Every once in a while, a student at Iowa State, or any other collegiate institution across the United States, encounters a group of local evangelical Christians in the free-speech zone in front of Parks Library, especially when it’s warm outside. Religious conviction shines when it’s sunny and 75.

They preach fire and brimstone, Darwin is Satan’s good friend, evolution is a bunch of mumbo jumbo and “repent” now or face God’s wrath – you’re going to hell. However, it should be understood that these preachers of their particular belief system are not physically threatening. They are just expressing their First Amendment right to share and practice their faith in the public square, and for the rest of us, it is entertainment on a nice, sunny day. But recently on the University of Connecticut campus, a group of evangelical Christians were confronted by James S. Boster, professor of anthropology and free-speech advocate

James S. Boster, who has a B.A. in anthropology from Harvard University, an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and extensive knowledge in human evolution and human cultural understanding, not including the extensive journal publications and research experience he has amassed over the past three and half decades, entered the free-speech zone on a sunny day on the University of Connecticut campus and confronted the religious group in a boastful and unbecoming manner. He hurled imprecations, swearing and insults during the verbal altercation, and even at a couple of instances during the exchange, he made contact with one of the religious flock. To put this into perspective, imagine if Chester Cheetah went crazy.

Yes, that’s correct. Anthropology professors are the Chester Cheetahs of academia. They are the cool cats with the shades. There isn’t another group of professors on campus that understand human dynamics more than anthropology professors, hence, the very definition of anthropology – the study of humankind. These are the professionals that study the totality of human evolution ranging as far back as 10 million years ago. The professionals understand that human civilizations come and go. They understand that human languages come and go. They understand that human religions come and go.

In fact, and to expound on religion, anthropology has an undergraduate course that teaches students about religion, magic and witchcraft. The course teaches students about the traditional religions of humanity like the various forms of witchcraft and shamanism. A student learns that these ancient religions existed for thousands of years before modern times and have influenced the modern Abrahamic religions. Thus, anthropologists are extremely knowledgeable in comparative religious studies and have a great understanding of the more than 10,000 religions that have existed in all of human history – Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, the various shamanistic religions of ancient south America and Africa, etc.

To be clear, Americans experience taboos about other less understood religions, like Wicca. Of course, other human cultures experience religious taboos as well. This is a human phenomenon and Americans are not special in this sense. But anthropologists have the academic and technical training to interact with different religions. In a sense, they exist beyond taboos and have embedded themselves in the rituals and daily activities of many of humanity’s oldest and most interesting cultures for more than a century.

For example, Napoleon Chagnon, an American anthropologist and professor of anthropology at the University of Missouri, lived with and studied the Yanomamo of Brazil and Venezuela for more than 3 decades. His research and his writings are quite famous and although controversial, have influenced a generation of anthropologists and their understanding of an ancient but yet, beautiful world. So there is no excuse for an anthropologist to lose his temper while in the presence of a religious group or act.

It is important to understand what happened. A group of evangelical Christians were sharing their faith and an anthropology professor became enraged and embarrassed himself, his university and his discipline. He also lacked understanding of the greater issue. American, scientific policy is under attack. But it isn’t under attack by those free-speech zone bible-thumpers. It is under attack from a more powerful and nefarious network and that network is consisted of dominionists – fundamentalist Christians who endeavor to turn the United States into a Christian theocracy.

Dominionists exist at the local, state and federal government levels. They are the ones who wish to deprive our American brothers and sisters of their right to marry. They wish to deprive our American sisters of the right to choose, and they wish to deprive our American children of a scientific education, absent of biology and natural history. They have no need for a free-speech zone; whereas, the people in the free-speech zone have no political power. So keep your cool, Chester.