Catholic chair wouldn't force agenda on students

The discussion of whether or not UNM should include a chair of Catholic studies is not a question of church and state -- it is a question of whether or not we believe in educating our students of the world around us. It seems perfectly reasonable to have an academic representation of a predominant religious tradition in our University. Some members of the UNM community have based their opposition to the chair of Catholic studies on personal interactions. I have been trained to believe that personal opinions should be encouraged, but not institutionalized. Those in opposition to the incorporation of a specific religion are violating the very civil liberties they claim to protect. Before the program is even established, people fear its subjective nature, forgetting entirely that we are an educational institution. Do those in opposition to this program really think that the University would support a program that may threaten to proselytize or force an agenda upon its students? How is discrimination against the implementation of a Catholic studies track in the Religious Studies program different from a protest against any other culture-specific study in the University? Our University has entire departments dedicated to African-American Studies, American Studies, Chicano Studies and Native American Studies. Both are forms of discrimination. Why is there such an aversion to Catholic studies? If a person has a negative experience with a Navajo chief, does this mean we should not allow the study of the Navajo tradition in our University? Clearly, we see the influence of American Indian culture in New Mexico. The same goes for Catholicism. Furthermore, Catholic studies is one minor facet in a university program, hardly an entire department. I do not claim to be Catholic. I, too, have found some of the recent events in the church to be inappropriate conduct. However, misconducts do not define an institution, and we should not look to these offenses as an excuse to persecute them. I believe in the objective, social-scientific study of religion, which is why I believe in the value of having a representative from the Catholic Church provide factual information on specific religious traditions and educate our students on an influential social force in contemporary American society.