“Man vs. God” was the cover page story for the Sept. 12 Weekend Edition of The Wall Street Journal. The views of Richard Dawkins, a British evolutionary biologist, were pitted against the views of Karen Armstrong, a British theologian and religious scholar. The debate was a face-off about “evolution, science and the role of religion.”

This year, I would like to commend the ASU community for engaging in intellectual diversity by having its own “Man vs. God” exposé. It will be a debate where students at ASU will witness a setting sun on the indoctrination so often prevalent in the classroom and will in turn, witness a dawn of true education — discussion, debate, and deep thought — a feature too scarce on university campuses.

However, ASU’s “Man vs. God” debate on “evolution, science and the role of religion” is two-fold.

The first presentation of views at ASU has been given two consecutive years in a row (March 2008 and April 2009) by Richard Dawkins, author of “The Selfish Gene” and “The Blind Watchmaker.”

The second presentation will be delivered by Ravi Zacharias, an acclaimed Christian apologist, founder of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and author of “The Real Face of Atheism” and “Jesus Among Other Gods.” The event will be an open forum on Wednesday Oct. 28.

Already students are proud of ASU for hosting two speakers within one year with such opposing views.

Having attended Dawkins’ first lecture, mechanical engineering junior Susanna Young believes that the Zacharias event will give credence to ASU’s claim for academic diversity. Young is an honors student who was among a handful of students recognized by Dawkins after his presentation about “The God Delusion.”

“It was important for Dawkins to present one side of the [argument] … but because intellectual diversity gives students the opportunity to think critically … I am pleased that there has been and will be forums where both Christians and skeptics will be challenged,” Young said.

Challenging the skeptic is exactly what Zacharias aims to do, according to his Web site. His biography shows he has already vocalized this challenge internationally.

Interestingly, in response to Dawkins’ quip, “Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence,” Zacharias will answer the timely question, “Is Faith Delusional?” for the ASU community.

In his book, “The End of Reason: A Response to New Atheists,” Zacharias said atheists such as Dawkins are “calling for the banishment of all religious belief . . . In return, they promise a world of new hope and unlimited horizons – once [they] have shed this delusion of God.

“I have news for them,” said Zacharias. “News to the contrary. The reality is that the emptiness that results from the loss of the transcendent is stark and devastating, both philosophically and existentially.”

ASU will learn why on Oct. 28. The days of intellectual diversity are here.

Reach Catherine at catherine.e.smith@asu.edu.