One of the criticisms mounted by atheists against religion is the hypocrisy of religious authorities.

This is not a new attack: the Donatists were an early Christian sect that claimed that sacraments offered by fallen priests were void, implicitly undermining the authority of the Roman Catholic Church that was filled with such men. Prior to his entry into the priesthood, St. Augustine himself wrote “Lord, cure me of my desire for women – but just not yet.” It was from his pen that the Donatists were rebuked: the Church is an instrument of mercy, commissioned by Christ to bring grace to the fallen through the fallen. The grace of the sacraments rests not with the priest, but with Christ.

Many atheists arise from the hard sciences – physics, chemistry and mathematics – people whose world view conceives of reality as a machine. They answer to no one but each other, and historically they have been as much a men’s club as the priesthood. Just scan the faces of Nobel prize winners – it’s all the evidence you need.

So how well do they do at policing each other?

When I attended a conference run by atheists, I was disturbed by the answer. The event was dominated by white male faces, but a significant sub-population were what you might call “intellectual groupies” – beautiful thirty-something women. I won’t delve deeply into pop psychology – obviously they had some motivation to seek the company of older men.

Lawrence Krauss was among the most aggressive of their pursuers. I went looking for him after his presentation on the future of particle physics, and found him in a dark back corner of the auditorium where he had cornered a beautiful young lady, her eyes darting furtively for escape. I pointed out to Krauss that I was disturbed by the tendency of presentations such as his to characterize speculative theories as proven fact, and asked him where he thought that led. As the young lady slipped past me, his eyes followed regretfully as he admitted “Well, eventually you lose your funding.”

The hollowing out of scientific imagination and integrity is not what brought Krauss down, but rather the testimony of the women that he pursued. The sudden righteousness of his peers is astonishing – they associated with Krauss because of his eagerness to carry their propaganda to the public. They tolerated his aggressiveness because the opportunity to have sex with beautiful women was part of his motivation. Their lack of sympathy for his victims is a telling statement that should cause one to question their professional integrity.

Just to be clear: it was Christian sympathy that motivated me to frustrate Krauss in his pursuit. I am still waiting for the atheists to bring forward an authority of stature equal to Jesus of Nazareth. Until they do, there will be no brake on the moral decline of those such as Krauss who claim the authority of truth as they have their way with those whose minds are weaker than theirs.