Thanks for posting that, Kathryn. What’s going on

at Baylor is tremendously important, and reflects a clear understanding on

the part of the university’s president of the cultural reality of American

Christianity today. Those of us who hold to Christian orthodoxy (small-o),

whether we’re Protestant, Catholic or Orthodox, have much more in common

today than we once did. We now live in a post-Christian society, and it’s

imperative that believers from the various strands of Christianity work

together to formulate authentically Christian responses to the challenges of

secularism and post-modernity. I’ve often said I have far more in common

with my believing Evangelical and Orthodox friends than I do with fellow

Catholics who have abandoned the core teachings of Christianity. If Dr.

Sloan succeeds with his vision at Baylor, I can easily foresee sending my

son to the Baptist university, 14 years from now, instead of a Catholic

school that’s Catholic in name only. There’s a good reason orthodox Catholic

scholars like Mary Ann Glendon, Robbie George, Ralph McInerny and others

have publicly endorsed what Dr. Sloan is trying to do at Baylor. By the way,

I’ve already heard from a fundamentalist Baptist today who didn’t like my

column. He wrote, “No, I do not believe that Baylor is a beacon for

intellectual Christians. I believe Baylor is in the process of selling its

soul to the devil for the price of intellectual acceptability.”