I received a long and thoughtful e-mail from a reader taking issue with yesterday’s post regarding Christian universities and academic freedom. Rather than printing the whole thing, I’ll respond to his key points. He begins:
Normally I’m impressed by your posts at PBC, but in this case I believe you’ve let your biases in favor of your alma mater and your religious views cloud your judgment. I can’t see portraying Christian colleges as offering GREATER academic freedom than secular ones as anything other than sophistry.
To be clear, I said, “The university’s Christian tradition provides its scholars with freedoms they simply wouldn’t enjoy within the academic mainstream.” The statement comes in context of my discussion of Azusa Pacific University; I refer to “its scholars,” not to all scholars. Obviously, an atheist wouldn’t even be able to teach at Azusa Pacific. Moreover, I’m not even arguing that all Christian schools offer more freedom even for Christian scholars. Some schools have policies that are much more restrictive or engage in practices that are quite arbitrary and capricious. If you took my point to mean that Christian colleges offer greater academic freedom in general, then that was a failure of communication on my part.
The point is much more narrow and I think quite defensible. A Christian college with policies like Azusa Pacific’s (assuming they are applied as written) will provide Christian scholars with greater academic freedom than they would enjoy in the real-world environment of our secular universities.
The reader writes:
What can they [Christian scholars] do, academically, at a Christian school that can’t be done at any secular school? Certainly every course of research available at a Christian school is available at a secular one. Can you name a course of research at a secular school that will get you kicked out? There are a bunch at religious schools. It’s probably true that, pre-tenure, this study must be at least field-related. But one would expect that at Christian colleges as well. After tenure, it can (sadly) be about anything at all. It may also be true that biology departments won’t hire young-earth creationists. But this is justifiable on science grounds, not an anti-religious bias, per se.
. . .
Of course professors are “free to be Christians.” I have had and know several. Think of how laughable it would be to have an atheist-only hiring practice at a school.
. . .
Perhaps your concerned not with official policy, but an atmosphere of hostility on campus. First, most professors couldn’t give a damn about their fellow professors’ religious beliefs or their area of study, for that matter. They’re usually too wrapped in whatever they are doing. The administration certainly doesn’t care either. In addition, being “free from” this is a bit odd. We’re talking about adults here. Not working in a supportive environment doesn’t deprive one of a freedom. It just means not working in a supportive environment.
There’s much to respond to here, but let me do it quickly. Christian professors in secular schools are penalized not for being “young earth creationists” or for “proselytizing,” but instead for giving truthful (but apparently politically incorrect) answers to scientific questions, because of their outspoken conservative Christian viewpoint, or because they merely list conservative religious affiliations on their CV. I spend a great deal of time advising scholars at secular universities who have been told that their research interests (which sometimes involve the study of religious influences on history, behavior, or politics) are not sufficiently “critical” or are “anti-woman” or “inappropriate at secular institutions.”
But those are mere anecdotes. We know from Stanley Rothman, Robert Lichter, and Neil Nevitte’s comprehensive study, “Politics and Professional Advancement Among College Faculty,” that ”religiously observant Christians are disadvantaged in their placement in the institutional hierarchy” even “after taking their professional achievements into account . . . Republicans, women, and practicing Christians fare significantly worse than their colleagues at similar levels of achievement.” Could this in part be because a majority of professors (and let’s face it, professors generally have the most say over hiring decisions) have “unfavorable” views of evangelicals?
I am not arguing that there are no Christian professors in secular schools. I’m not arguing that all Christian professors in secular schools are oppressed (some thrive in fact). I am arguing that secular academic institutions in general are taking a variety of actions that have the cumulative, real-world effect of denying observant Christian scholars the same opportunities more secular (or, more precisely, more liberal) scholars enjoy — and the data support this point. Consequently, a Christian professor at Azusa Pacific who teaches, researches, and publishes in his areas of scholarly interest is going to have more academic freedom than a Christian professor who cannot even get a job — or faces profound limits on his career — merely because of his religious viewpoint.
Finally, esteemed reader, I would note that my last name is “French” (like the fry) and not “Frank” (like Clovis).