The Decline of the Secular University

Secularism hasn't had to explain itself for several generations and has become as muddled as religion was when it was simply dominant. 
C. John Sommerville

I recently read a book entitled "The Decline of the Secular University", which in part motivated me to start this blog. In it, the author (C. John Sommerville) takes on the secularism that has infiltrated universities in the last century. Secularism, which is an ideology in itself, has attempted to eliminate religion from the classroom. In doing so, however, Sommerville argues that universities have in a sense marginalized themselves in the eye of the public. True, science and technology have vastly improved our lives in many ways including in the areas of medicine, agriculture, etc. But he is talking about topics more fundamental that we all grapple with such as hope, trust, purpose, and wisdom. Because of the universities adherence to secularism, they even have trouble defining important topics such as justice, truth, the human, and the humane, because those topics all have inherent religious dimensions.

In his book, Sommerville quoted Chancellor Francis Snow, an entomologist at the University of Kansas (I won't hold that against him!), who believed that "the university should train body and spirit as well as mind and could do this by fostering an atmosphere conducive to spiritual development". I was surprised to hear that universities used to have a more overtly religious core that, along with learning, also included chapel as a place for obtaining vision and contemplation towards intellectual creativity; time in the chapel was considered perhaps as important as time in the lab! Michael Polanyi, a British chemist and academic, stated that science, mathematics, the arts, and religion all have a role in maintaining wonder and not just explaining it. Universities, however, have too easily assumed that their job was to dispel wonder. I touched on that topic in an earlier blog (Do I Really Matter?).

Secular rationalism itself is not a neutral, absolute position that rises above all faith commitments. Rather, it is a worldview among many. Unfortunately, universities have not been teaching about secularism in the sense that it is one view among many, but instead have been teaching secularism in the sense of indoctrination and requiring adoption of its assumptions (such as relativism...there are no absolute "truths"). Sommerville is not arguing that the university should be ruled by religion, but he does argue (and I agree) that universities not be officially secularist in the sense that religion is ruled out. He envisions universities whose goal is not to impose a privileged viewpoint (such as secularism currently is), but to understand, or at least give a voice to, all viewpoints that are able to win a hearing. Universities, by disdaining the standards of thought by students and the public (such as religion), may face increasing opposition including stingy funding and skepticism about various causes considered urgent by universities.

So what do you think? Has secularism ran its course? Has it resulted in a general decline in the authority and effectiveness of universities in the eye of the public? Should silenced voices be invited back into the classroom? If so, what would that look like?