In the four years of high school, a lot can change. We begin to form our philosophies about our place in the world and how we view the world’s problems. Suddenly, the reality of adulthood is just a few years away, and scary words like “taxes” and “the economy” start to pop up. All this to say, politics soon follows these realizations. It’s also hard to deny that how you are educated plays a big part in where you fall politically. Here at Loyola and at Jesuit schools worldwide, within the classroom, students are encouraged to think critically, act with compassion and challenge systems of injustice. Naturally, that moral focus is going to overlap with politics at some point. But is going through four or more years of Jesuit guidance bound to have an impact on our political beliefs or are our beliefs more set in stone?
At its best, the Jesuit education is meant to teach students how to think, not what to believe. In the end, the goal is discernment: viewing the world through both faith and logical reasoning without explicitly pushing for one belief system over the other. However, when theology classes start to discuss issues like the wealth gap or immigration—topics that naturally carry immense political weight—students can’t help but react to the content being taught based on how they already feel about the topic. My sophomore year, in Theology 2, when major themes of systemic racism, environmental injustice and the history of hip hop were discussed, it was clear that each student had a different political perspective to bring to the discussion. It’s important to note that the opinion did not form inside the classroom but likely because of more major influences on the student, like what they consume online and the beliefs they hear in their household. Obviously, it’s incredibly difficult to tell if anything taught in the classroom at a Jesuit high school changed the way a student thought after the fact; however, the main idea is that the Jesuit education doesn’t dictate the belief or change it; it further reveals existing ideals.
Some students may interpret the service aspect of Jesuit philosophy as being empathetic to those who suffer under systematic oppression, a more progressive view. Other students may hear “men for and with others” and feel inspired to carry out traditional aspects of being a man, like responsibility and leadership, typically a more conservative line of thought. Ultimately, Jesuit education doesn’t force political alignment or push any kind of agenda outside of maintaining human dignity around the world. Ignatian principles call on students to look for truth, not party lines. Educating students on issues and the steps proposed and then allowing the students to determine their own stance. No student should feel the pressure to conform politically or religiously; instead, they should learn to discern what feels right to them, so long as it does not undermine the dignity of others. That itself is the most a Jesuit education can do for the political stance of a student.
