Chief Illiniwek

There's a big uproar by some groups at the University of Oregon about the basketball game that's scheduled to be played on Saturday between the Duck men's basketball team and the Illinois Fighting Illini.

Essentially, Illinois' mascot is an Indian chief and some people, mostly university activists, are demanding that it be cancelled.

I admire the fact that people are so concerned about whether something is offensive to another group of people. That's very Christian in principle. It's the type of thing that, politically, liberals tend to emphasize more than conservatives, to their credit. Championing the little guy, the minority.

But in this case, it's ridiculous. There are not even statistics that show that most Native Americans are offended by something like this. In fact, according to this article, Chief Illeniwek is historically honoring and memorializing an indigenous Native American tribe, not disparaging them.