It's Really A Matter Of Degrees

On the news today I noticed that a hero of mine, Sir Paul McCartney, was awarded an honorary degree from Yale University in the U.S. Nothing desperately unusual about that, after all he's been a massive influence in the world of music for some 46 years now. He can now refer to himself as "Dr" Paul McCartney as Yale found fit to award him an honorary Doctorate in Music, but may well avoid using the title as he didn't do the work required to earn the degree.

My own denomination, the Presbyterian Church, has a proud tradition of having a well educated clergy. Apart from the obligatory 3 year Theology degree that each one has to undertake, a reasonable number go on to do further study, usually in the form of a Masters or a Doctorate. This is a big commitment for those who do as each degree is normally pursued in a part-time capacity. This doubles the time taken to achieve it and is a drain on an individuals time and financial resources, but is no doubt a source of achievement and pride when attained.

However, there are a few among our ranks who choose to try and short circuit the process by getting their post-graduate degrees from so-called "diploma mills" - unaccredited and unrecognised organisations which churn out 'qualifications' for a fraction of the price in a fraction of the time normally taken. I know of one man who lists his qualification as including 3 Doctorates (a PhD, ThD, and D.Litt). However the 'Seminary' cited has been revealed to be an unaccredited organisation that was run from a certain gentleman's front living room. No faculty, no teaching, no supervision, and a 20 minute viva that ends the question "Do you believe what you've written brother?"

Now, why do I highlight such a thing? If Paul McCartney, and others who have received honorary degrees, don't go around pretending they've earned them why do certain members of the church parade degrees obtained from diploma mills as if they were legitimate?

To proclaim you have qualifications that in reality a normal University would laugh out of the building does two things:

1. it demeans the degrees that genuine people have worked hard to earn
2. it brings the Church into disrepute

The Church has a big enough credibility gap without its own members parading round like peacocks (without the 'pea') with degrees issued by Disneyland!