Does anyone remember the Salem witch trials with Sarah Good? In the small town of Salem, Mass., everyone feared Satan. The townspeople were afraid the devil was up to no good, and the evil, hellish creature was commanding witches to do harm to the innoccent citizens of the village.

Although the chaos from the Salem witch trials is now about four centuries old, a new witch trial has started down in the good ol’ southern state of Virginia. There’s a new scare in Regent University, the premier Christian graduate university in the country: Students are afraid they might be running into demons.

Thomas M. Diggs, an associate dean at Regent, has already started the hunt — actually, it began a little more than three years ago. Worried that Herbert O. Chadbourne, one of the university’s law students, might be a demon afflicting the other students with his evilness, he gave the graduate student a suspension and ordered him to obtain a satisfactory evaluation from a psychologist.

Chadbourne is a Persian Gulf War veteran who was attending his second year in law school during the fall of 1999. According to an article from The Virginian-Pilot, Chadbourne “had developed a facial tic that he said may have been the result of exposure to chemical or biological agents during the war.”

However, those at Regent became worried. They thought, perhaps, Chadbourne had been possessed by a demon. Therefore, when Chadbourne complained about having belongings stolen, the administration responded by giving Chadbourne a suspension.

Of course, that may be nothing unusual for the university. After all, the university’s founder is none other than Christian fundamentalist Pat Robertson.

Many might remember Robertson from the Sept. 11 attacks. During the time when everyone was in mourning over their lost loved ones, Robertson blamed gays, lesbians, pro-choicers and lesbians as the culprits behind the attack. Therefore, it’s not that far-fetched an idea for Robertson to think demons might be invading his university.

Who knows … next, Robertson may believe Ronald McDonald is the devil and junk food is the gateway to all evil.

It is absolutely unbelievable a university could have such rules and regulations. Chadbourne was out protecting the nation. He put his life on the line for the sake of his fellow Americans. Then, when he returned to school, he was treated in a paranoid — and simply disrespectful — manner.

Ideas like demonic possession are fiction. If somebody wants to see demons, rent The Exorcist from the local Blockbuster. No serious, competent adult could attribute a facial glitch to demon possession.

If universities started suspending people because of a facial abnormality, then what would happen to students who stuttered, walked with a cane, used a wheelchair or had some other form of disability? Robertson would probablly expel a male student for having his ear pierced because only the devil would advocate men to have their ears pierced.

Maybe Chadbourne should be thankful he didn’t get the same punishment as the witches from Salem. At least he got out from the university with his life.

However, students at the Regent University need to beware. No one knows who will be next on Robertson’s list.

Chances are he’s the demon, and he doesn’t even know it.

R.H. Aly is The Lantern Campus Editor, and can be reached for comment at [email protected].