If Emory University is sincere about renouncing its checkered past, it should also confront the intellectual forms of prejudice prevailing today at the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), an Emory-hosted organization. SBL was originally founded as a haven for critical (i.e., historical, non-religious) biblical scholarship, but has been overrun in recent decades by Evangelicals, leading Prof. Ronald Hendel of Berkeley to publicly announce that he was resigning his membership. Many others haven’t attended SBL meetings for years because the stifling, Evangelically-oriented atmosphere of faith-based pseudo-scholarship, as well as the assaults on academic freedom taking place there, make them feel uncomfortable. Despite this situation, SBL continues to be a member of the American Council of Learned Societies, in violation of that group’s basic critical standards. See:
http://chronicle.com/article/Whats-Wrong-With-the-Socie/12369/
and
http://www.academia.edu/822072/Farewell_to_SBL_Faith_and_Reason_in_Biblical_Studies
