Lack of Education Makes Bad Mothers?
Joy Anna Duggar, who is nineteen years old is pregnant and is causing quite a stir among the feminists of today. “What? She doesn’t have a college education?” “What will she have to offer her baby?” As one woman responded on an article about Joy Anna:
“What about an education? The ability to pay for a child’s needs? Babies are a blessing but they deserve to be raised in a loving and accepting home. An uneducated teenager without a job other than TLC is not a role model for young girls . Originally my daughters were allowed to watch the show but as the young ladies grew and were denied an education and basic civil rights — the show was banned. I have 7 children. 4 college graduates , 2 daughters in college who also work to pay for their education . The Duggar ladies are an example of what not to do.”
Up until about 150 years ago, few women received college educations yet children were still born and raised to be responsible adults. A college education does NOT make a woman smarter in any way that matters to the Lord or to eternity. In fact, most college educations poison women’s minds since they teach everything contrary to the Word of God. Some of our most famous presidents were home educated by mothers without a college education.
From what I have seen, higher education makes uninvolved mothers since mothers aren’t home full time with their children. They value their careers over their children. They find being home full time mundane and not for them, especially since it’s so easy to find care for their children with the many daycare centers available today. Higher education does nothing to help women become more submissive wives, better mothers, or homemakers who keep clean and tidy homes. They teach nothing that the Lord cares about concerning godly womanhood.
Why would Joy Anna have to be the one to “pay for a child’s needs” as this woman states? Joy Anna did it right. She married a godly, hard-working man to provide and protect her. If something happens to her, I am sure her family would support her as they are called to do biblically (1 Timothy 5:4).
Joy Anna’s baby will be raised in a loving and accepting home. The Duggars believe that when a couple gets married, they begin having babies, if the Lord blesses them. Surprise, surprise! The fact that this is not common today, even among Christians, is tragic. God created marriage and commanded us to be fruitful and multiply. Children are gifts from the Lord and raising four children and now having almost six grandchildren, I can say without a doubt that they are all our greatest blessings!
“An uneducated teenager without a job other than TLC is not a role model for young girls.” I can tell you that she is going to be a far superior role model to her children than many highly educated women are today. Joy Anna will be home full time with her children and showing and teaching them the ways of godliness. Her marriage will be strong and she will show her children the joy of the Lord. What’s more important than this? An education and career? I think not!
Finally, this woman accused the Duggars by saying the children were “denied an education and basic civil rights”? They were all homeschooled and seem to be very intelligent and wise children and adults. I have no idea what she is referring to concerning basic civil rights. Does she mean it’s because the girls all wore skirts and had long hair, didn’t go to public schooling or universities, didn’t grow up watching TV or maybe because they were given strict courting rules? From everything I have seen and read, they are one of the most joyful families I have ever seen! My mother never had a college education and she was a fabulous mother just as Joy Anna will be.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
1 Corinthians 3:19
17 thoughts on “Lack of Education Makes Bad Mothers?”
I’ve come to a place where I’m almost completely turned off the internet. So much smut and gossip and whining etc going on, i really don’t see how it is helpful. Research may be more difficult but it can be done without it.
I just had a two day tiff with Duggar haters. Normally I’d roll my eyes and ignore it. But this time I had enough and asked them to keep their vulgar remarks and unsubstantiated opinions to themselves. And all hell broke loose and I wont dare to repeat some of what I was accused of, threatened with or called. But I was astonished at the attitude of these people. I just gave up.
Michael Pearl has pointed out about some Amish women in their community wishing to homeschool their kids. And they don’t go to school after the age of 13 and often can’t read well, etc. But somehow they end up raising highly intelligent kids. Some going on to become neurologists and cardiologists with very good incomes. Their education was poor, but they have a mother who taught them persistence, determination, problem solving, etc. And they often came out top of the class. Amazing considering they generally aren’t taught after 13 and are then expected to run the family farm or business alongside their parents. So “college education” has NOTHING to do with it. Their success in life is largely influenced by the parents.
Does anyone else find it ironic that she bans her daughters from exploring other points of view while condemning others for supposedly doing the same?
My grandmother’s education was ended age 8. She had only 2 years of formal education and she was functionally illiterate. However she was a very hard worker in the farm that her family rented (they were very poor and didn’t own anything) and she raised 3 children. She was a good cook, she kept a very clean house and made her own clothes. She has been married for more than 50 years to a difficult man and has been a very good mother. She helped raise Her grandchildren. Her last 8 years of life were mostly spent in a nursing home after a stroke. She was the model patient, always kind and never complaining. Her children visited at least her several times a week (if not more often) and when she was in the hospital they would be there also in the night. She died as a true Christian.
I agree that a person in my grandmother situation would face serious difficulties nowadays, as there are more dangers that we need to protect our children from, like inappropriate content on internet, which a person with limited literacy might find difficult to identify . However a college education is not required, one needs *only* good literacy and numeracy plus some critical thinking skills and a bit of common sense.
I will start by stating that I am a college graduate and loved what i did for living but i find it quite hypocritical how many women especially feminist are preaching that a woman should be able to do what she wants when she wants and live her life the way she sees fit but when a woman chooses to become a wife and a mother and to stay home she’s looked down upon. I met my husband at 25 we married when I was 27 and I stopped working and became a full-time homemaker. It’s amazing how many sly and rude comments I receive when someone asks me what I do for a living and I tell them I’m a homemaker, they like to assume that I have no education and all I do is sit home in front of the TV all day when the truth is quite the opposite we have our own garden that we grow our own food we have chickens for eggs and each year I learn more about homesteading I’ve taught myself how to can how to sew and how to knit I would have never been able to do so if I was still working outside the home. Yes it’s hard sometimes living off one income but Im proud of all that my husband and I have been able to accomplish together and I would not trade it for anything in this world.
I think the commenter meant they were denied because they were never even given the option of whether they wanted to go to college or not. My husband was in the same circle as the Duggars and he said that in their family the girls simply aren’t allowed to go. Same as with jobs, they cannot work a standard job and never had the choice as to if they wanted or not. It is the lack of choice that make people uncomfortable, and I can understand that. They have some very smart girls who I’m sure gave quiet dreams and aspirations of their own, but instead they are home helping their Mama care for the kids, and never having an actual choice about what they want to do, experience or learn in life.
We didn’t expect or demand our kids to go to college, but we did insist they learn a skill or trade in line with their talents and passion that they could use to suppprt themselves or fall back on if need be, as their father and I will not be able to financially support them and their families should something happen. We barely get by as it is. 🙂 3 of our 5 went to college, one went to trade school and one started her own photography business and just supplemented her knowledge with business classes on the side.
Thank you Lori for this. I’ve had it with the Duggar haters too. Having a college education does not make one a better mother. I’ve been around women of various Christian denominations and they are wonderful mothers. They have children who are following the Lord who in turn, have children who are following the Lord.
Joy is going to be a great mother because she has a wonderful example of what a godly mother is.
Great point Taylor :). The blind are blind to their own blindness.
People’s comments about the Duggars such as the one you quoted make me just shake my head. Such a shame that they don’t understand the value of a Godly wife, mother and homemaker!
I, like Joy, was married just after I turned 19 and got pregnant a month later and had my first child the month before I turned 20! I have been happily married (we’ll celebrate 17 years this month) and have three children who have been homeschooled for the past decade. My daughter is learning to have knowledge and to know how to learn…but she has all plans *not* to go to college but to do as the Lord directs her (we’re praying a husband and children will be the direction He has for her). We are completely joy-filled and thankful for this life the Lord has given us. We praise Him for it daily! My boys are being trained up and educated to be able to work and provide for their families. I believe this is the biblical model as well as the *best* way to do things! :o) We are FAR from perfect…but striving to do things in a way that glorifies the Lord. An unbelieving society will never understand that!
First comment. I find it strange how we as a society has so devalued our educational system. It used to be an 8th grade education along with some work at home or at a neighbor’s business. Then as the professional educators took over then a secondary (high school) educations was needed. Now we see that a bachelors degree is needed for any job. Many of the therapies in the medical field (physical, occupational, and speech) we see that a masters or even doctorate is required. What has all of this education given us as a society? A wealthy education establishment. We still see men and women who may or may not have a “formal” education who have made it in this world’s by seeing a need and filling that need. They did not need to get an A on a thesis paper and have it vetted out by peers or other educated people. Again who is the judge in your life? God or Man?
Also with that is all of the specialization even for a bachelors degree. I see it in engineering. There are very almost no general engineers who could do a bit of everything and be great teammates on design teams because they know a bit of everything and are willing to learn more about specific items. Likewise in medicine the new general practitioners are the Physician Assistants. They are more like the old family doctors we had many years ago. They are filling a need that was left void because of the need for more specializing.
Second thought. Yes the young women may have a dream outside of God’s plan for them. We all have dreams outside of God’s plan for us. But if we go back to the simple rule of loving God with all of our heart, mind, and soul we will follow God’s plan and be a witness to others on how to follow God’s plan. Note how I said the dreams may be outside of God’s plan. As we grow in Christ and follow Christ more and more we start see that we are not following our dreams but God’s dreams and ways. If we are not following God then we will allow our dreams to override God’s plan for us. By not following God’s plan then we may not be fully blessed by Him.
Third point. Each family – specifically each head of the family has to look at where and how God is calling him and his family to live their lives. It may be get the young women married and having children at a young age so that they are having children at the optimal healthy time of their lives. Also as parents get older they are not able to keep up the the younger ones. So having children at a young age is better in many ways. The wife could go back later or with basic skills become an asset to her husband’s career. If the husband has his own company he can use his wife as a helpmate in that venture. if she has a degree in something other than what the family business is what good was her degree and the money spent on that degree if it does nothing to help the business. A person’s education never stops once you have a diploma or a degree. So these young women are still able to learn more and be more open for the leading of their husbands.
Just FYI, I’m pretty sure some of the Duggar girls have done midwifery training.
How many of the Duggar boys are going to college? I think as a family they just put limited value on certain college degrees (although I doubt they disdain them all). I know them and their children personally and I can tell you the children have a deep love and respect for their parents and that is more than can be said of many American families these days.
As a 19-year-old I had plans to go to college, but my plans got “interrupted” when a godly young man asked me to marry him. 🙂 Not once, not ONCE, have I regretted saying “yes” to that! Why in the world would I want to send my kids off to school and daycare, and spend my whole day working to pay off college debt, a second vehicle, daycare, business clothes, and junk food? No thanks. 🙂 I’ll take the road less travelled by…
I just don’t get why people can’t accept that there are different ways of doing things and there isn’t usually one right way to do it.
I’m not a hard core “women shouldn’t work” believer but I am not a feminist either. To each her own. If Joy Anna is happy with the way she is living, than what does it matter to this woman?
I was raised in a godly home, by very strong Christian parents. My mom and dad both love Jesus with all their hearts, and have prayed for God’s plans to be carried out in all of our lives. I became a Christian when I was seven years old, and have followed Jesus ever since.
That being said, although my dad was head of our house and our provider, my mom worked outside our home as well. She stayed at home with us full time until my youngest brother went to school. My father was the one who encouraged her to work, and paid for her to be educated and licensed as a real estate agent. No one was prouder than my dad when she graduated!
I must admit, that in no way do I feel cheated that my mom worked outside our home. She was always home when we got out of school, our house was always very clean, neat, and tidy; she was there when we went to bed at night, and with us when we woke up the next morning. We went to church as a family, and we were involved in many ministries together.
I know there isn’t a “one side fits all” method for raising families and godly children. What works for one particular family may not work for another, and that’s okay.
My father saved and financed a college education for both of my brothers and myself. He felt very strongly about all of his children having a college degree, especially me, his daughter. And, when I graduated from college, tears of joy flowed from his eyes!
I attended a state university, and became involved with an on campus ministry. I made people there that today, 25 years later, I remain in contact with and consider them to be my dearest friends. My faith grew considerably, by leaps and bounds, and I learned much more about God, His Word, and His plans for my life. Even though I heard some things taught in college that I did not agree with, I was strong enough in my faith to know truth from a lie.
College taught me MUCH more than what I learned in class through books and assignments. My parents weren’t close by, and at that time, there wasn’t a bank on every corner that my father could go to and send money to me. I learned how to completely trust God to meet every single need. He surprised me in countless ways during my college years. Not only did I earn a Bachelor’s Degree, I came to know God in a more intense and personal way. I grew more in college than I did at any other time of my life so far. And, everything I learned during those college years has continued to impact my life today.
Please know that I’m certainly not insulting or putting down ladies that don’t have a college degree or an education. God’s plans for me are not His plans for you. He has a beautiful, fantastic plan for each of us as His children. I wouldn’t feel comfortable trying to fulfill someone else’s plan– it would be like a square peg trying to go through the round hole!
The most important thing is that we as ladies seek God’s will and plans for each of our lives.
Yes I agree completely with you!!!
As a long-time Duggar fan (over 12 years) I’ve had my fair share of debates with the Duggar haters. I can shed some light on a few key points that the haters/trolls believe about the Duggars. Firstly, they’re appalled at Michelle’s blog stating that women should be joyfully available for their husbands. The idea of “submission” sparks true anger in these haters. They’re convinced that the kids, particularly the girls, are miserable because of the things they are “denied” (freedom to sin at will from what I’ve read). Poor Jana seems to bear the brunt of the scorn. She’s been pegged for years as a slave/prisoner in her own home, forced to remain single and raise her younger siblings. It’s truly galling to see how this precious family is so often treated. I love them and I credit them with helping me to change my own views on the world and on Christ.
Amen, sister! I have had so many debates with Duggar haters that I can’t even remember them all. It’s interesting though that it’s the haters who end up blocking me on social media and not the other way around. Why? Because they know deep down my arguments are more valid than theirs and they can’t win. It’s all very frustrating. I’m so excited for Joy & Austin! I’m certain they’ll be great parents to this precious little baby!! 🙂