Could any academic field be worse than Bible studies/theo in general?

[Insp. Clue!So?]

While I'm not an expert in the subject, I get the distinct impression from some reading and discussion with those who are that the field of biblical scholarship, and really theology in general, is riddled with the shoddiest of work due mainly to what we might call the "ideological" imperatives of believers. There is, for example, little evidence for a "town of Nazereth" at the supposed time of the Jesus Christ figure (at best, it was a single farm), and the devastating problems with the Exodus story are well known if little mentioned by the "faithful". There are numerous other problems apparently.

Of course arrayed against scholastic honesty are the bald realities that hundreds of millions of tourist dollars depend on these fanciful stories for the continued fruition, not to mention the social/psychological implications. But this should never be an excuse for intellectual dishonesty.