A New Clericalism

During thirteen years as Newman chaplain at Wayne State University (Detroit), Father Maguire learned that to enjoy “academic freedom” in a Liberal college one must be a conforming non-conformist

I must admit I had been needling my friend about his department’s reaction to my criticism of its “History of Religions” course. “Cocktail lounge theology” was what I had called the course. I had said that it was an affront both to the various religious groups and to the canons of scholarship. The department took the position that, as a mere chaplain, I was an “outsider,” and my criticism “a threat to academic freedom.”

JM

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J. J. Maguire

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During thirteen years as Newman chaplain at Wayne State University (Detroit), Father Maguire learned that to enjoy “academic freedom” in a Liberal college one must be a conforming non-conformist

I must admit I had been needling my friend about his department’s reaction to my criticism of its “History of Religions” course. “Cocktail lounge theology” was what I had called the course. I had said that it was an affront both to the various religious groups and to the canons of scholarship. The department took the position that, as a mere chaplain, I was an “outsider,” and my criticism “a threat to academic freedom.”