Abstract

The academy in the United States is almost wholly silent about Christianity, at least in the sense of providing Christian perspectives on the various fields. This silence about Christianity, and often real hostility toward it, ripples outward from the universities all the great institutions of society---the courts, media, entertainment industry, elementary and secondary schools---affecting all of society and culture. Silence or hostility at this great center of the life of the mind affects all else. To accept this silence in higher education is to surrender control of the institutions, mind, and spirit of the culture to those either indifferent or hostile to Christianity. Christians should break the silence by reaching out to other Christians both on campus and professionally, by establishing the whole apparatus of intellectual life, using the stress upon openness, pluralism, tolerance, diversity, and multiculturalism to wedge open a place for a Christian voice, including existing professional organtations and forums, and developing organizational and legal strategies to protect that voice.