ISU faculty group attempts to block plan for divine intervention in football program

Cyclone head football coach Gene Chizik has had six months to evaluate his new team and after comparing it to what he had to work with at Texas, has decided what it needs is more help from above. He would like to make a position of team chaplain permanent and pay for it out of private donations. This plan immediately raised the hackles of the institution’s resident anti-God activists who have gathered over 100 signatures on an opposing petition.

Faculty members behind the petition said hiring a chaplain is improper at a public university given the separation between church and state. And they said the move would favor Christianity over other religions.

"Are you going to have counseling for Jewish students? Muslim students? There's no such thing as one religion or one version of Christianity," said Hector Avalos, a professor of religious studies.

Hector Avalos? Where have I heard that name before? Oh, yeah. (Via State 29)

While Iowa State University denied tenure this spring to gifted pro-ID [Intelligent Design] astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez, it turns out that it decided at the same time to promote to full professor outspoken atheist Hector Avalos, religious studies professor and faculty adviser to the ISU Atheist and Agnostic Society. Avalos has led the charge against Gonzalez and intelligent design on ISU's campus, helping to draft a 2005 petition denouncing intelligent design that ultimately was signed by more than 120 ISU faculty.

Just speculating here, because I know there are always two sides, etc. but it appears Dr. Avalos and his happy band of busybodies don’t seem to want any mention of God at the university. That seems an odd point of view for a professor of religious studies. Does ISU have a John Wayne type teaching Gender Studies or an Asian teaching Black Studies? By the same token, Chizik could hire an atheist chaplain and satisfy everybody.

I don’t know much about chaplains for sports teams, but do they really do a lot of proselytizing? Lead a team prayer before the game and give thanks after a victory, I suppose, but mostly I should think a chaplain’s function would be to be a sympathetic and confidential ear for a kid who wants someone to talk to. Doing that and giving some gentle guidance doesn’t strike me as being tied to any particular religion. I’ve heard it said that every religion has some variant on the Golden Rule; even atheists ought to find it applicable.

And finally, whatever happened to the concept that college was supposed to be the home of free and open inquiry where all viewpoints are welcome? I’ll grant that tax dollars shouldn’t be paying the chaplain’s salary, but I don’t see what harm comes to anybody from an occasional exposure to a little religiosity.

And the football team can use all the help it can get.