Corporate & Securities Law

Theophobia

By Stephen Bainbridge

Rick Hills calls it the “irrational fear of, or intense discomfort around, theist and, in particular, Christian, beliefs.”

How widespread is theophobia among academics? I cannot say for sure—I’ve only casual anecdotes to guide me—but I suspect that, whatever its prevalence, it is on the decline. Atheism???s fatal error was to go middlebrow. When the books of Dawkins and Hitchens became bestsellers, their ideas lost several points in the academics??? stockmarket. Intellectual pride is the academic???s signature sin (oops ??? I mean failing), and few academics want to be associated with an ideology tied to the vulgar laity. Moreover, I think that there is a powerful case that God, whether He exists or not, has historically had the better writers on His side: Who would you rather read, after all ??? Dawkins, Hitchens, Bradlaugh, Paine, d???Holbach and other (semi-)atheist writers, or Pascal, Kierkegaard, Locke, Unamuno, Donne, Dante, Milton, and Flannery O???Connor?

Of course, I might be wrong about the prevalence of theophobia among academics: I???ve only my very anecdotal experience to go by. (If anyone out there can confirm or disconfirm my sketchy suspicions, I???d be grateful). But even if theophobia is on the wane, it is still worthwhile to hasten its demise. After all, change is difficult, and you have to want to change.

Full post as published by BusinessAssociationsBlog.com on June 19, 2008 (boomark / email).