Why are some Christians (even Catholics) anti-education?

[graciew]

I have not heard Christian or non Christian say anything of the sort against education.
On the contrary.
College,University,tertiary degrees or the best possible education within our kids’ vocations or anchors of interest,but always forward studying.
This sounds weird,to discourage education…
If within possibilities,and within possibilities,at the proper time or delayed,but go for it…!

 

[phil19034]

@MP_Kid

I think you are misunderstanding most of that. I’m 40 years old, so I still remember my college days pretty well, and I’m old enough now to understand this pretty well.

What you are calling “anti-education” is really a response to a few different things:

1. Today’s society has a habit of looking down on blue collar jobs and looking down on people who have them. Farmers run into this a lot, which is distressing because a lot of them wind up having to sell their farms when they retire because no one wants to keep the farm going. And without farmers, we have no food. Construction worker and fishermen also run into this. We can’t have our new houses and eat our fish without people who work with their hands. Jesus worked with his hands as a carpenter before starting his ministry. And honestly, often, blue collar work can be for dignified for God when we are doing things for others (like farming, fishing, etc). It’s not to say that that white collar jobs are not good, but people should not look down on blue collar jobs - which unfortunately is what is happening a lot now a days. It’s not uncommon to hear a teacher or guidance counselor say “unless you want to be stuck working construction, you need to get your grades up.”
2. Most colleges today (not all) are filled with grave sin and liberal/socialist ideas. When I graduated high school and told my childhood pastor where I was going to college, he said “ah with all the pagans.” Then, when I returned home for winter break, he asked me how I was making out with all the pagans on campus. Religious people want to see their kids go to college and retain their faith. Not go to college and lose it. Worse, is when I hear stories of Catholics who sent their kids to a “Catholic” college because they wanted them to live the faith and they left college as an atheist because the so called “Catholic” college was a horrible place for a faithful Catholic. Religious Protestants are the same way, they don’t want their kids to go to a college that’s going to rip them away from Jesus.

(cont…)

 

[phil19034]

(cont)

1. Finally, a lot of people (eps rural) resent the snobbish attitudes that some college kids get when it comes to which college they want to go to vs. which ones they refuse to go to. I was like that, even though I didn’t realize it at the time. I wanted the big, flagship university. My aunt (who has been a teacher for almost 40 years) tried to convince me to at least consider the smaller, cheaper, local state school (where she, my father & grandmother all went for undergrad). I had zero interest and in retrospect, my reasons were pretty snobbish. I had bought into the myth that college prestige truly matters for undergraduates (it really doesn’t unless you are part of a niche major or program). I felt my aunt didn’t know what she was talking about, because she only went to the local, small state school. But in retrospect, I think she was right. Also, MAYBE I would have received better grades if I stayed local. I sure had a lot fun at the big flagship university, but I don’t really have anything to show for it. People doing what I do have degrees from all over, and many for colleges with far less prestige than mine.

It’s not that the people you are referring to are against education. What they are against is education at the expense of religion and against the snobbish attitude that many elites who are part of the Higher Education machine have when it comes to blue collar jobs.

It’s like the saying, “the world needs ditch diggers too” (or “grave diggers”).

BTW - your comment about “work a crappy miserable job like they did,” is the exact attitude that upsets them. All work (as long as it’s not sinful/immoral occupation) is dignified, esp when we do it integrity.

I pray I’m making sense.

God Bless

 

[bobperk]

Many universities today excel at teaching the various ways one can identify oppressors and victims.

 

[graciew]

There are the children who have skills and attitude and a will but have plenty of circumstances that keep them away from studying. And have to work since very young to help their siblings. Some people find little alternatives and face their reality upfront. Sometimes they get to study older,a trade or a degree,and with much effort.
No,this " no education" stuff isn t a Christian thing,a Catholic thing or any sensible thing when one has the possibility to study and contribute with a grain of sand for the best for everyone in one’s own way.

 

[BarreandBark]

Many hyper-traditional-Catholics are against further education because it might also lure their children away from the Church.

To me, that just means their faith in our Lord isn’t sufficient.

I walked away from the Church - - even considered “converting”. But I felt the nudge to come back. First, it felt forced but eventually it became a genuine desire to celebrate mass and spend time with God and serve him in my (most likely HIS!) chosen ministry.

Granted I’m not yet there 100% and some may consider me “Cafeteria” Catholic but I know God calls his people back to him…So even if their kids may be “lured” by further education, they have to trust that God will call their kids back somehow in their own way and in their own time…And who knows, their understanding of God and the Church may even be greater theirs.

 

[graciew]

All work (as long as it’s not sinful/immoral occupation) is dignified, esp when we do it integrity.

That is it,Phil…
May God bless our books and our hands and help us love what we do and those and Who we do it for.

 

[klmt123]

Getting to heaven is more important than getting an education that may steer you in the wrong direction. The rich have a harder time getting into heaven apparently, says the Bible.

 

[graciew]

What a strange dichotomy…
How is vocation or our anchors of interest discovered and helped discover if it isn t listening to God and answering with our God given gifts?
What is the driving force? What or Who will strengthen one along the way?
Vocation,mission…

 

[DeniseNY]

What matters is being kind. There’s no cause to judge anyone who has chosen to take another path from the one we have chosen. It does not make them, or their decision “lesser”

I seem to recall someone who was a carpenter who would probably agree…

 

[AdamP88]

Why do some Christians act like education is the devil? Some act like going to college and bettering ones life is a waste of time and even evil.

I remember when I was younger i had a lot of angry elderly people tell me not to go to college, because it is a stupid scam and that I wasn’t smart enough. They expected me to stay uneducated and work a crappy miserable job like they did.

I did not listen to them. I got an education and now am in a job I love. I even have my masters degree. I think it is assumed that one will leave their faith if they go to study at the university. Where does that come from?

Why are some Christians so against education? Do they really think that we are supposed to hate our life, work a horrible job, and be miserable for our entire lives?

I’ve never experienced this attitude. Is this a cultural thing?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

If you’re not all that bright then you’re better off learning a trade.

People who are good at trades (I know a lot of them) aren’t “not all that bright”. They are bright in a different way, or they simply prefer working a trade, often because they learned it from their father or other relative.

I don’t know about you but i don’t want a man who is “not all that bright” designing and repairing the two-story staircase into my house, or putting in the toilets and plumbing and wiring in my house. People who are good at these jobs are just as smart in their way as the person who gets the bachelor’s in psychology is in another way. The only difference is that society decided that you don’t need a four-year degree in Plumbing Engineering to become a plumber.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

What matters is what the truth is, now what people find offensive.

What also matters is each of us having enough humility to know that we are not the arbiters or experts on “truth”.

 

[bobperk]

Many universities now are launchpads for left-wing activism. They have severed ties with classical Western and Christian thought. Many are SJW boot camps and fornication factories.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Not sure if you were addressing that to me, but if one studies science or math, you will likely meet people from right, left, center, and “who cares, politics is boring”.
You will however also meet lots of Muslims, atheists, and agnostics in those majors. Which isn’t a problem if you’re strong in your faith.

 

[lilypadrees]

Why limit your question to Christians being anti-education? Why not other faiths as well?

Also, you need to realize that it’s not members of various religions who are against furthering education, it’s individuals. The reason could be because they weren’t encouraged to continue beyond what was required. Why don’t you ask the people who tried to discourage you?

 

[signit]

Why do some Christians act like education is the devil? Some act like going to college and bettering ones life is a waste of time and even evil.

[edit]

Why are some Christians so against education? Do they really think that we are supposed to hate our life, work a horrible job, and be miserable for our entire lives?

The only time I’ve ever heard of someone being opposed to education for a religious reason would be from the Jehovah’s Witnesses in my town. The ones my age that I knew tended to go to trade school instead of high school and college because they felt that “the end” was coming soon and they wanted to spend as much time as they could in preaching.

People who are good at trades (I know a lot of them) aren’t “not all that bright”. They are bright in a different way, or they simply prefer working a trade, often because they learned it from their father or other relative.

I don’t know about you but i don’t want a man who is “not all that bright” designing and repairing the two-story staircase into my house, or putting in the toilets and plumbing and wiring in my house. People who are good at these jobs are just as smart in their way as the person who gets the bachelor’s in psychology is in another way. The only difference is that society decided that you don’t need a four-year degree in Plumbing Engineering to become a plumber.

Agreed (also agreeing with the others who posted similar thoughts).

I certainly could never have become a carpenter or a plumber, even if I had the education, and I’d never look down on anyone who can do things I can’t.

It’s not that the people you are referring to are against education. What they are against is education at the expense of religion and against the snobbish attitude that many elites who are part of the Higher Education machine have when it comes to blue collar jobs.

I have heard a little different argument, from blue collar men in my town, that they don’t want young people to go to college because they’ll go off and work in the big city and not take the jobs around here.

Also, there are plenty of educated people who work horrible jobs and hate their lives. A lot of it is the result of parents and teachers funneling kids indiscriminately into college and not allowing them to decide their own future.

One of my high school teachers (who taught college prep) said the exact same thing.

Mommy, Daddy, and the guidance counselor push kids to go to college, when it might be more profitable to look into other alternatives besides college.

With fewer and fewer kids entering trade schools and more people going to college, the bright kids will go to a two year technical school and become plumbers who make 90,000$ a year while the kid with a BA will make 25,000$ a year with 150,000$ in student loan debt.

Oh, I know all about that. from personal experience.

 

[gcshapero]

That’s a loaded question. It could be many things. When I was an evangelical, I met many Christians who would denounce science as if it was a bad thing when in reality, all it is is the exploration of God’s creation and we can learn about how we benefit from it.

When it comes to something like the university system, as someone who lives academics and constant learning and growing in thought, I can empathize with it. The University System as a whole has become breeding grounds for Marxist thought. Trotsky and Marx sought out to infiltrate two institutions; the university and the Church.

The Church infiltration is another discussion for another time (see the confessions of Bella Dodd when she worked as a soviet agent in the 20’s and 30’s).

As far as the university, this is why so many professors side with communism, socialism, and atheism. The French enlightenment was a product of this with the Frankfurt School and promoted nihilism (see Sarte and Camu). Professors are militantly anti-Catholic often and dismantle it often. Meanwhile Christian and even simply Conservative students (even conservatives who aren’t religious) are at the front of attack. So many parents are concerned about sending their kids to universities.

The truth is there are many good universities as alternatives; Franciscan, Auburn, Johns Hopkins, University of Chicago, Mount Saint Mary’s…sadly, even some Catholic universities are iffy (Notre Dam has become very progressive and opposed pro-life events).

So it may not be so much anti-education so much as concerned about how education has been infiltrated. Personally, I’m concerned about sending my kids (when I have them) even to Catholics schools – many of them have lost their way. I’d rather home school.

 

[Eddie18]

The answer to the original post is primarily because today’s schools often have many dangers to our faith, and past popes have repeatedly warned us about this. Some examples:

The Church cannot approve schools which exclude religion from the curriculum, both because religion is the most important subject in education, and because she contends that even secular education is not possible in its best form unless religion be made the central, vitalizing, and co-ordinating factor in the life of the child. The Church, sometimes, tolerates schools in which religion is not taught, and permits Catholic children to attend them, when the circumstances are such as to leave no alternative, and when due precautions are taken to supply by other means the religious training which such schools do not give. She reserves the right to judge whether this be the case, and, if her judgment is unfavourable, claims the right to forbid attendance" (Letter of Gregory XVI to Irish Bishops, 1831).

“…Those parents who allow their children to frequent schools where it is impossible to avoid the loss of souls… according to Catholic moral teaching, such parents, should they persist in their attitude, cannot receive absolution in the Sacrament of Penance.” Instructions Of The Holy Office To The Bishops Of The U.S., Pope Pius IX, 1875

“It is, then, incumbent on parents to strain every nerve to ward off such an outrage, and to strive manfully to have and to hold exclusive authority to direct the education of their offspring, as is fitting, in a Christian manner, and first and foremost to keep them away from schools where there is risk of their drinking in the poison of impiety” Sapientiae Christianae, Pope Leo XIII, 1890

“Obviously the need of this Christian instruction is accentuated by the decline of our times and morals. It is even more demanded by the existence of those public schools, lacking all religion, where everything holy is ridiculed and scorned. There both teachers’ lips and students’ ears are inclined to godlessness. We are referring to those schools which are unjustly called neutral or lay. In reality, they are nothing more than the stronghold of the powers of darkness.” Editae Saepe, Pope St. Pius X, 1910

 

[Tis_Bearself]

No, the difference is that you actually don’t need a four-year degree to become a plumber. Fixing a pipe does not require above average intelligence in the way that doing scientific research does.

To me, that comment shows a significant lack of intelligence on your part. I will leave it at that and also leave the thread.
Have a nice day.