The Academy
When geoscientists attack » GetReligion
Once upon a time, I thought I wanted to become an economics professor. This delusion lasted from early high school until I took enough postgraduate classes to be convinced otherwise. I loved my field of study and I had fantastic professors. One way in which they were helpful was to counsel me to keep my private views on everything from monetary theory to the Coase Conjecture hidden. There is nothing so political as the academy. And generally speaking there’s not a lot of room for people who express unorthodox views. They don’t call it a university for nothing! So even though Keynesian theories no longer have exclusive sway in non-academic economic fields, they completely dominated my college. My professors, some of whom were extreme socialists and some of whom had enjoyed the forbidden fruits of Posner and Hayek, told me how to play the game. Basically that meant that I would just study whatever I was assigned and complete coursework in support of the approved theories. Once I received my Ph.D., I was to keep up the facade, more or less, until I was tenured. Only then could I reveal my personal views. That is a long way of saying that Cornelia Dean had a fantastic idea for a story in today’s New York Times. She found a geoscientist who completed his undergraduate and graduate schooling with great marks — all while being a young earth creationist (which the Times puts in scare quotes).I can't help but draw a parallel to Mollie's post with the counsel received here at the Seminary. From some corners I hear "keep your mouth shut until ordination." Anyone who knows me well, knows this is not in my character... for better or for worse. When we discuss confirmation, I'm going to voice my dissent to our practice using theological evidence. When we discuss the "both/and" approach to the use of psychotherapy I'm going to state the conflict this has with the "seelsorger" approach to pastoral counseling. It would seem that the enterprise of a seminary is to provide the forum for future pastors to form orthodox understandings of theology and its informed ministry against the time-tested understandings of its professors. I am willing to admit I am wrong (for example the civil versus church jurisdiction of marriage.) I need the opportunity to be honest with my professors. I need to be rebuked when in error. I need to be supported when correct. So, thankfully for those of us with the pastorate in mind, we can rebel against the institutional views in any of the chosen fields... granted we resolve the major conflicts before ordination (and perhaps vicarage) so as to not lead our flocks astray. On the other hand, if academia is in our long-range viewfinder, I expect I should be keeping my mouth shut and toe the party line. Pastoral formation and academia don't mix.
