First, I wouldn’t presume to tell you what to do with your life, I’m merely suggesting that attitudes like yours, which view “engineering, science and medicine” as the only “real” degrees available at a university are at the root of the problem of the liberal domination of the university, especially the social sciences.
If conservatives constantly tell their children that the only “real” degrees are in engineering, science and medicine, then how can we be surprised when the liberals take over every other department on campus?
A hypothetical for discussion: a bright young man is struggling.
His head tells him to go into engineering, makes some money. His heart is pulling him into the ministry, serve the community and spread the message of Jesus Christ.
Torn between getting a “real” degree in a “real” subject like Engineering or getting a degree in Religious Studies, this young fellow has some serious choices to make.
If the young man follows his heart he will study religion and work in the ministry, earning next to nothing. He will be poor and in your analysis “a loser”.
If he follows his head he will get a degree in Electrical Engineering, become a real bigshot and make more money than anyone posting on Freerepublic.
In a purely financial calculation the Engineering degree is an obvious choice. But as you have discovered by now, there is more to life than money. Money is important, but it is not the sole determiner of happiness and fulfillment. People are motivated by many things other than money, and that is why the streets are not teeming with prostitutes. Many folks do a given job because they love it and they would continue to do that job even if they could afford to retire at 40. They don’t view their work as a misery to be endured until they can cash in stock options and tell people “f*** you”.
So should conservatives tell young men and women in university that they are idiots if they study “nonsense” like religion, history, literature, etc?
If we do that as conservatives, we surrender the university to the left.
And then your children will have to sit through another four years of mindless left-wing propaganda in two thirds of their courses while they pursue a “real” degree.
And the beat goes on.
I enjoyed your post and your perspective.
Our advice, concerning education if one felt “called” to the ministry, was for the student to first get a secular degree that he could fall back on and use to support his family in the future, then seek graduate work in theology.
I know several men in the ministry now who used their secular degree in order to allow them to be “tent makers”, like Paul. Especially in church planting, the church often can’t afford to support a pastor until it grows a little, and having a way to earn a living, apart from the pastorate, has helped these men and their churches when they first started.
Have you been watching the John Adams series on HBO?
It’s very interesting. One thing that I think should be noted is that many of our founding fathers had alternative means to survive. Many of them had farms and they worked on them.
John Adams had a family farm, and his wife and kids ran it while he was helping to found our nation. Of course, he also had a law degree, and then he became President of our country.
I think those of us with engineering/science backgrounds are very practical. We think you always need to have a way of supporting your family and that comes first.
If you don’t want to have a family, then you can do other things. Also, you can do things after your children are grown.
My husband wants to retire when he is 50. One of the things he has talked about is going back to college. He won’t be sacrificing family life at that point.