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Even The Babylon Bee Couldn't Make Up Who Harvard Just Chose for Its Chief Chaplain

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  September 01, 2021 10:45 AM

Some stories would make much more sense running on a satirical site like The Babylon Bee, but in the case of Harvard's naming of a new chaplain, it's sadly reality. 

As a standard-bearer of wokeness in higher education, the school's "organization of chaplains has elected as its next president an atheist," reports The New York Times, noting later that the election was unanimous. 

Greg Epstein, author of "Good Without God," begins next week. 

Epstein, the Times acknowledges, "is a seemingly unusual choice for the role. He will coordinate the activities of more than 40 university chaplains, who lead the Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and other religious communities on campus." 

The new chaplain, you see, is much more interested in teaching students about progressivism "that centers people's relationships with one another" rather than focusing on God.

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"Maybe in a more conservative university climate there might be a question like 'What the heck are they doing at Harvard, having a humanist be the president of the chaplains?'" Margit Hammerstrom, the Christian Science chaplain at Harvard, told the Times. "But in this environment it works. Greg is known for wanting to keep lines of communication open between different faiths." 

Indeed, the "spiritual" environment at Harvard is reflective of the growing trend of people identifying as non-religious, according to Pew Research Center. "More than 20 percent of the country identifies as atheist, agnostic or nonreligious — called the 'nones' — including four in 10 millennials," according to Pew, reports the Times.

Former NFL star Benjamin Watson called Epstein's rhetoric "dangerous."

Others mocked the move on social media.