Accusation of religious persecution unfounded

Editor,

This letter is in response to Monday’s opinion column “Money, War, and Religion Breed Fascism.”

Arun Ahuja’s column was one of the most offensive things I have read in the Daily Lobo. I respect Ahuja’s interpretation of the capitalist and militaristic influences at UNM. Although I do not necessarily agree with them, Ahuja is simply interpreting effects he sees at work at the University.

What I take strong issue with is Ahuja’s allegations of religious favoritism in the hiring practices at UNM and his belief that majority religion is favored over minority religions and atheism.

The idea that religious preference takes precedence in hiring “lower level” staff at UNM is offensive in the extreme. My fiancé is an administrative assistant here at UNM, and it does her a disservice to pass off her hiring as a result of religious like-mindedness rather than the quality of her résumé or interview.

The idea that the staff members at UNM, who perform valuable services to the University, are perpetrating some hostile religious takeover of UNM is absurd in the extreme. Religious displays in office work spaces are expressions of free speech, not attempts to convert the student body.

And I would remind Ahuja that our University is not “government-run,” as he says. The funding that we receive from the government does not represent a majority, or even a plurality, of our funding. If Ahuja is referring to universities in other countries, this should be specified, and UNM should be left out of this generalization.

Ahuja’s rant about religion, and the favoritism it receives on campus, are less than rational and hardly accurate. I have witnessed, mostly on the comment sections of the Daily Lobo, many individuals, both religious and atheist, who believe their fundamental religious rights are being suppressed by the “fascist” administration of UNM.

Personally, I am an atheist, and in four and a half years at UNM I have never felt that the administration or staff was attempting to take away my right to be an atheist by favoring religion.

Ahuja refers in his column to the Catholic Mass at the duck pond, which took place on a Sunday. This is a day that is very inconvenient for converting passers-by on a university. The paranoid individuals on both sides of the religious spectrum who believe they are not allowed to express their religious preferences should have another look at the First Amendment, and stop bothering the rest of us with their delusions.

In closing, I would like to request that the staff of the Daily Lobo choose their guest columnists more selectively in the future.

I recognize that Ahuja’s views do not represent those of the Daily Lobo, but I would hope that a certain level of logic and reasoning would be required to become a columnist.

A guest column should be well thought out and rational. Community members wishing to spew absurd preconceptions should restrict themselves to normal letters to the editor.

Kyle Farris
UNM student