Prof. Avila
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Wow! That's a great read. I love that Chizik is not afraid to profess his Christian faith. I can see that Chizik truly cares about his players on and off the field.
I don't see how an opinion with good grammar and structure is a horrible read. Now you many not agree with him or his opinion... but come on... a horrible read?! That seems narrow minded doesn't it?
It behooves you to read from minds that differ from your own. You might not agree with the what you read, but it will sharpen your mind along with your argument.
Deace is more about pop culture than anything else. You state that he should stick with sports ... well in my opinion he has more to offer than his outtake on sports (aside from his Christian beliefs). No pun intended, but Deace is well rounded in many things from his generation and knowledgeable in each.
While I believe you have fiery typing fingers and post before you process, I would enjoy reading your argument against Deace and this article.
- keep.
Whether you agree with his positions or not, Deace is a skilled writer who obviously puts a lot of thought into his articles. I'd never read anything by him before today; I read this one and a few others, and am very impressed with his style.
Unfortunately, Steve lays out quite well the case for why there shouldn't be chaplain on staff with a public university football program.
Repeatedly laying out the Judeo-Christian values that Coach Chizik has. "this is what (our version) of the creator believes", so on and so forth.
What if some X% of the players or staff don't share those same values, Steve? Is this chaplain going to accomodate players of no-faith, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, etc? (I would wager such a person would do their best to do so) Establishing again and again that from Deace's view, this is a one sided fight doesn't lend itself well to an institution that is supposed to give at least the illusion that it isn't taking a side.
Now, fwiw, I don't care one bit about this. It's privately funded and optional to the players (I would think). I don't know the religous makeup of the team, but I would think this individual could be of use to a large majority of the team, should they wish to employ that help. On the otherhand, again it smacks of one-sidedness and could alienate some on the team and/or staff. What more, we've managed just fine without it for about 100 years now. And if a player is so desperate for religous help, aren't there about a dozen churches on Lincoln Way in front of campus. If nothing else, I find it rather unnecessary.
But again, it doesn't bother me that there would be one. Of course, I'm Christian - so it probably wouldn't.
Oh, Prof. Avila - get a little more of a life.
Repeatedly laying out the Judeo-Christian values that Coach Chizik has. "this is what (our version) of the creator believes", so on and so forth.
What if some X% of the players or staff don't share those same values, Steve? Is this chaplain going to accomodate players of no-faith, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, etc? (I would wager such a person would do their best to do so) Establishing again and again that from Deace's view, this is a one sided fight doesn't lend itself well to an institution that is supposed to give at least the illusion that it isn't taking a side.
Now, fwiw, I don't care one bit about this. It's privately funded and optional to the players (I would think). I don't know the religous makeup of the team, but I would think this individual could be of use to a large majority of the team, should they wish to employ that help. On the otherhand, again it smacks of one-sidedness and could alienate some on the team and/or staff. What more, we've managed just fine without it for about 100 years now. And if a player is so desperate for religous help, aren't there about a dozen churches on Lincoln Way in front of campus. If nothing else, I find it rather unnecessary.
But again, it doesn't bother me that there would be one. Of course, I'm Christian - so it probably wouldn't.
Oh, Prof. Avila - get a little more of a life.
That's an interesting rebuttal to his commentary. You must've put a lot of thought into that. And, by the way, Deace doesn't do sports anymore (other than the CycloneNation stuff). He does a social commentary talk show on WHO now, talking about issues just like these.
Its Avalos btw, not Avila. That said, that was one of the worst things I've ever read. It was nothing but strawmen and ad-hominem attacks. Does anyone actually still have respect for Deace? He is a more arrogant and less intelligent version of Rush.
No. It was really that bad. It was arrogant and preachy, uninformed, and poorly reasoned.
I know this wasn't directed at me, but I would be happy to. See my next post.
Is that possible? :wink0st:
Every now and then, I go channel surfing on the radio and catch Rush's show - caught the last 10 minutes of it last Friday in fact. Boy, oh boy - that guy is NUTS!
How is it that talk radio - political talk radio especially - is at such extreme ends of the political spectrum? A couple weeks ago, I was heading across the state and listen to Michael Savage for a little while (had to, it was like a train-wreak). That guy needs to be committed. Sean Hannity? Al Franken when he was still on? All the guys are about as far left or right as you can get.
Any tweeners out there?
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I thought it was a great read and pretty much agree with all he wrote. And having an "angry athiest" teach religion? Who was dumb enough to put that in place?
I still maintain that if a student athlete has problems and needs to have a discussion with a clergy member there are plenty of religious places they can go in the Ames Community without having a hired person on the football staff.
Plus while Pastor Staff was only a volunteer he was a very good asset to the team.
I have no problem with people who are religious (I am Catholic), but I can't stand it when people try to push their religious beliefs onto others who believe different.
Plus while Pastor Staff was only a volunteer he was a very good asset to the team.
I have no problem with people who are religious (I am Catholic), but I can't stand it when people try to push their religious beliefs onto others who believe different.
I'm not actually going to get into another religious debate here, but this guy needs to do a little research. Islam does not bastardize Christ. In fact, Mohommed and a lot of Arabs were in awe of the fact that both Jews and Christians had these prophets coming down to talk to their people. Mohommed, on the founding of Islam, wanted to follow a lot of what was going on in the jewish and Christian religions. He wanted a better life for his people, and his religion was a way to accomplish that goal. The current fundamentalist Islamic people may 'bastardize' Christ, but as a whole the religion does not. The religion was meant to be peaceful.
'Team Advisor' or some other non-partisan title could have avoided this whole issue. If a player needs 'life skills' advice, this position could deliver that. If he needs spiritual advice, go to your local Religious Organization.
For the record, I took a Religious Studies course in the early 80's. It was a study of various religions, Christianity included, and was presented in a very unbiased way. It was very informative and one the best courses I took while at ISU. I never had a clue as to what Religion the instructor was.
The point here is, Courses on Religion and Courses on Christianity are 2 different things. I'm sure this professor is more than qualified to teach the course I took. When people hear the word Religion, they immediately think of their own belief system and seldom consider someone else's.
I think this Professor chould choose his battles more carefully, however.
For the record, I took a Religious Studies course in the early 80's. It was a study of various religions, Christianity included, and was presented in a very unbiased way. It was very informative and one the best courses I took while at ISU. I never had a clue as to what Religion the instructor was.
The point here is, Courses on Religion and Courses on Christianity are 2 different things. I'm sure this professor is more than qualified to teach the course I took. When people hear the word Religion, they immediately think of their own belief system and seldom consider someone else's.
I think this Professor chould choose his battles more carefully, however.