Cross-posted from
Free Exchange on Campus.
So, we all remember the recent cough book by Ann Coulter who argued that liberals - in part through schools, colleges and universities - are creating a "godless" religion of liberalism because they are liberals and therefore godless. Note to self: brush up on tautology. Fortunately, Inside Higher Ed recently reported on a new study which might actually provide some insight about college faculty and their level of "godlessness" - Coulter fans will want to stop reading here, since it involves actual research and evidence.
According to
IHE, faculty are "not so godless after all." In a national survey of professors, sociology professors Neil Gross and Solon Simmons of George Mason university found that, "52 percent of professors in non-religiously affiliated colleges believe in God either despite doubts or without doubt, 69 percent of those at religious colleges feel that way." And as for the continual contention that faculty are so far out of touch with the values of the rest of the country: "Asked whether they attend services once a month or more, 49 percent of all Americans and 40 percent of professors said Yes."
I am still not sure it matters at all whether or not a professor goes to church. It strikes me that just as with any other profession (other than the clergy), attending church is neither required nor forbidden - it is irrelevant. Or at a minimum, if it is relevant, we certainly don't have the definitive answer as to how it influences a profession. As Gross and Simmons state: "The fact that a higher proportion of professors are religious than the usual story of academic secularization would have us believe suggests that we need more research on the causal impact of professors' religious value commitments on the formation of their ideas."
All of which leads me back to earlier advice I passed on about that national treasure of a commentator.