So how many of you have ever attended a Catholic school as a child?

[LAGC]

I had issues and kept skipping classes at my public school in 9th grade, so my parents shipped me off to a Catholic high school as an "alternative" for a year to see if I'd shape up. What an eye-opening experience.

What I remember most fondly was theology class, where the teacher worshiped the theologian and "philosopher" Thomas Aquinas. When I did some research on the school's computer in regards to some of Aquinas' more seedy beliefs, such as his belief that "The only begotten Son of God...assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods" and presented my findings to the teacher, commenting about how similar it was to Mormon theology, how once we die we become gods ourselves and have our own planets to rule, he was not amused. He kept wanting to focus on "original sin" and Aquinas' overall contributions to Catholic doctrine.

That was the year I really began to doubt God, and I can safely say that my theology teacher was partly to blame. That's why I remember him so fondly now, he didn't know any better.

Anyone else have any heart-warming stories of their Catholic experience, however brief?

[rpannier]

1. I attended Catholic School in High School

Public before that
I got a good education
It was run by the Christian Brothers
They were very open to discussing alternative points of view
Even many of the nuns across the street at Carondolet were pretty good.

Two of my favorites: I wrote a paper on "Why there could be more than 1 God." I based it on the 10 Commandments "Thou Shalt Have No God Before Me."
I argued it didn't preclude the possibility of more than 1 God.
Got a B. Brother H. felt (rightfully so) that, while my hypothesis was interesting, it lacked enough in-depth scholarly work -- i.e. I used very few sources to support my thesis.
But, I was a sophomore.

In Sr Anne's Junior US History class we were discussing abortion.
I mentioned that I had seen an episode of 60 Minutes with an author whose teen-aged daughter had been raped and got pregnant and I felt she should be entitled to get an abortion because the pain of the pregnancy would be unfair to her.
Sr. Anne, an anti-abortion person said, "I have no answer for you. That's something to horrible to force anyone to deal with."
I have always taken it to mean, she believed the girl should be allowed to get the abortion, but she couldn't bring herself to say it.
I respected he more for it, because it showed a depth of understanding that the world is full of shades of gray and nothing is ever as easy in real life as it is on paper

[struggle4progress]

13. Frankly, I think your reading is the ONLY way to read that commandment

[Angry Dragon]

17. I have never looked at the first Commandment

in that way before. Thank you for something to ponder.

[ironbark]

2. +1...................Barack Obama.

He went to an Islamic school and a Catholic school.

I wonder if the experience will hold him back from reaching his full potential?

;-)

[rox63]

3. 12 years of Catholic school made me an agnostic

We had all nuns for teachers at my schools. Two of them stood out in my memory for positive reasons. Freshman year, Sister Paula helped me survive horrendous bullying by a few very nasty classmates. And in Senior year, my chemistry teacher helped spark a love of science and technology that is still wth me today.

[HockeyMom]

8. Same here

I stopped believing and going to church when I was in Freshman year. My parents NEVER went to church. I suppose they just sent me there for the education and fear of how bad things were in NYC public schools then.

I was an only child by choice. When we had retreats (hated those), I got into so many arguments with the priests over so many things, especially the church's teachings on sex and birth control. The interesting thing was none of my fellow students had more than one or two siblings. Hmm. Wonder how that happened?:evilgrin:

[TexasProgresive]

4. K through 12 excepting 5th to 7th

Your "theology" teacher lacked the skills to speak to you of what your research. It is no secret that the Catholic and Orthodox churches believe in "divinization" or "deification" as the ultimate end of redemption.

During the Mass these words are said as the water and wine are mixed:

By the mingling of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.

Which is in a nut shell Aquinas' thinking on the subject.

The very thing that took you out of the church is one of the tenets of my faith. I don't understand it but I believe it. I believe that this flawed world and all creatures are moving towards an "Omega Point" of perfection.

About the quality of Catholic vs. Public education - Throughout my Catholic schooling the end was to give us the tools to think. Original thought was highly valued, rote parroting answers was considered mediocre. My Public schooling was the opposite.

Now, I had some excellent teachers in both public and Catholic schools and some stinkers as well but overall the best education I received was in Catholic schools especially High School. The difference became clear when I went to college. Kids with a public school back ground seldom questioned the teacher (at least in class) whereas those with a private school background entered into classroom discussion often with heat.

[Smarmie Doofus]

5. 12 years through high school.

The truth...and the irony... is that catholic schools do everything better than public schools EXCEPT teaching religion.

Establishing order, structure, and discipline while sidestepping moronic educational fads that wax and wane in the public school sphere: that's no easy task... but they do it and that should be acknowledged.

The religion: I never knew what they were talking about and still don't. Morality and ethics are... it seems to me... intrinsic and probably biologically based. I never got a handle on all the bible-based stuff and the Jesus-eology. " The word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us.... yada yada yada."

Who , on Earth, cares? And what difference does it make?


I do find it interesting... as an ADULT... that discussion of other religious philosophies and traditions was scrupulously avoided... except for a Cliff's Notes version of Judaism presented as a setup for the Jesus narrative. ( No, there was no overt anti-semitism, rumors to the contrary notwithstanding.)

It wasn't til college (reading history in a secular environment)that I understood anything about the Reformation, Protestantism, actual Judaism, and even the Church's own history.

[rug]

6. I went to Power Memorial and watched Lew Alcindor develop his skyhook.

[rzemanfl]

7. I used to have a one question test that was nearly foolproof

to determine whether a woman my age attended a Catholic grade school (my age would have meant grade school in the 1950's). The question was-"How does your refrigerator make things cold?" If they had no clue, they were educated by nuns, no science classes.

[rurallib]

9. I spent 12 years in catholic schools

Wish I could say it was heart-warming. I wanted to go to public school because they had better choices and science was more in depth.
But my father gave me a choice - stay in the catholic school and live at home or leave home and go to the public school. Not much of a choice age 14-17.
Most of my classmates had money. And the cliques were really nasty. Running battles with the religion teachers.
Our principal (priest) is still fighting lawsuits for abusing some of the boys 40 years later.
'Bells of St. Mary's' it wasn't.

This wasn't a large city, but a small midwestern city that is fairly wealthy. I think that sometimes in the larger cities, private schools, catholic schools, can be a haven from the craziness of normal life. We didn't have that here.

[Cleobulus]

10. I went to a Catholic School for 3 years, from 5-8 grades...

basically middle school. Though that didn't really have a huge affect on me, when I wasn't in the Catholic school, throughout most of grade and high school, I attended PSR(Parochial School of Religion), which was, I guess, basically Catholic Sunday school(even though it was on Wednesdays or Thursdays, varied from year to year). That turned me into an atheist.

[MorningGlow]

11. Eighth through high school

But you're not going to hear me bitch about it. My public school district was fast going down the toilet, and when my mother informed me that I was going to be transferring to the local Catholic school, I THANKED her. (A seventh grade filled with daily threats of being beaten up for no reason can do that to you.) I attended eighth grade at my local parish, then went to an all-girls high school run by the Sisters of Mercy.

It was a far better education than I could have gotten in my public high school. Sure, I was subjected to some weird shit in theology classes, but nobody followed me home to force me to believe it.

And, like public school, some teachers/sisters (actually I had very few sisters for teachers--there were a lot of "lay teachers") were bad, and some were good. I even had a very cool teacher (a sister) for freshman theology (Old Testament) who taught us the likely anthropological truth behind the strange bible stories. It was fascinating.

Being surrounded by Catholic teachings helped me determine that the faith wasn't for me, and subsequently helped me shape the beliefs I do carry with me.

I think the worst thing about Catholic high school was being surrounded by some very frightening brain-dead sheep called classmates. But then I suppose you'd get that in public school too (in the form of Republicans, I'd wager). Well, that, and the ugly uniforms--no plaid, though. Navy blue polyester jumpers. I couldn't wear navy blue for about 15 years after that.
:scared:

[struggle4progress]

12. A good friend of mine was expelled from a Catholic school for smokin mojo on the playground

between classes. He had been sent to school there as a more liberal alternative to the very authoritarian rightwing public high school I attended. At that time, in that state, there was no upper limit for a possession charge jail term, and though he was a minor, I think he potentially could have been tried as an adult, if the civil authorities had been summoned -- which, however, they were not. Back in those, as asshole adolescents, we considered all authority figures pigs, so when we finally got the story, it was something like "The pigs booted me out." But, looking back, I'm pretty sure that if I'd been busted at my high school for blowing mary jane on campus -- something which I swear I have no recollection of ever being stupid enough to do -- I would have immediately earned a free ride downtown in a black-and-white and an extended meeting with the judge

That is the nearest I ever came to any experience at a Catholic high school

[Laura902]

14. I did, and came to realize that short, gray haired,

sweet looking old lady nuns are the most frightening human beings on the planet......

[ZombieHorde]

15. I went to Catholic School when I was little. I did not have any sense of "sacred" so I accidentally

committed acts of blasphemy every once in a while in front of my teachers/nuns.

[LeftyMom]

16. They wouldn't take me because my parents weren't married in the church.

Even though my parents were married well before I was born, apparently I was illegitimate and I'd get icky bastard cooties on the other Catholic kids. But I went to CCD and mass with those same kids anyhow, so I don't get it.

So if my hippie mom hadn't insisted on an outdoor wedding, I'd have the same mortal fear of nuns my father does. And for some reason, he really wanted me to go to parochial school even though he hated it. I don't get that either.

No wonder I'm an atheist. Religious people do weird shit.

[uberllama42]

18. Very Christlike of them. n/t