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Thursday, March 7, 2013

The Wisdom in Getting Married Young - Part 2 (Should women go to college?)


The Church and Natural Law teach that parents are the primary educators of their children (CCC#2223). This includes having the right to send them to the school of the parent's choice. Yet, while every human should be given a basic education, this does not necessitate every human is entitled to a "higher" academic education. The purpose of college is that of educating a person for a certain field of employment. But if someone sees a "career" as an end in itself, then they're naturally going to put marriage on the back burner. So any woman who is going to college should stop and ask themselves what their real goals are. Do they want to be a mother or do they want a career? Most women are torn, because they want both, with nature calling them to motherhood and society calling them to the workforce. 

As we've seen the last 40 years or so, something has got to give. A mother has limited energy and cannot both work full time and care for her children at home. This is why today being a stay at home mother is the 'new' radical thing to do, with more and more of them realizing that motherhood is the way to go. As uncomfortable as this sounds, this naturally means that women should not be going college. They can go to community college to sharpen certain skills or learn certain homemaking skills, but to invest four years or more into getting a degree - particularly with the intention of having a career - is a misguided effort. 

This will naturally come across as harsh and cruel and misogynist for those who are not in tune with what I'm saying. I am not saying women should be kept ignorant. I'm saying investing many years and lots of money for a degree that you won't use is just not smart. I'm sorry if I'm the one who had to break that news to you. Most parents and high schools and teachers are either too ignorant or don't want to hurt feelings, so they refuse to tell their young adults (both men and women) that college can be a rip off and that it is foolish for anyone to invest their time and go into massive debts seeking a degree that wont be used. College should not be such a pressure for so many young adults, and that's because college is not for everyone. Those reading this must distinguish between (a) educating someone (which can and should be done well through at least high-school) and (b) putting them through a multi-year institution to get a certification.

The mentality that we're fighting here is that of essentially materialism, in which one's worth is measured by how much money they earn. With this measuring stick, it naturally makes women feel useless and inferior if they cannot bring home a paycheck, and it causes anxiety for men who cannot "cut it" in college. This is why there use to be trade schools where men could learn real skills and arts, where as now everyone is crammed into an auditorium being indoctrinated with philosophical and moral errors along the way to securing their degree.

All parents and young adults should be extremely vigilant of which "institution of higher learning" they're looking into. Most colleges, including most Catholic ones, are seeped in soul destroying immorality, both inside and outside the classroom. In many ways, college is a dangerous place, especially for young minds, and especially for women who desire to be mothers. The Church has repeatedly warned of the dangers of godless schools. 

Even Catholic universities with good reputations like Franciscan University of Steubenville can fall into the trap of misdirecting young adults, especially women, from their natural call to marriage and parenthood. Pope Pius XI made a startling claim in his Encyclical Divini Redemptoris:
Communism is particularly characterized by the rejection of any link that binds woman to the family and the home, and her emancipation is proclaimed as a basic principle. She is withdrawn from the family and the care of her children, to be thrust instead into public life and collective production under the same conditions as man.
This means that any Catholic institution who either implicitly or explicitly facilitates this false "emancipation" of women is unconsciously espousing a central tenet of Communism. Unfortunately, this seems like the case with most of the better Catholic institutions.

Catholics who know better must be willing to speak out about this insanity and misdirection of the youth of our culture. We must be willing to question and examine even the most sacred secular "rights" to see if they've become idols for us.

9 comments:

Kate said...

Hi Nick,
I was anxious to see what you were going to write for this second post. I am glad that I find myself agreeing with quite a bit of it, but I would like to add a some too.

I, like so many others, went to a nominally 'Catholic' university for a 4 year degree. I wanted the degree for self-interest rather than to prepare for a career. I met my husband there...which was another part of my goal. I knew I would find all kinds of interesting, educated, ambitious young men if I went to college. I found a great one and married him 3 weeks after graduation.

I am only a few years out of school and I still have plenty of debt. But I don't regret it. I stay at home with my 3 (almost) 4 children.

Most of my friends are stay at home moms without degrees. They are wonderful women and mothers, but they often worry about the possibility that they may need to work one day. I don't have those same fears. I have more confidence because of my education. However, you are right. College is not for everyone. An no one should be made to feel guilty if they choose to not attend. This society is not geared towards making women feel good about themselves.

I'd like to see other options available for mothers. Not just online degrees, but classes that educate women while encouraging their vocations and their mothering. Just my thoughts.
Kate

JohnD said...

Good post Nick. I totally agree that accumulating massive debts getting a degree that will not be used is terribly unwise! More people need to stand up and say that. Especially when it is so easy to educate yourself via internet and books these days.

On a small theological note, I find peculiar the phrase "natural law teaches" but I am fairly sure you simply mean the teaching "is in accord with natural law." Does the CCC define natural law btw?

Nick said...

Hello Kate,

Thanks for your comments. I've actually heard of many women who go to solid Catholic institutions to get their "MRS Degree" (Mrs.).


John,

The CCC does talk about Natural Law, but defining it can be somewhat tough because the Natural Law covers a wide range of moral issues. While most are aware that Natural Law covers issues of basic morality like those found in the Decalogue, the Encyclicals of Leo are especially amazing in bringing out Natural Law's teaching on family life, government, and economics. In its essence, Natural Law pertains to man's natural ability to Reason, which is man's ability to reflect upon Creation and thus recognize why God made things the way He did.

Natural Law is like knowing basic arithmetic, giving you a foundation to build more advanced mathematical concepts from, where as Divinely Revealed Law (e.g. teachings of Sacred Scripture) is like knowing Calculus.

Here is the CCC introduction to Natural Law http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s1c3a1.htm

De Maria said...

Nick,

From simple, personal observation, what Kate said makes sense. Most young women that I observed in college, seemed to be looking for a serious relationship and marriage. Whereas, most immoral young men took advantage of such ladies and used that to play the field.

My biggest concern with college though, for men or women, is something you touched upon. The soul destroying immorality which can corrupt even righteous souls.

I think, however, you asked the wrong question. Today, it isn't necessary for a woman to go to College for her to have a full time career outside of the home. That is the question. Should a married woman have a full time job outside the home?

All my non-homeschooling friends. Everyone of them, expects their wives to work and bring home funds to help support the family. I don't know when it happened that men expected their wives to work. But that is the reality today. At least, in my corner of the world. The only ones who want their wives at home are those who are keeping their children at home and away from the public schools.

De Maria said...

Kate, you're right.

Nick, what about women getting a full time job? There are many career secretaries who never set foot in college?

Nick said...

Hello De Maria,

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with a woman having a degree or having a full time job. What is wrong is when a woman's natural vocation to motherhood is subverted/subordinated to less important things like a career or advanced degree.

The modern push to have as many women in college and the workforce is not done with the woman's well being in mind. Rather, it's largely money driven, in which the businesses known as colleges can collect $50k per female student in tuition and the workforce can be doubled and thus drive down wages and benefits. On another level, it's geared towards the eradication of the family, such that the woman doesn't get the chance to be a mother.

So in response to your question about a woman who is a "career secretary," the question I would ask is in what context is she being a secretary?

Consider: Is she forced to do this because she's a single mother? Is she forced to do this because her husband cannot earn enough due to unjust economic practice? Is she doing this to prove she can earn as much as a man? Is she doing this because she never found a spouse? These and similar questions show just how sad and tragic of circumstances a woman who is a career secretary can be in.

Surely a career secretary is not doing this to boast that she can be a great mom while being outside of the house 50 hours per week.

JohnD said...

Thanks for the reply and link!

Anonymous said...

No. Women should never go to college or else they might suffer abuse at the hands of their husbands for emasculating them.

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