By NATHANAEL JOHNS/Montana State News
Christianity was up for debate Tuesday night as MSU philosophy professor David Maxfield and MIT nuclear science and engineering professor Ian Hutchinson discussed arguments both for and against Christianity during the Veritas Forum event entitled “Our Place in the Universe.”
Maxfield argued the case for secular humanism, and Hutchinson gave reasons why he thought there was legitimate evidence to support Christianity. Greg Valeriano, who is also an MSU professor in philosophy, moderated the discussion.
The audience was asked at the event to fill out surveys inquiring whether they were students at the university and what their beliefs were. Hedge said that 800 attendees were involved in some way at MSU, and 70 percent identified as Christian and 30 percent had other religious beliefs. According to the PEW Research Center, this reflects the general religious demography of the U.S.