I’m impressed at how off the mark you are Jerry (April 14 letter, “Atheist not fit for religious studies”).

The job of the religious studies department is not to promote belief in any religion, but rather to study the different religions and spiritual beliefs of the people of the world.

Using your logic, anyone who held any sort of belief about religion would not be able to do a sufficient job, as they would slant the program toward their beliefs, be it Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, or atheistic.

In that respect someone who is agnostic is probably the best choice.

Avalos is not out to prove or disprove anything; his is the role of studying and understanding the different beliefs of the world. Your opinion seems dangerously close to the type of close-mindedness the religious studies department is out to defeat.

To be a good head of the department, one doesn’t need to hold all of the beliefs studied, just an understanding, open-mindedness, and respect for all of the beliefs studied. Avalos appears to be doing just that. His position is no different than someone with an accounting background teaching management classes.

Ross N. Wirth

Alumnus

Chicago, Ill.