Wednesday, August 23 seemed an ordinary day in OUSA Clubs and Socs. Until the lights went out, mysterious figures emerged from the shadows, and a variety of sacrificial snacks were put on display. Yes, you’ve guessed correctly: the Society of Religious Studies Enthusiasts (SORSE) sat down for their first meeting - a viewing party of Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird. Probably not the first choice of your high school RST teacher, but they had reasons.
With a successful movie night and a whopping 24 Facebook group members under the belt, SORSE has begun to establish itself as a confident member of OUSA’s panoply (it’s a word) of clubs and societies. That is, until Critic Te Ārohi got a whiff of scandal: rather than getting “stuck behind the legality,” said the group’s co-founder Hannah, SORSE decided to go AWOL and start their society outside the watchful gaze of OUSA.
Naturally, this leads to the question: will we have a quasi-church vs state brawl on our hands?
In response to murmurs, Hannah came out publicly, telling members, “There’s still a lot of room and time for what SORSE becomes to be discussed or decided.” Additionally, SORSE and the Religious Studies Department is expressly guided by an acceptance of all beliefs, choosing to focus on the analytical study of religion as a sociological phenomena. To this degree, SORSE’s cultish behaviour appears even more bizarre.
To reckon with the justice of this issue, we got in contact with Keegan Wells, OUSA’s Postgraduate Rep and “proud graduate of a Religious Studies minor.” Despite this affiliation to the department, Keegan was shocked upon hearing the news of the religious studies students gone rogue. Controversially, she stated, “I think whenever these small departments hang out with each other outside their already small classes, it’s just a big circle jerk really.”
Keegan went on to say that she simply could not “condone being affiliated to OUSA,” questioning if “the religious studies kids are too afraid,” to reach out. Taking the side of the students, Keegan mused that the group's independence was “a perfect metaphor for not accepting a pansophical overlord just as they do every day in their studies.” Proving the Religious Studies grindset does not stop.
Furthering her critique, Keegan argued that isolation “reinforces the astigmatism around religious studies that everyone is religious when the opposite is true.” Keegan’s solution for this stigma and fear fostered within the group was simple, “They need to bow down to their OUSA overlords.” Hannah did admit to Critic Te Ārohi that there were plans to “chip away at the OUSA affiliation stuff on the side,” so maybe we will see SORSE bow down to their masters after all.
Though the foundational meeting only garnered an audience of five or six, the sheer amount of snacks on offer showed that SORSE means business in future, having already secured backing from the University’s Religious Studies Department to go ahead with brewing plans. The group plans to open itself up to more religious studies themed movies, quiz nights, and even panels from students and lecturers on specific topics close to the hearts of many.
Check SORSE out on Facebook. If you’re interested they may let you in (especially if you can write a constitution).