originally published 9/1/1994

George Marsden explains how and why a commitment to nonsectarianism came to mean the exclusion of religion from the academy. Though American universities were originally founded upon a religious foundation, religion came to be viewed as potentially disruptive or divisive in a pluralistic society. Marsden argues that the secularization of American universities was an overcorrection to the problem, resulting in only a naturalistic worldview being admitted in serious academic discourse. Marsden is the author of The Soul of the American University: From Protestant Establishment to Established Nonbelief (Oxford, 1996).

10 minutes

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