Academia, the Church and the Future Secularism

In a strange recent turn of events, I have become increasingly more 'secular' in my perspective. Granted, I am about as "conservative" of a Christian believer as one would ever find (believing that all people must call upon the Name Jesus to be saved, not believing in artificial means of contraception, etc.), but, as an "ultra-conservative" Christian, I am coming to see the need for a "provisional future secularism."

So what would this future secularism look like?

Sadly, through my experiences with both Corporate America and with the Military, neither of these overlapping sets of institutions seem to be ethical enough to provide the "safe naked public square" where people of all faith or of no faith can meet.

Corporate America is often greedy, denying its workers health care or even arguing against a minimum wage increase that is merely calibrated to yearly inflation.

The Military (and not to denigrate the MANY fine men & women who serve in uniform), sadly, is built on an unquestioning chain-of-command in which those at the top can often lie, act unethically, and due solely to "tenure" (military rank is based upon time in service, not ability), are often difficult to confront. Sure, there are avenues for bringing a complaint against a senior officer, but sadly, many such whistle-blowers are silenced immediately with little recourse other than to request a discharge from the service.

But what about the Academic Guild?

Here the answer is opaque, but at least the better of the three options for secular authority. At its best, academic leaders can assume positions of great secular authority and lead with panache, say for example, former Provost of Stanford University, Condoleeza Rice. Other times, the academic world is just as power-hungry and corrupt as Corporate America or the Military.

But, and an important but, due to the intrinsic nature of evaluation of Academic Power (for example standardized test scores such as the S.A.T. or G.R.E.), although a wayward professor may act unethically (for example giving a Born Again Christian a lower grade due to his/her religious beliefs), due to the standardization of evaluation (academic papers, quizzes, etc.) the ability to abuse power is more limited.

Having said all of this, however, the secularism of which I am speaking obviously pales in comparison to the Church, God's Kingdom here on earth. When all others fail, it is the true believer in Jesus the Messiah who has stood by me, whether that person was an Opus Dei numerary helping me through a rough divorce, an Evangelical Protestant Professor praying with me during a dark hour or most recently, a delightful Episcopalian Vicar whose High Church Orthodoxy gives me the "bread for the journey" each Sunday in order to get back out on the secular playing field as an Offensive Lineman for Jesus safe-guarding the flock of Jesus-People from whomever may try to harm them . . .

Blessings in Jesus,
Rob J King, Offensive Lineman for Jesus in the Football Game of Secular America