Why does religion have such a strong influence on people that they'll sacrifice things like a better education, etc?

Education and faith do not couple well. The churches know this.

To a true believer, religion is everything. I mean, it’s the Universe, and God, and the end-all be-all, it’s about why you’re here, your eternal soul, what will happen after you die. It’s not separate from the world, it IS the world.

College and education might be useful, but they are just part of the world. It doesn’t hold the secret to life, the universe, and everything. It won’t help your immortal soul and might even damn it further. Thus, religion trumps education.

Think of it like this. If you were dying on a battlefield, would you be too concerned about a papercut or a stubbed toe or even a broken arm? Good and evil are the battlefield, and your life is in danger. trivial things, things of the world (like college, or what you had for dinner) don’t matter in that kind of grand scheme.

I don’t believe this way, but I think I grok how someone could.

People are scared of dying. They don’t know what comes after death, so when they think they have an answer to their fear, they cling on to it. They think it doesnt really matter if you are a bum on the street as long as you are religious and are going to get into heaven for eternity.

The religion I grew up in expected Armageddon at any time, so they saw no point in filling the head with knowledge that was about to become irrelevant.

Not everyone has the same values. I can tell you that after having graduated college I wish that education wasn’t so highly valued in my community so I would have felt comfortable pursuing other parts of my life before choosing education on my own agenda.

It is simply your value system that says a better education is more important that say religious upbringing.

I’m still trying to figure out what you mean by “fewer educational opportunities” and why you seem to have the assumption that a religiously oriented school would necessarily be inferior.

Answering your question the way you phrased it would mean that I agree with the validity of your assumptions without any qualifying details.

Of which religion are these people? If it’s the Amish, then your question would be answered by the fact that in their insular society farming knowledge and homemaking skills are what these children need most to function as adults in that society.

If you are speaking of something like Jewish Yeshivahs which, due to their small size, may not have science labs or large sports facilities. However, their religious training focuses a lot on the premise of questioning everything and submitting it to rigorous examination. Not such a bad atmosphere for developing critical thinking which is transferable to secular topics as well.

And I’m sure that there would be many graduates of RC schools (particularly in inner city poor neighborhoods) who are very thankful for the good foundation in the three Rs which enabled them to have the skills and self-discipline necessary to avail themselves of other educational opportunities.

There are many many parochial schools of various religions and denominations which may have small underfunded schools without all the bells and whistles and yet turn out class after class of students scoring several grades higher than other students on standardized tests and college entrance exams.

Your premise of religious education=stupidity is faulty to begin with as a general rule of thumb. There may be certain cults or sects which de-value education because it interferes with their heirarchical control, but to make the assumption that this is true across the board sets up a false dichotomy.

All the words above make my head hurt…

Then don’t read them.

:)

@Buttonstc Hmm, Its so crazy it just might work! :)

@Buttonstc – There are certain religious schools that aren’t necessarily accredited, like Eternity Bible College, Heartland Baptist Bible College, and Patriot Bible University. Unaccredited schools are often unaccredited because their academics are in doubt, but they often have a strong religious curriculum.

For instance, Heartland Baptist’s website claims, “Our educational philosophy is based on a God-centered view of truth and man as presented in the Bible. ...training of students in this direction should be undergirded by an unshakable faith in the divine inspiration and infallibility and inerrancy of the Word of God. We believe the King James Bible is God’s Word supernaturally and providentially preserved for the English-speaking people.” They go on to add, “Heartland Baptist Bible College seeks no national or regional accreditation, but seeks only God’s approval.” That means they can teach pretty much whatever they want, as long as God (who is notably silent) doesn’t mind. It also means that their academic standards are probably not as rigorous as an accredited university. Faith-based teaching probably doesn’t lend itself to the kind of questioning and research that a secular education might.

This is the sort of school I was thinking the questioner had in mind. These schools are not academic powerhouses, so much as tools for the indoctrination of the youth. As such, academics are sacrificed for a religious upbringing, and if graduates put these schools on their resumés, many employers would probably giggle (unless it’s at a suitably pious business, I suppose).

I’m just going to respond in general here. I wasn’t making an equation that “religious education=stupidity”. I never once even insinuated as such. Laureth read my question accurately. I was saying that there are many unaccredited schools out there, and there are many religion based programs that are NOT good tools for learning. With that said, some of the best schools in my area are RC and Jewish (The best school in my area is actually a private, non-parochial school).

Continue on…

For the same reason some people value “education” over God. We’re diverse.. us people. That’s just how it is.

@NaturalMineralWater As a parentless adult, I just wonder how someone would want their children to go to a school that doesn’t offer any interaction with other kids (one is home schooled, the others are in a school that has a whopping total of 8 kids in the SCHOOL) and none of the teachers speak English as their primary language (unfortunately, they aren’t getting the advantages of foreign language being taught). Lastly, of course, the curriculum is not exactly challenging. What happens, is that it never allows for excellence, it simply allows for average. A really “smart” kid will eventually become bored, I’d fear. Obviously, this isn’t true of all programs, I’m just referring to those that aren’t meeting exceptional abilities.

@jennincincy The Quakers are doing just fine. Most of society could learn a lot from them. I don’t have the self discipline to do it myself.. but I’m not so blind that I can’t see how much better it is.

Some religions have purposely set it up so that their followers are less educated. A friend of mine was not allowed to go to college because her Jehovah parents didn’t allow it. She had received a scholarship and they still forbid it and she complied.

Education and modern faith do couple well. No faith should ever ask someone to give up critical thinking. Education and spiritual voids do not couple well, because those voids will often propel people toward weird New Age ideas. How can you prepare for your math test when you are abducted by aliens performing medical experiments?

The strong influence problem can arise when people switch off critical thinking and follow some guru or fanatic clergyman claiming monopolies of truth.

@laureth

I understand your point, but the schools you listed are all college level. I was coming at the question from the opposite end of the spectrum, namely elementary and high school level.

Why did I do that? Because even tho the OP gave few details in the original statement OTHER THAN the following, and I quote: “being a good religious scholar isn’t going to help you get into college…”

It was only after being challenged to be more specific, that the actual parameters which she was referring to were clarified and in those PARTICULAR instances, I more clearly understand the point.

But the question was phrased regarding “religious people” consigning their children to mediocrity for the sake of their faith.

I did use a poorly chosen shortcut phrase to get my point across and for that I apologize for that. But generalizations were being made and my initial point still stands. Namely that just because a school has a religious affiliation does not equate with mediocrity.

There are many different types of religious bodies of all different types. I just named a few off the top of my head. ( my apologies to the Quakers. How could I have forgotten to mention them after having lived in Phila. for over 20 years.)

The types of colleges which you mentioned and quoted from are all in the category of “ardent fundamentalist”. but there are many many different religious bodies which are not so extreme and insular in their viewpoints.

I taught at a very small Lutheran school bordering on Bed-Stuy, one of the worst inner city neighborhoods in Bklyn. People were not enrolling their kids in our school for the religion but for the fact that the majority of our students were several grade levels above average after being in the school for several years.

And this was certainly not unique to us. There are countless small, underfunded, and unacredited elem schools of every religion you can name who year after year consistently turn out student performing well over the average as measured by standardized tests.

Yes, there are some sects such as JWs who discourage academic achievement, but I regard them in the same category as fanatical fundamentalists of any type, namely ignorant and potentially dangerous.

The vast majority of religious schools are far better balanced and as comitted to excellence as any secular school. just because they are small and underfunded doesnt mean they cannot provide a good educational foundation to prepare them for college. Being a “religious scholar” as was originally referenced does not bar a child from attaining the excellence needed to succeed in higher learning.

That’s why I particularly referenced Yeshivahs. The religious part of their curriculum is especially rigorous as the study of Torah demands, but so is the rest of their curriculum.

Religion and academic excellence are not necessarily mutually exclusive, regardless of how much religion gets indoctrinated into students. Most Christian denominations don’t have as rigorous a religion curriculum as Yeshivahs do, but I do think they are an excellent illustration of religion combined with academic excellence.

Of course, for those who prefer no religion for there children at all, that’s certainly you freedom and your right. But there are those for whom it is significant in their lives who don’t appreciate being regarded as mentally or academically inferior because of it. If there were some mutual respect, it would be kinda nice.

I get your point, @Buttonstc. However, the asker seemed to be more concerned with schools where the academics are sub-par, hence the question. I did not perceive “religious schools with excellent academics” as being in the field of query.

ow, my head…..

@laureth

I got the impression from many of the replies that religious schools with excellent academics were considered an oxymoron (or at least so unlikely that they wouldn’t factor in at all).

That’s my personal impression and not just from this question alone.

But, that would be getting too far off topic. Every parent has the right to do what they feel is in the best interests of their own child within their own value system.

I would not want to raise my kids with as little education or regard for it as the Amish do. However, I don’t look down my nose at them and judge them so harshly. I have a lot of respect for their way of life and sticking to their principles.

Super intellectualism is not always all it’s cracked up to be. Just because someone gets an advanced degree from a desirable university like Harvard or Yale does not make them superior to everyone else.

George Bush…

Need I say more?

Just one example for a high standard of religious educational institutions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Jesus#Jesuit_Educational_institutions

Many Jesuits are actually very liberal.