sure whether you can have a proper spirituality without the deep-seeded roots that religion provides. One of the advantages of religion is that it has roots. It has staying power.”

Transforming and integrating traditions into modern society is the key to making religion work for minorities, Forward said.

“The interesting thing about the Buddha, and Jesus and the prophet Mohammed is, they spent a lot of time saying you must not take the traditional teachings of society for granted,” he said. “You must always question them.”

The audience responded to Forward’s presentation with questions and a debate about the value of organized religion. Some students thought the topic was very important.

“I actually got into an argument with my friend about it. He’s very religious, and I just wanted something to fling back at him,” said freshman nursing major Lindsay Schimpf. “I just wanted to have more of an open mind and see what other people had to say.”

Christo Watson, event organizer and PRISM education coordinator, said the documents that Forward cited will be available on the PRISM Web site at www.geocities.com/niuprism.