On the subject of fake doctors

With all do respect to all of the centers of higher learning out there, this practice of providing honorary doctorates is ridiculous. What is the motivation of the universities that are doing this? I would argue nothing more than to use the ceremony of awarding a degree, to facilitate networking and publicity for the school. With this tradition, universities that were intended to provide degrees to scholars who completed coursework, thus earning degrees are now giving away diplomas as though the place was a second-rate degree mill. This reminds me of the meaningless doctoral degrees that are put out by unaccredited distance education schools. These schools have been able to provide doctoral degrees to several prominent TV preachers, without anybody knowing the difference. Be weary of those who have degrees and don’t provide any background information on their academic history. What are they trying to hide? 

This honorary degree stuff is nothing more than a meaningless decoration in my mind. If celebrities want awards, there are plenty of foundations and organizations out there to make this possible. This practice of giving away degrees smacks of the fundraising technique used by organizations which will allow donors to name buildings and chairs after themselves if they provide enough money. Why don’t universities value the integrity of their institutions more? Instead, they would rather compromise their duty to uphold the value and tradition of the doctorate degree. How are those who put in the hard work & effort supposed to feel when they see the degree cheapened at their commencement ceremony? How are they supposed to feel when they see people on television using the title of doctor as though they put in the work of a scholar? These recipients do not deserve the honor or the prestige that comes along with the investment required to complete a doctoral program. Again, universities should create another award or stop the practice all together.  

When it comes down to it, I guess you can say that this practice of giving away honorary doctorates will continue, but I would contend that those who receive them should not place the title of doctor before their name without providing a disclaimer that they didn’t earn the degree, and are therefore not a scholar. If not, it can come off as a misrepresentation and degrades the effort of those who sacrificed by putting in the time, effort, and money to accomplish this feat. Let me provide the following story to illustrate the misuse of a title. Let’s say that a local businessman is given an award by a fire department, for donating a lot of money to upgrade the city’s fire engines. While the fire department might tell this businessman, that he is an honorary fireman and potentially they may also him an outfit as well. I think it would be a stretch for this “honorary fireman” to now go out on calls and think that he was qualified to do the actual work. How disingenuous and ridiculous would it be if he actually put “fireman” on his resume or as a title when he went on TV. If someone didn’t know any better they might actually take his advice or try to hire him at their fire station…when he has no business doing so.  In the end, you can say that in life we often want to portray ourselves better than we actually are. I mean, I would actually argue for that in many respects. You should take showers, wash your clothes, and make sure your home is clean. Yet, on another level, in a spiritual sense as disciples of Jesus Christ we must recognize that the outside will only take us so far. Integrity is much more valuable than the outward appearance. Inner beauty (honesty, integrity, & good character) is much more important and should take a higher precedence in our life than outer beauty (the way we look or present ourselves). God is far more concerned with whether or not one misrepresents who they really are by using fake academic titles to supposedly boost up their credibility or to gain a wider audience than normal. Personally, as a pastor I am not impressed by my peers who feel that they are successful based upon how many people go to their church, how big their church building is, and if they have ever been on so-called Christian television. If anything, I am far more concerned about what compromises they made to obtain those three so-called accomplishments than you might think. Based upon the Bible, I don’t think most people fully comprehend the importance of being humble, preserving your integrity, and not appearing to come off like someone who is more concerned about putting on a good show than keeping it real. Following Jesus Christ as a disciple of His is a lot more about being genuine & authentic, than being fake & deceptive.