The longer I am in academia, the more I see just how different of a mindset there is between ‘ordinary folks’ and ‘movers and shakers.’ This difference in worldview is there independent of the presence or absence of faith.
Both groups are acutely aware of the difference between them, and both tend to look upon the other disparagingly. The ‘movers and shakers’ (academics, politicians, etc.) are viewed by ‘ordinary folks’ as ‘elitist,’ and ‘out of touch with the real world.’ The ‘ordinary folks’ are viewed as simpletons, hics, seeing in black and white what is really shades of gray, ‘nuanced’ and ‘complex.’
