A point you propose to establish from a single example. Now since philosophy appears to have much the same problem as LW comment threads - people trying to signal intelligence rather than find the right answer - the institutions you mention could correctly assess status based on this (never mind the long tradition of respecting bad arguments for religious claims). You have yet to establish that Steiner's argument persuaded anyone.

Still, in the interest of not making this comment self-referential: your central claim seems somewhat plausible.