Prof calls out 'politically progressive,' 'irreligious' academics, says their 'bias' causes mistrust

A sociology professor at the University of North Texas has taken his colleagues to task in a recent article, saying “academics are much more politically progressive and irreligious than the general population" — and that can lead to "liberal and secular bias" in academic research as well as public mistrust, Campus Reform reported.

George Yancey penned “Yes Academic Bias is a Problem and We Need to Address it” for the new issue of "The American Sociologist" in response to a professor who deemed academic political bias a “myth,” the outlet said.

Yancey said the "sheer number of progressive scholars relative to conservative scholars" is a factor that can lead to "institutional bias."

“One of the most important assumptions of the scientific method is that scholars are disinterested in the results of the work,” Yancey wrote, according to Campus Reform, adding that "we have to question whether scholars are as dispassionate about the results as they claim to be. Those like myself are also concerned about academic bias simply because such bias can lead to bad science.”

“There is a cost to this type of bias not always taken into consideration,” he added, the outlet said. “When ideas in academia are dismissed, instead of debated, non-academics begin to lose their trust in our educational institutions.”

It's therefore "not surprising that political conservatives have dramatically lost faith in higher education over the past few years,” Yancey observed, Campus Reform reported.

What other work has Yancey done?

Yancey with David Williamson co-authored a book a few years back — “So Many Christians, So Few Lions: Is There Christianophobia in the United States?” — which concluded that while there isn’t widespread “Christianophobia” in the America, the small number of people with a strong aversion to conservative believers are among the influential and elite.

Yancey took note of some of the “unreasonable hatred” encountered through interviews with cultural progressive activists for the pair's study. The following are comments about the Christian right:

• “I want them all to die in a fire.” (male, aged 26-35 with doctorate)
• “They should be eradicated without hesitation or remorse. Their only purpose is to damage and inflict their fundamentalist virus onto everyone they come in contact with.” (female, aged 66-75 with master's degree)
• “They make me a believer in eugenics...They pollute good air…I would be in favor of establishing a state for them…If not, then sterilize them so they can’t breed more.” (male, aged 46-55 with master's degree)