Contradicting the Faith for a Grade

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Would it be permissible for me to say something that contradicts Catholic doctrine to help get a good grade? Say that the contradiction would be in line with what was directly taught in class.
 
Can you elaborate a bit more on that?

Do you mean say you believe in something contrary to the faith? Because you can obviously never do that.

Or do you mean answer a question on a test about something that contradicts the Catholic faith, such as, “What did Sigmund Freud teach about the soul?”
 
I definately do accept all the church teaches. I mean I guess lying on an essay and a discussion based class. Some of which males assumptions contrary to what we believe. I’m wondering if for the sake of a grade if we can pretend to or speak as if we agree.
 
If I were in your shoes I would simply ask myself if I wanted God to know that getting this grade was more important that standing up for Him and the faith He has blessed us with. He will know…
 
Nothing emboldens the wicked so greatly as the lack of courage on the part of the good – Pope Leo XIII
 
C794 said:
I definately do accept all the church teaches. I mean I guess lying on an essay and a discussion based class. Some of which males assumptions contrary to what we believe. I’m wondering if for the sake of a grade if we can pretend to or speak as if we agree.
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No, you cannot lie. You can say “Somebody who believes ___ might say that ____”. But you cannot lie.
 
Can we lie about the Faith? No. We can say that Sigmund Freud was an atheist, etc., etc… No Christian could say that he agrees with such a view. No ethical teacher would ever ask you or expect you to deny your faith.
 
C794 said:
Would it be permissible for me to say something that contradicts Catholic doctrine to help get a good grade? Say that the contradiction would be in line with what was directly taught in class.
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There shouldnt be a question in the public school classroom which discriminates AGAINST you to the extent that you have to either compromise your religious values and pass, or you hold to your religion and fail.

Keep a record of the events and the names of those involved. You might be having your legal rights infringed. :mad:
 
Short of making it clear the opinions are not necessarily your own, e.g. “from the point of view of…” or “making the given assumptions would lead to…”, etc… no, you cannot lie. That is intrinsically evil, and there’s an extra layer of sin at the top for neglecting your faith in exchange for cheap worldly things like a grade! For shame!
 
Not sure what the official Catholic position is on marijuana use but when I was in college, I did a talk in favor of legalizing it. I am not 100% on board with that idea but I thought I’d do it because (1) my speech professor was a big time liberal and she did later give me an A+ on it (2) I thought it might be fun to argue a point I was not quite in line with just to see what that’s like. I don’t feel like I lied. I would not have argued for abortion (she of course wouldn’t allow that subject to be discussed anyways). I was playing a part I believe. I would like to see what your case is.
 
C794 said:
Would it be permissible for me to say something that contradicts Catholic doctrine to help get a good grade? Say that the contradiction would be in line with what was directly taught in class.
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No, it wouldn’t, not just by Catholic teaching but by the principles of academic integrity.

I doubt that this is actually necessary. Students are, in my experience, prone to assume that the professor wants them to agree with him or her, when any decent professor wants nothing of the kind. Professors want to see that you know the material and are thinking critically about it.

So state what has been presented in class fairly and accurately, not as your own opinion but as that of the professor or textbook or whatever. Then, if you have time and occasion, add a note saying that you disagree. If appropriate, give reasons why. (A brief exam question would not be the place for this–a lengthy essay might.) A good professor will be impressed by this.

Edwin
 
C794 said:
Would it be permissible for me to say something that contradicts Catholic doctrine to help get a good grade? Say that the contradiction would be in line with what was directly taught in class.
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Oooh. To get my degree (after a school “counselor” disallowed some of my earned units as not being acceptable as “upper division units not in my major”) I took a 3 unit class in Human Sexuality. THIS class was acceptable to the gatekeeping counselor.

I went to class, did the studies, answered the questions on the test and got the units and the degree. But much of what was taught (and the people who were the history-makers we studied) contradicted Catholic teaching on sex time and again.

I justified what I did by rationalizing that I was merely showing my skills at class taking, reports, test taking and accurately recalling what the teacher conveyed. But sometimes I feel like I was NOT the salt of the earth, the light that shines in darkness etc. … but passively contributed to a sort of (indirect) anti-Christian indoctrination at taxpayer expense to achieve my short term personal goal of graduation.

My conscience didn’t convict me of a mortal sin … so I never confessed this (that I can remember). My silence may have seemed like consent though. As I think about it, a lot of the mess our society is in comes from mistakes made that involve the powerful reality of “sex”. And how much better off society and some of the victims of misbehavior would be if people listened to and acted according to the guidance of the Church on these things.

I might add that I’ve made other errors in this area … though more of a confession than this I will not do here.

CONTRADICTING is a stronger term. The class I took did contradict Catholic teachings while reporting on the views of several “progressive” personalities prominent in the “Sexual Revolution” – but not by name. It did not GIVE Catholic teachings or reference them at all. So it wasn’t contradicting the Church directly by name and taking a position against its teachings … but rather “teaching” us many facts about the “revolutionary pioneers” of freethinking and their courageous challenging of Victorian values. < Victoria herself not being mentioned much … and in any case was not a Catholic. :o

I’m kind of glad someone is bringing this us … even if I do get a flash of guilt in revisiting
a class that made me have to consider this proposition.

It did prepare me somewhat to play Pontius Pilate in a Passion Play however.
 
Stand up for your faith. You should never put anything in front of your faith. The grade is just a grade, your faith that’s precious.
 
C794 said:
Would it be permissible for me to say something that contradicts Catholic doctrine to help get a good grade? Say that the contradiction would be in line with what was directly taught in class.
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“Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice.” --Jesus (John 18:37)

“For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul?”–Mark 8:36

Let’s also think of a couple of other things.

1.) You’re lying.
2.) Your actions -if the person knows you’re Catholic- will cause scandal.
3.) You could be an occasion of sin to your teacher and fellow students.
4.) An answer in line with your Faith may in fact help your teacher or possibly someone else in your class, thus bringing them closer to the Truth. Yet this will not happen if you lie. In fact your contradictory answer may lead them further away from the Truth (2 & 3).
5.)You will have to answer to Christ on the day of Judgement.
 
C794 said:
Would it be permissible for me to say something that contradicts Catholic doctrine to help get a good grade? Say that the contradiction would be in line with what was directly taught in class.
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I would say no - unless it is an assignment where the teacher explicitly asks you to write from the perspective opposite of what you believe. Many teachers, especially in English, philosophy, or debate courses, ask you to write papers or speeches from “both sides” of an issue, regardless of which side you actually believe. Paper one would be the side you actually believe, while paper two has to be based on the opposite of such belief. The teacher knows which side you believe in advance, but wants you to argue the opposite side in order to understand the arguments (which, by the way, could allow you to more easily defend your own arguments). A second exception would be, if in a creative writing class, you have to write a satire. Satire, of course, lampoons a view while pretending to take its stance, but it is written so that it is obvious that you don’t believe the view you are pretending to take.
 
Thanks for the replies. I haven’t been put in this situation yet and so I’m asking only in anticipation. From reading ahead in the textbook I feel that I could be put in such a situation. For example it claims something along the lines of the Torah being fabricated as propaganda to assert Hebrew supremacy ( am i right to disagree wih such statements in the first place?) And also, since I’m in college it’s hard to imagine such a situation not coming up within the next four years. Since I struggle in these situations already, I feel that it’s important to know this before such a situation comes up.
 
There’s a lot in the Torah which negates the idea of Hebrew supremacy. If you use reason and evidence to logically support your position - even if it is a contested/controversial position - you will be OK.

Social sciences like politics, history, comparative religion, etc have lots of unresolved, controversial questions. And I don’t doubt that students who agree with the opinion of their teacher can probably get away with weaker evidence/reasoning in essays etc. to support their lazy position. But intellectual honesty is far more rewarding even though it doesn’t come cheap. Good luck.

Have you heard of this organisation? ratiochristi.org

“…Ratio Christi (Latin for ‘The Reason of Christ’) is a global movement that equips university students and faculty to give historical, philosophical, and scientific reasons for…”
 
what exactly are you contradicting it may help us address this issue
 
TRH1292 said:
No, you cannot lie. You can say “Somebody who believes ___ might say that ____”. But you cannot lie.
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This is the approach I took and it proved rewarding and also the professor did not object. It certainly depends on your professor. Will they allow you to write such a sentence? Try it and wait for the outcome. Christians will continue to be persecuted for their beliefs. Stand up for yours.
 
C794 said:
Thanks for the replies. I haven’t been put in this situation yet and so I’m asking only in anticipation. From reading ahead in the textbook I feel that I could be put in such a situation. For example it claims something along the lines of the Torah being fabricated as propaganda to assert Hebrew supremacy ( am i right to disagree wih such statements in the first place?)
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It’s very cynical. Not all scholars would approach it so cynically.

The best way to respond is to say something like, “Of course as a Christian I find this idea really disturbing *, and I’d like to know more about the reason why the textbook says this. It seems awfully cynical, and I can’t see how they can be so sure that they know the reasons why the Torah was composed. What’s the process of reasoning or evidence that leads scholars to this conclusion? And are there any scholars who disagree? Where could I learn more about this?”

Or, if you have more substantive criticisms, make them. Be honest, be respectful, and above all make it clear that you’re genuinely interested in the truth (if you aren’t, work on becoming more so:p) and want to understand why the textbook makes the claims it does.

If you’re given a multiple choice test or something of that sort, and the professor clearly expects you to regurgitate the textbook, then circle the expected answer but write in the margin something like “according to the textbook–I’m not convinced that the textbook is correct here.” When I taught Bible at an evangelical college, I made a point of phrasing all such questions whenever I could as something like “according to the textbook” or “according to the information presented in this class” in order not to give students any crises of conscience. I still slipped up occasionally and had students write things like that in the margins, and I always respected this.

The reality is that you may find a professor who genuinely wants to impose secular views on the students. Such professors do exist, but don’t assume bad faith in your professor from the start. The bigger problem is that even professors who try to be respectful of their students’ beliefs may not recognize the extent to which they themselves work from presuppositions. So when you admit that you’re coming from a Catholic perspective, they may see this as a weakness and take a somewhat patronizing approach. That’s their loss.

The bottom line is that if a professor tries to force you to compromise your beliefs in order to get a grade, even though you have made it clear that you understand the material and are engaging thoughtfully with it, the professor is overstepping his/her authority and you would have the right to complain to the administration. The professor’s job is to help you think critically about new ideas, not to change your religious beliefs.

Edwin*
 
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