[asa] Theology - Joker of the 'Sciences'

In response to the outdated 'Queen of the Sciences' notion, let it be offered that in today's academy, theology is often considered as the 'joker of the sciences.'
 
Before anyone scoffs at this seemingly blasphemous claim, the analogy to playing cards should be acknowledged, where in fact a 'joker' is sometimes seen as the highest 'trump' card in the deck. What theology trumps (or may trump) is perhaps a interesting theme for this thread.
 
Theology is largely marginalised in academic settings today (e.g. enrollment numbers, lecture series', place in institutional publications). Any attempt to include theological views is seen as a violation of 'church and state,' which at a public university is taken quite seriously. In terms of 'sexiness,' theology is a faint whisper compared to the roar of biological sciences, genetics, medicine, cognitive studies, philosophy of mind, psychology, economics, business administration, electrical engineering, journalism, robotics, public relations, etc. (*note, this listing inevitably contains a bias coming from a Candidate of Human-Social Science located in Russia, looking-on to the N. American scene). Yet what can theology do to maintain or even to reclaim its supposed 'priority' in light of the dwindling presence it holds in (American) Universities today?
 
Theology commonly takes a back seat in 'legitimacy' to anthropology, sociology and perhaps most importantly, to psychology as a 'measure' of our inner 'self.' If a person wants to discover more about themself as a 'spiritual being' they should consult texts by S. Freud, C. Jung, E. Erikson or even D. Gilbert (Stumbling on Happiness - had anyone hear heard of him before this mention - http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/bios/gilbert.html?), rather than looking to spiritual classics or especially to academic (specialised) theology. Theology in general thus becomes a 'joker' because it can only rarely be 'played' in the 'game' of contemporary academic life, not something one can bring up in 'polite' company, as an inclusive topic for thoughtful people, unless with 'pre-selected' friends. Theology's influence on contemporary 'science' is thus miniscule compared to science's influence on contemporary 'theology.'
 
Theology, in some contexts, is clearly not a 'science' and cannot be a queen, but only a joker of the sciences.
 
G. Arago __________________________________________________________________ Instant Messaging, free SMS, sharing photos and more... Try the new Yahoo! Canada Messenger at http://ca.beta.messenger.yahoo.com/

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Received on Wed Jun 25 12:42:26 2008