Does a University education create sinners?

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It would seem that a disproportionate percentage of those undertaking higher education have standpoints which differ from the traditional interpretation of the church. Universities always seem to be “hotbeds of political activism” - to cite and overused phrase. Gay groups are more vocal, support for pro-choice is the rule not the exception, even Christian groups advocate things which would never fly in a Catholic church. I won’t even mention the parties.

Now before people chime in with anecdotal evidence, and mention the Pope’s undeniable academic credentials – I am speaking en generalities here.

Is it just youthful exuberance? A general period where young people rebel? Or does higher education attract those prone to sin and depravity. Are they exposed to ideas, and thoughts from left wing academics which merely pollute a young mind, or are they merely thinking for themselves for the first time after years of formal schooling?
 
The higher education system in the Western world has been overrun by secularists with agendas. They are, naturally, very smart and adept at persuading undergraduates of the truth of their many biases. This is not a difficult task. Most young people entering Universities have been very poorly catechized and don’t even know the rubrics of their faith, much less how to defend them. Add to that the general tenor of the culture which worships youth and where it is cool to buck authority, establishment, and religion, the pack mentality rampant on most campuses about social issues (Universities are not open to opposing views when it comes to their most cherished prejudices, no matter what they tell you), and the shouting matches ignited by “protest” any time there is an opposing view, and you get the cesspool of mindless parotted pseudo-intellectual postmodern sentiment which detracts from truth and thwarts authentic dialogue. Whence springs, as our Pope has rightly identified it, the dictatorship of relativism, and the culture of death.

God Bless

Jon Winterburn
 
Unfortunately, I have to disagree.
Perhaps it is my own personal experiences with post secondary institutions (U of Ottawa, NAIT, U of Alberta, and RRU) but I have found there to be a large segment of the post-secondary population that is not only interested in bearing strong witness to their own faith, but also is deeply interested in the journies that other students are taking towards their own.
Yes, post secondary is a “hotbed” of social discord, and that’s just because many students are away from the influence of parents and their former groups of friends. However, the social discord, as it has been at my current post sec institution, is often about basic human rights, especially lobbying for legislation to protect the rights of unborn babies. Not every “protest” is for gay rights, some are for HUMAN rights, for basic things that all of us should respect and so often, our culture doesn’t.

Perhaps it’s a geographical difference (much of Canada is staunchly conservative, and one of our largest provinces, Quebec, is extremely Catholic), but our students seem to have more interest in learning and true social issues (pro human rights, supporting our troops, fixing social issues with homelessness, etc) than partying at a school far from home.
 
I was completely apathetic about church until I went to college. I went, but it was more about having an opportunity to sing in the choir than anything else.
College made me realize how important my faith was, I was challenged constantly by people who believed differently and I had to really research WHY I was Catholic.
It seems to be doing the same thing for my Goddaughter. She’s still strongly Catholic, very pro-life and told me that she would have never survived college without her faith.
 
While I wouldn’t say that a university education creates sinners, it certainly can help. I think if we look at the data, we see a negative correlation between education level and faith. Especially among the Ph.d’s. Also, in a secular university, we really lose an objective base for morality, and so in many ways, you get to believe what you want to believe. Although traditional christian values seem to be looked on with suspician.
 
I think it depends on your area of study. I’m a chemistry grad student at the University of Georgia and I never came in contact with moral depravity of faculty or anything like that. No if you go into the liberal arts I’m sure its different. Also I would say that my public university is pretty open to both sides of most social issues. We have Pro-Life and Pro-choice demonstrations here. What I would say is that my university allows all forms of demonstrations. Gays and Lesbians, Evangelical Preachers, Marijuana Legalists, and Troop Supporters can all be found out talking about their message outside the student center.
 
While a University education certainly expands the knowledge of the individual, it also has the unfortunate side effect of often creating the illusion that we can be self-sufficient. When we discover the power of knowledge and how it can take us great distances and bring us untold successes, there is a danger that we will begin to think, “how wonderful that I can do all of this on my own.”

When this happens, the idea that we rely on God (or even that there is a God) can begin to seem despicable. We want to feel like we are our own masters, we control our own destinies, our lives are entirely in our own hands.

I can’t cite evidence to support this, but I wonder if you wouldn’t find that the relationship between education and faith/morality/adherence to the Church is almost a cubic function, that is, elementary education increases faith, later education (say college) may diminish it, and then advanced education helps restore it again. Just throwing it out there…
 
It also teaches us to live with people who believe differently, and to learn how to defend our beliefs intelligently.
 
Fitswimmer said:
It also teaches us to live with people who believe differently, and to learn how to defend our beliefs intelligently.
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To defend our beliefs intelligently? It really depends on where you study, I suppose, and also what you mean by “beliefs.” A University education certainly aims to help us defend knowledge, but “belief” is another story. I believe that many Universities (not all) actually teach us to question our beliefs. This can be both positive and negative. On the positive side, some who begin to question their beliefs will take the steps necessary to logically and rationally verify the reasonableness of those beliefs. On the negative side, some who question their beliefs may simply discard them as “childhood stories” when they discover that there comes a point where faith is required.

Believe me, I am all for a University education. I have multiple degrees myself, and am pursuing a Masters right now. I do believe in the value of education, but it does have its “dangers.” I feel a little silly even using that word, but it’s the best I can come up with at the moment.
 
“To educate an atheist is to create a clever devil” - Arthur Wellsley, Duke of Wellington

Wellington was instrumental in setting up my old University, King’s College London, an Anglican foundation but with toleration of other Christian groups, in opposition to University College London, which had been the first non-religious University in the British Isles - ‘the godless institution’ as it became known!

Despite that, I do think University generally attracts and stimulates interest in social and moral issues. Back in my protestant days I used to help out with a Christian enquirers group run by the Christian Union. We’d often get lots of physics students who would turn up in complete existential turmoil because they’d been taught school physics which is all based on certainty, and suddenly they arrived at university and were being taught more theoretical physics which was all unproven conjecture and chaos theory, and they were desperately looking for something to restore their faith that there was a Reason to the universe. Asking questions is what university education ought to be all about.
 
omegabane said:
To defend our beliefs intelligently? It really depends on where you study, I suppose, and also what you mean by “beliefs.” A University education certainly aims to help us defend knowledge, but “belief” is another story. I believe that many Universities (not all) actually teach us to question our beliefs. This can be both positive and negative. On the positive side, some who begin to question their beliefs will take the steps necessary to logically and rationally verify the reasonableness of those beliefs. On the negative side, some who question their beliefs may simply discard them as “childhood stories” when they discover that there comes a point where faith is required.

Believe me, I am all for a University education. I have multiple degrees myself, and am pursuing a Masters right now. I do believe in the value of education, but it does have its “dangers.” I feel a little silly even using that word, but it’s the best I can come up with at the moment.
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I meant that the having our beliefs challenged forces us to do our homework. I learned more about my faith having to defend it than I ever did when it was unchallenged. The school doesn’t teach it, but the circumstances force you to learn it.
 
Fitswimmer said:
I meant that the having our beliefs challenged forces us to do our homework. I learned more about my faith having to defend it than I ever did when it was unchallenged. The school doesn’t teach it, but the circumstances force you to learn it.
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True, but unfortunately, not everyone really takes up that challenge. Some simply decide that their faith is disposable and they discard it. I don’t fault universities for this, but this does seem to be more of a problem in well-educated circles.
 
RobHom said:
😃 😃 😃 👍 👍 👍 I like that one!!
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Oh some levity is necessary otherwise a person would cry. I can’t even begin to wrap my brain around the concept that education at higher institutions of learning is somehow the cause of the world being in a bad way.

It’s really the age old American theme of being anti-intellectual. It’s had a long history in this country. It’s the current gambit of some politicians to call others elitist, it was done against Adlai Stevenson in the 50’s.

It’s the blame game. Its always directed at liberals. LOL. Liberals who are all secret atheists I suspect. I thought a reponse in levity was better than actually answering it.
 
buffalo said:
Really? You mean to say people cannot think if they do not attend university -either before or after?
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Actually in some ways the poster is correct I believe. Unfortunately we don’t teach critical thinking at the high school level. We barely teach it at the college level, but we do teach it. And it’s a critically important ability to be developed.

Thinking is not the same as thinking well, and that takes training. It does not appear to come naturally, otherwise you wouldn’t see the break that seems to occur to those raised in rather closed environments when they are exposed to a broader and more eclectic environment. People literally blossom as they almost go into sensory overload. That is not the case with those who are exposed to a broad spectrum of ideas of people before college. But most of us were brought up in one environment for our entire young years. College is our first move away from home and new ideas and new people.

The same could be done earlier I believe with the same result. There is no santification in colleges, high schools if properly run could do the same. Most of us have had at least the experience of one teacher in our high school years who really tried to open new vistas for us. It’s the constraints of the way children are educated that hampers this. Many if not most of our major thinkers in the world historically and otherswise consider that the ability to think critically is the greatest of all assets, much more than any mere run down of things learned.
 
buffalo said:
Really? You mean to say people cannot think if they do not attend university -either before or after?
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Where or when did I ever say that? Anyway, read spiritmeadow’s post, it is precisely what I was trying to get across.
 
SpiritMeadow said:
Actually in some ways the poster is correct I believe. Unfortunately we don’t teach critical thinking at the high school level. We barely teach it at the college level, but we do teach it. And it’s a critically important ability to be developed.

Thinking is not the same as thinking well, and that takes training. It does not appear to come naturally, otherwise you wouldn’t see the break that seems to occur to those raised in rather closed environments when they are exposed to a broader and more eclectic environment. People literally blossom as they almost go into sensory overload. That is not the case with those who are exposed to a broad spectrum of ideas of people before college. But most of us were brought up in one environment for our entire young years. College is our first move away from home and new ideas and new people.

The same could be done earlier I believe with the same result. There is no santification in colleges, high schools if properly run could do the same. Most of us have had at least the experience of one teacher in our high school years who really tried to open new vistas for us. It’s the constraints of the way children are educated that hampers this. Many if not most of our major thinkers in the world historically and otherswise consider that the ability to think critically is the greatest of all assets, much more than any mere run down of things learned.
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Excellent post!
**
‘Thinking is not the same as thinking well, and that takes training.**’ This is very true.
 
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