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The Role of Education In Fostering Human Dignity

The Role of Education In Fostering Human Dignity

Last updated on: May 28, 2026 at 2:10 am by Henry Karlson

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The Role of Education In Fostering Human Dignity 2026-05-28T02:10:59-05:00 Henry Karlson

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Attributed to Meliacin Master: Woman Teaching Geometry, Promoting Good Education / Wikimedia Commons

No matter our diverse backgrounds, with different cultural, religious, and even moral understandings, we should be working together to promote the common good, recognizing the good which we hold in common. This, in part, comes from our nature. It is good and its goodness influences us, even when we divert from it. Thus, while humanity is, by nature, good, this does not mean we are perfect. Most of us have not actualized our natural potential. Most of us act in ways which can be said to be “unnatural,” because we act, not according to who we are by nature, but as persons deliberating as to what to do, deliberating both out of ignorance and in ways to support or promote our inordinate desires. When we, either as individuals or in various collective groups, end up causing undue harm to others, or even the world around us, must find a way to heal that which we have harmed. Promoting the common good is one of ways we can do this so long as we understand the common good must include the good of every person, so that the inherent dignity and worth of everyone is recognized and affirmed. From a Christian perspective, we should affirm both, the common good, but also the good of every human person, due to our belief that we are made in the image and likeness of God.

Christians should also believe that anyone who promotes the common good, anyone who acts for the benefit of all, are doing what God wants them to do. Even if they do not know or believe in God, they are still doing God’s work, and by doing it, they are unknowingly honoring God. Jesus explained this to us in the way he talked about last judgment at the end of time when everyone will be shown that those who lived a life of charity, promoting justice in the world, were doing so for Jesus’ sake, whether or not they knew they were, and Jesus will reward them for what they have done. This is why Dom Helder explained that an atheistic humanism, if it promotes a positive humanism, if it affirms the value of the human person and exhorts us to do what is good and true, must not be derided by Christians, but rather seen as something positive, because such atheistic humanists, through their love for humanity, are also showing love to God

I disagree with those who say that atheistic humanism is doubly atheistic; because it denies God and because it puts man in God’s place. It seems to me on the contrary that the true atheistic humanist fulfils at least half of the Law; he loves his neighbour. And if you love mankind sincerely, then without knowing it and even without wishing it you also love God.[1]

Loving our neighbor as ourselves is important; when we do so,we fulfill the law, both because we love our neighbor, which is a part of the law, but also because the image and likeness of God is in our neighbor, so that by loving them, we also indirectly, implicitly if not explicitly, love God. This is why it is important to encourage society to embrace the way of love. One way to do so is through education, an education which is not merely about facts and figures, but about finding meaning in life, and with it, encouraging us to work together for the common good. Sadly, this is often lacking, especially when society sees the point of education, not as a way for people to grow as persons, but as job training, teaching children the skills they need to work and nothing else. While such skills can and should be included in their education, if that is the extant of what we teach future generations, we not only will fail them, but we will fail society as a whole. Education should help us come to know ourselves, to know the good which lies within, and also, the good which lies outside of ourselves, that is, to see the good in society and the world around us. It should give us the means to find joy in the world, even as it should give us ways to make the world better. When this is forgotten, we are no longer providing our children the education they need to have a well-balanced, and happy, life. “All too often we had failed to realize that educating and developing people involved awakening the human spirit, widening the human vision, expanding the human heart and overcoming selfishness.” [2] Sadly, we find those in charge of our society are losing sight of this, and our education system is being used only to train the next generation of workers without looking to them as persons with an inner life of their own, a life which needs the humanities to enrichen it. Thus, more and more universities, often at the direction of politicians, are removing arts and humanities programs, saying they do not make their graduates enough money. Everything is about money. Human worth is being equated with money. We must resist this degradation of education, as all it does is turn people into dehumanized machines. While Christians should know this, the sad reality is that many of those who are destroying the education system, closing various degree programs at universities because they do not lead to a “good paying” job, identity themselves as Christians. How can this be? Because they serve mammon above all else, and think only in terms of monetary gains and losses. On the other hand, many who are resisting these changes are atheists, atheists who realize there is more to life money, atheists who understand we should work for the common good and who have seen how the humanities give the balance needed in society to produce it.

Too many Christians have not paid attention to Jesus. They have objectified the faith in such a way they have denied the faith itself. They think it is all about facts and figures, that is, it is about the theological propositions which they memorize and believe. They don’t know what it means to live a life of faith because they think they don’t need to do anything but believe. And, what they are told to believe tends to be only a selective representation of what Jesus taught. This is why many Christians attack their fellow Christians for being woke when their fellow Christians put Jesus’ words into action. Such Christians should reread what Jesus said about the last judgment. The Christian faith requires more than mere belief; it requires action, which many atheists do better than Christians, showing they have more fidelity to Christ’s teachings than those who claim to follow him.

[1] José de Broucker, Dom Helder Camara: The Conversions of a Bishop. An Interview With José de Broucker. Trans. Hilary Davies (New York: Collins, 1979), 180

[2] José de Broucker, Dom Helder Camara: The Conversions of a Bishop. An Interview With José de Broucker, 94-5.

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N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.

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