RELIGIOUS CORRECTNESS ON CAMPUS

MARK C. TAYLOR, NY TIMES - At first glance, the flourishing of religion
on campuses seems to reverse trends long criticized by conservatives
under the rubric of "political correctness." But, in truth, something
else is occurring. Once again, right and left have become mirror images
of each other; religious correctness is simply the latest version of
political correctness. Indeed, it seems the more religious students
become, the less willing they are to engage in critical reflection about
faith.

The chilling effect of these attitudes was brought home to me two years
ago when an administrator at a university where I was then teaching
called me into his office. A student had claimed that I had attacked his
faith because I had urged him to consider whether Nietzsche's analysis
of religion undermines belief in absolutes. The administrator insisted
that I apologize to the student. (I refused.)

My experience was not unique. Today, professors invite harassment or
worse by including "unacceptable" books on their syllabuses or by
studying religious ideas and practices in ways deemed improper by
religiously correct students.

Distinguished scholars at several major universities in the United
States have been condemned, even subjected to death threats, for
proposing psychological, sociological or anthropological interpretations
of religious texts in their classes and published writings. In the most
egregious cases, defenders of the faith insist that only true believers
are qualified to teach their religious tradition.

At a time when colleges and universities engage in huge capital
campaigns and are obsessed with public relations, faculty members can no
longer be confident they will remain free to pose the questions that
urgently need to be asked.

For years, I have begun my classes by telling students that if they are
not more confused and uncertain at the end of the course than they were
at the beginning, I will have failed. A growing number of religiously
correct students consider this challenge a direct assault on their
faith. Yet the task of thinking and teaching, especially in an age of
emergent fundamentalisms, is to cultivate a faith in doubt that calls
into question every certainty. . .

The warning signs are clear: unless we establish a genuine dialogue
within and among all kinds of belief, ranging from religious
fundamentalism to secular dogmatism, the conflicts of the future will
probably be even more deadly.

[Mark C. Taylor is a religion and humanities professor at Williams
College]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/21/opinion/21taylor.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

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