"A Great School"

Speaking with a friend a while back, he commented that he knew someone whose ancestor was one of the founders of a well-known and prestigious college (which I will not name) here in America. He often bragged about this fact of his connection with "such a great school". I was surprised that he thought this way, as all that I knew of the college was that it was decidedly anti-catholic. The school had taken a stance supporting many things that the Catholic Church considers to be gravely immoral, and it had attacked (sometimes violently) many things that the Catholic Church considers to be holy.

His comment was clearly presuming that just the name of the school is enough to make one gasp with awe. When I gave only a hesitant acknowledgement to his statement, he was clearly offended. I had said, "I don't know about their academics, but I would not consider them to be strong in morals or theology". He was upset at me, and replied, "they would disagree with you, as they are one of the top schools in the US". That is not what I would consider to be godly way of thinking.

Let us imagine that "Beelzebub University" had a very rigorous and vigorous medical program. Let us also imagine that they graduated some of the top doctors in the USA. Does that necessarily mean that they were free from moral corruption, or (worse) that their moral stance does not matter? Anyone with a clear sense of logic would know the answer to that. Does a college or university's good school of medicine negate any concern as to what their theology is like? It is quite remarkable that criticizing a school (any school) seems to be a major taboo. It is as though the educational establishment is untouchable.

How are we supposed to think about a school that promotes ungodliness, immorality, and knowingly encourages division in society? Do we brush it off and ignore it because "they have a great music department" (or whatever department you like)? Maybe it is their football team that we have a worldly attachment to, and we refuse to consider how they are destroying the souls of numerous young adults every day? It is not very hard to distinguish between an academic field and a moral or theological field. Yet, why are so many willing to compromise the morals for the sake of the academia? I fear that it is because many Catholics have bought into the idea that a big paycheck is more important than theology (which is a damnable lie).

Accepting academics over morals is certainly not the only reason why so many people come back from college having lost their faith, but it is definitely one of the most significant factors in it. "I want to go to this school because they have a great [insert name of favorite subject] department" is not a justifiable reason to subject yourself (or your children) to a faculty of heretics and pagans. For that matter, how can we say that their area of study is "fantastic" if they also deny the Catholic faith? We must distinguish fields of study, but we cannot fully separate them. A bad theology will affect every area of our thinking (whether we realize it or not).

Do you give full consideration to the sources that you learn from? Just because someone can teach you how to swing a hammer, or balance the accounts on a computer program, does not mean that they will keep their errant theology separate from what they do. If you have fallen into the error that compartmentalizes religion and theology into a "private sector" in the back of our minds, and claims that theology should be kept out of the public sphere, then you need to know that this is the deception of the devil himself. This is the grounds of the confusion that cannot see how doctrinal errors will affect every area of thinking.

Learn discernment. Grow in your knowledge of the faith. Understand the fact that all truth is God's truth, and if someone steals God's truth and then tries to exclude Him from it, then they are at war with God, and all their thinking is suspect. It is the heresy of modernism that tells us that it is OK to exclude God from science, medicine, philosophy, history (etc.). Be cautious of who you learn from (and especially who your children learn from). Do not allow paganism and secularism to creep into your heart and mind. Your eternal destiny is at stake.