Troy University Chancellor Dr Jack Hawkins Jr is in hot water over a holiday message that he sent to the school's students and faculty on December 30.
Dr Hawkins attached a video that asserted the importance of religion, angering the American Atheists.
The video was of Harvard Business School professor Clay Christensen recounting a conversation he had with a Chinese Marxist who was completing a Harvard fellowship.
The Marxist allegedly told Christensen that he only recently realised how critical religion was to the healthy functioning of democracy.
He said that democracy is only successful if people are held accountable to God as well as society. The video ends with a statement from Christensen: "If you take away religion, you can't hire enough police."
Dr Hawkins said the video "speaks to America's greatness and its vulnerability," but at least one person at the Alabama university had a problem with the religious message.
American Atheists President David Silverman wrote an open letter to Hawkins after a University student complained.
Silverman demanded an apology for the video on the grounds that it asserts that "religion, particularly Judeo-Christian beliefs, are necessary to be moral, law-abiding citizens, and implies that those who do not attend church will be anti-democracy and anti-social members of society."
Silverman reported that atheists make up 11 per cent of the state's population, with higher numbers among the college-aged, and condemned Hawkins' message.
On behalf of the student who contacted us, the Alabama members of American Atheists, the thousands of atheists at Troy University, and the hundreds of millions of atheists worldwide who live productive, law-abiding atheists at Troy University, and the hundreds of millions of atheists worldwide who live productive, law-abiding lives without religion, we demand an apology from you for using the public university email system and your lives without religion, we demand an apology from you for using the public university email system and your publicly funded position to disparage atheists and minority religious groups as well as perpetuating the publicly funded position to disparage atheists and minority religious groups as well as perpetuating the discrimination and anti-patriotic sentiment against atheists in the United States."
A statement from the university defended the Chancellor's video, saying it was meant to "spur introspection and encourage thoughtful discussion as we transition from the challenges of 2014 to the opportunities ahead in 2015."
The statement continued:
Troy University is an international university that contributes regularly to the global marketplace of ideas. This message and video were shared to provide the university community with information and insights for healthy consideration and debate about our country's democracy, the role it plays information and insights for healthy consideration and debate about our country's democracy, the role it plays in the world and the challenges America faces going forward."
