Education

[Guest Emerson]

Why is education, knowledge, discovery, science, logic, critical thinking thought of as the great evil?

I remember back in church it was expected for both the girls and guys to go to college, but for the most part it was seen as a place to pick your MRS or MR. Females who chose careers over families first were not looked great upon, unless they were teachers or did something of that nature.

 

Gosh, what is so bad about being educated and having a high-paying career? I enjoy the finer things in life, I really do. It sucks being poor, I didn't even want to be poor for jesus just because he was poor in the bible. I know to some people money isn't everything, but hell I like money so this was a huge one for me. I also enjoy knowledge & learning.

 

Praying, going to church, "knowing" god hasn't gotten me anywhere. Even if there is an afterlife of some sort, I still want to live this life well. Gurgh, now I know why there are prosperity preachers like Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer.

 

Why is education/knowledge seen as the great evil?

[nirrti]

Interestingly, it was never that way in the churches I went to. Part of it was that I grew up in predominently black churches in which getting an education, whether you were male or female, was a way of lifting you and the whole community up. It was drilled into us from day one to go to school and make something out of ourselves.....because the alternative was much worse for black kids than the possibility of something we learned contradicting the bible.

 

The reason why some churches fear knowledge is the same reason it was illegal to teach slaves how to read. The more you know, the less any group has a hold on you. And ignorance makes defenseless slaves, whether you're a slave to a plantation owner or the church ruling body.

[Padreko]

They want us to be dumb so we can give our money to them. Ever heard of the neverending building fund? hehehehe

[LadyFeline]

Education is "bad" because learned folk are harder to control. They question, they examine, they search for answers - and that's a bad thing when applied to faith.

 

PLUS learning distracts from God, and keeps you from properly worshipping him. You can't worship, after all, when you're so distracted by books and papers that you forget to pray.

 

Ignorant people, on the other hand - especially those who don't know how to read - are easy to control. They're malleable, gullible... they're SHEEP. They believe whatever they're told when it comes from the pulpit, because they believe that those Men of God would NEVER lie to them or mislead them - which is exactly what church leaders are counting on.

 

THAT is why education is "bad".

[Yaoi Huntress Earth]

It wasn't education, but logic that seems to be the bigger problem for fundies. Because you can have a PHD and still be a gulible twit while some lesser educated people can be very wise.

[LosingMyReligion]

Churches encourage education and knowledge...But the moment you question your belief then it becomes evil.

[Angel]

I know that when I was in the christian way, I was always taught that there was nothing to gain with carnal knowledge, but you should be more interested in the spiritual knowledge, better yourself for the kingdom.

It is their way of keeping their thumb on you....the less you know of the "worldly ways" the better off you are (to them).

[Ex-COG]

I think that churches are anti-secular education. Education is good--as long as you attend the properly approved Christian institution, where nothing challenging the faith is taught.

[Guest Emerson]

It wasn't education, but logic that seems to be the bigger problem for fundies. Because you can have a PHD and still be a gulible twit while some lesser educated people can be very wise.

 

Very true. No doubt church leaders especially ones like Joel Osteen enjoy their wealth and power while trying to keep people gullible. Although I do wonder if they tend to educate their children better?

[pandora]

I think that churches are anti-secular education. Education is good--as long as you attend the properly approved Christian institution, where nothing challenging the faith is taught.

 

 

This has been my indoctrination, too. At the church I went to in high school, everyone was encouraged to attend Christian colleges only. Those who went to secular colleges (like myself) were warned about the dangers, the anti-Christian "bias" and we were given materials that were supposed to prevent us from worldly brainwashing. I threw them away. A student at my college recently got a book published about this issue (Abby Nye Fish out of Water). She complained about my college's liberal bias and defamed many of the professors at our school. She said that Christians were given lower grades and that professors were hostile to Christians in philosophy classes. I bought the book and read it.... it was entertaining. It was also a topic of conversation (and ridicule) in the philosophy and religion departments.

 

When my husband and I first started showing signs of this brainwashing (telling my dear mother in law that we believed in evolution and the issues we encountered in philosophy class), she flipped out. She still partly blames our liberal education for our deconversion. In a way, she's right... but it was a good thing.

[Bob the Unbeliever]

Knowledge, Education and such are but tools.

 

Some folk are full of 'knowledge' but do not think.

 

Some highly educated folk are still fools - they do not think, either.

 

Likely this is because thinking is hard work. Many folk would die rather than think about things.

 

Example: Statistics show that several times in your lifetime, you WILL be in a car wreck. Statistics also show that people who wear seat belts tend to have fewer and less severe injuries.

 

Thus, anyone who thinks about the situation will always wear a seat belt.

 

Yet, you get hew-and-cry time and again about how much some folk suffer at being FORCED to wear a seat belt by law - as if some personal 'right' is being abridged.

 

Personally, I say, let'em not wear a seat-belt. (As long as they are of age.) Then, set up the insurance laws such that, if they are NOT wearing a seat-belt, the insurance does not have to pay.

 

In this way, those non-thinkers get their wish; seat-belt use is purely volunteer. And the rest of us don't have to pay for their stupidity when they are injured or killed because of not wearing one.

 

...

 

Thinking is hard work, so many folk would rather have someone else do it for them. Look to the many politicians that win elections - the ones with the surest message, simple and not complex are the ones most often the winners.

 

But, on the face of it, what does 'family values' really mean?

 

I mean, who's family? Hitler's? Charlie Mansons' family?

 

And who's values are we speaking of, really? Those of the KKK? How about those extreme suicide bombers? THEY have values - very strong ones, that motivate them to kill themselves.

 

Yet, you'll hear politicians and preachers saying "we need more family values" as if it actually means something ...

 

Yes, most folk like for others to do their thinking for them, and dish it all up in 30-second sound bites ... for some nice examples, tune in to Faux News.

 

...

 

A good education can lead a body to thinking; so can travel to cultures different than your own. The more different, the more likely chance your mind will be expanded.

 

I once said that everyone should at least be exposed to basic Calculus; the mental processes needed to understand it's basic workings force you to think logically.

 

Computer programming is another basic tool that teaches logical thinking.

 

Once logical thinking takes root, if your mind is continued to be stimulated, one follows the other.

 

However, constantly feeding your mind with things you already agree with and already 'know' will not help at all; it only allows mental stagnation.

 

In spite of any emotional high you may get from the experience ...

[Kalidasa]

Because it teaches us to think. And when we've learned to think for ourselves, it's all downhill from there.

[nirrti]

Very true. No doubt church leaders especially ones like Joel Osteen enjoy their wealth and power while trying to keep people gullible. Although I do wonder if they tend to educate their children better?

 

Olsteen, in one of his sermons, told about the time when he and his son where driving by his newly constructed church. His son, upon seeing it, said, "That's going to be my church someday".

 

Yep, they educate their children, alright....to succeed them in the "family business".