Honorary religious degree's

What do ya'll think about all of the pastors/preachers that call themselves Doctors these days? 95% of them have honorary religious doctorates that they paid for from unaccredited bible schools. I hear this is legal, and they can use the title "Doctor", as long as it's for religious reasons. Some of your biggest TV preachers have these degrees. You can get them on the internet for as little as $25-$50, up to $5000.00. This is usually very offensive to people that have worked for genuine, academically accredited doctorates. Opinions from anyone?

 

Dr. Perry Stone
BA, Covenant Life Christian College, Theology.
Awarded three honorary degrees (website does not list from where).
Link: About International Evangelist Perry Stone - Voice of Evangelism - Perry Stone Ministries

More to come...

 

Dr. Jack Van Impe
Diploma, Detroit Bible Institute
Doctorate, Pacific International University (Diploma mill, no longer listed on website).
Link: Welcome to Jack Van Impe Ministries International

 

Ann, I believe your percentage (95%) may be a bit higher than the actual number of persons you describe (although I have no specific data to corroborate it either way); however, you are correct in noting that a large portion pastors/preachers who call themselves "Dr" hold either an honorary doctorate or a doctorate from an unaccredited or mill-accredited school. This is sad, unfortunate, and, imho, unethical.

Last Saturday's edition of our local newspaper included an insert honoring many of the local pastors (October is pastor appreciation month among many churches). On Sunday I did a little research. Of the 35 or so pastors listed in the insert, 6 were listed as "Dr. ***." A 30 minute visit with Google revealed that 3 of the doctorates were legitimate (USDOE/CHEA/foreign equivalent), 2 were accredited by ACI (do a DI search for ACI), and one school couldn't be found on the internet.

 

Ram

You are right Ram. 95% was high. I will make that about 60-70% of pastors have these types of degrees.

 

Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital. ~ Aaron Lovenstein opworm:

 

I don't care what they call themselves or why. It's a small fantasy inside a much larger one, the perpetration of which harms no one except its willing participants. Nor does it affect those that hold real doctorates. I don't care, and I doubt many others do, either.

 

Doctor Imbecilus en Honoris Causa

I think DegreeInfo should grant this honorary doctorate.

 

They can call themselves just about anything they want, I suppose. I'd be more concerned about the fraud that is many of them referring to themselves as "Men/Women of God" than some credential they pretend to have.

 

Rich: "...It's a small fantasy inside a much larger one, the perpetration of which harms no one except its willing participants. ..."

John: And then we have Anthony Russo, who bought an honorary religious doctorate, started calling himself "Doctor" -- and opened a sex therapy clinic in upstate New York. Had a white Cadillac with the vanity plates,"DOCTOR 1." I think harm was done.

 

So, you can "buy" honor?

While I can see a big fuss about people being upset when universities "give away" the honor:
Honorary degree - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This case about "buying" honor is in the same category with diploma mills:
Diploma mill - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I know a guy who claims an Esoteric Theological Seminary (diploma mill) doctorate. It is not related to his work, but he still tries to go by the title of Doctor.

A coworker of his got one, too, for the purpose of making fun of him (but it didn't work?!). The coworker doesn't claim it on his resume or anything, he only got it to prove that it was not a legitimate degree. The original guy is still claiming to be a Dr., and has no shame.

He goes around introducing himself as Doctor all the time.

Timothy Whitmore-Wolf, Ph.D, CISSP | LinkedIn

He even includes it on his resume (which you can see attached to his Linked In profile.)

So, basically, everyone in the world can see that he has a fake degree, and he doesn't care.

 

Because he knows that no one will ever check.

 

Can't argue with that. But I was talking about religious people using religious (fake) degrees in a religious environment. I agree with John's long-standing observation that any of these kinds of degrees can be abused--and probably will at some point by someone. (Please excuse the paraphrasing.)

 

Originally Posted by John Bear View Post

Rich: "...It's a small fantasy inside a much larger one, the perpetration of which harms no one except its willing participants. ..."

John: And then we have Anthony Russo, who bought an honorary religious doctorate, started calling himself "Doctor" -- and opened a sex therapy clinic in upstate New York. Had a white Cadillac with the vanity plates,"DOCTOR 1." I think harm was done.

Rich freely shares his views regarding matters of faith (i.e., a small fantasy inside a much larger one). However, imho, whether the honorary degree (which is usually a doctorate) is religious or secular, using the title "Dr." in a professional capacity based on this award alone, is at best unethical, at worst blatant deception.

 

With knowing what is involved to get a doctorate, including all of the work that is involved, and the high attrition rate... it seems hokey that some (not all) religious leaders would "purchase" a degree mill doctorate and then present themselves as doctors with the express purposes of gaining legitimate respect. For example...

Jack Van Impe and his wife Rexella Impe have appeared on TV for many years (good). Suddenly, out of the blue, they were introduced as "Dr. Jack Van Impe and Dr. Rexella Van Imple" because they had BOTH purchased degree mill doctorates.

Whatever...

 

It isn't just hokey, as I stated earlier, it is at best unethical, at worst blatant deception.

 

You're entitled to your opinion regarding title usage, of course. But note that an honorary degree is exactly the same as an earned one. They differ in how they were obtained, not in terms of titles conferred. Thus, the recipient of an honorary degree is a "doctor." Of course, it won't do any good where an earned doctorate is required.

I'm against the practice of awarding them, not their use. Especially in a religious context. Interesting distinction: all this stuff we're telling you--none of which you can confirm, of course--is real. But that degree is fake! That's where the line is drawn?

 

It would be nice to give them the benefit of the doubt, but it's hard to do so. Would a reasonable person understand that they can't pay $500 to be awarded a legitimate doctorate without doing any work for it?

It was absolutely amazing to see Rexella addressed as Dr. Rexella Van Impe. It's simply remarkable. And sad.

 

Then you and I can at least agree on this! :wink: