Why this education stuff is so important.

Assuming that all goes according to plan, in a few months I will have completed my requirements for the Master of Divinity degree. My brother and father both have these degrees as well, as do many of my friends. We are among the experts in a field that is tricky at best, which can be pretty downright frustrating.

You see, we are experts in a realm where people feel that their opinions are just as valid as ours, because the subject matter is so "personal."

I am one who likes to fling words around on the internet, and so I often got into debates with folks who would take pains to let me know that their opinion when it came to matters of faith was just as valid as mine. Its quickly becoming a rallying cry for America, bringing down the intellectual liberal elite by letting them know that all of our opinions (whether you are talking about health care, war, the economy, or religion) are on equal ground.

This is, of course, completely wrong. The misunderstanding comes when people confuse the validity of their opinion with the authority of their decision.

For example, I am currently working at a Hospital in Atlanta. We get tons of patients coming through every day, and each and every one of them, or their caretakers, have complete authority when it comes to their treatment. It says so, right there in the Patients Bill of Rights. While you can't force a doctor to treat you, you are completely entitled to refuse any and all treatment they might decide to prescribe for you.

Does this mean you actually know best? NO! The doctors have combined years of education and experience telling them what the best thing for you is. Nine times out of ten, what they tell you (particularly at my Hospital, we have great doctors) is the best possible solution, and even more often, it is a very, very good decision, even if it isn't necessarily the best. When it comes to your treatment, your opinion simply is NOT as valid as theirs.

I, with my colleagues, have been studying religion, faith, and theology for years. We have worked in jobs that have put our learning to the test, have taken internships where we learned from others so talented in what we do and say. Like the Doctors, this does not mean we will always have the right answers, but we have acquired the tools required to work towards those answers in matters of faith and the heart.

What you believe is up to you. Only you have the authority to make faith decisions for yourself. You may have access to any of millions of religious experts, and you will have to make the decision in the end. But there is value to the education, a value that means that when the facts are being flung about, you may want to give us a tad more weight than the guy who took a single high school philosophy class and now has all the answers.

That is why we go to school, and that is why what we learn is important. It's why you keep us pastor types around. You make the decisions for yourself, but if you're wise, you'll listen to an expert or two along the way...