How was Religion in school for you?

freshpopcorn

I'm in my mid twenties now so I was in school from the late 90's and into the 2000's.
I went to a CBS primaryschool it happened about once a week. All we did was light a candle and the teacher would read something out of the Alive-O book and we did a bit of colouring in. The odd time the priest would call into the class and he would just ask us had we any questions. He didn't take things to seriously.
In secondary school we had two religion classes a week and we studied a bit about other religions in first year. After that we didn't do that much religion. The teacher mainly left us do our homework or gave us SHE magazines to read. We saw the priest the odd time he was an all right guy. He used do confessions of people wanted or you could just go for a chat to him. We also had am anti homopobia week in school and he supported it.
I thought religion was a okay break from the academic subjects. I learned a bit about right from wrong and about different religions.
So, how was it for you?

ancapailldorcha

Great. I was exempt because I wasn't Catholic.

catallus

freshpopcorn wrote: »

The odd time the priest would call into the class and he would just ask us had we any questions. He didn't take things to seriously...We saw the priest the odd time he was an all right guy. He used do confessions of people wanted or you could just go for a chat to him.

THIS is why society is falling apart !!!!:mad::mad::mad:

God be with the days when priests instilled fear in their underlings!

Fr_Dougal

catallus wrote: »

THIS is why society is falling apart !!!!:mad::mad::mad:

God be with the days when priests instilled fear in their underlings!

I have a gun. :mad:

Agricola

Religion in secondary school was the doss class of the week. I remember it being the last class before lunch for a couple of years and it was like an extended lunch break. We had the most easy going teacher in the school for it and we basically chatted about social issues for teenagers like bullying, contraception, exam pressure and 3rd level. I actually do not remember doing anything in it about actual religion.

Bongalongherb

Every day we had religion classes and I would stand up and say to the religious teacher that I wasn't going to take part in forced brainwashing, and as such she dragged me out of the class and I was left peacefully alone in the hall where I would have a cigarette.

Mint Aero

Oddly all we ever did during religion class was talk about the environment and litter pollution :rolleyes:

DEFTLEFTHAND

In Secondary school it was very interesting, we studied all the major faiths and were also allowed to express ourselves on a wide range of social topics. Our school didn't offer it as a JC or LC subject so I found it a nice stress reliever, especially in Senior cycle, a pressure free environment of learning and debate amongst classmates.

Ruu

Zacchaeus was a greedy man!

Songs on tape in Primary school is all I can remember. We had a doss the Secondary school but the last two years we had a priest who used to tell us about his stories from the seminary. Told us one day that one of the older lads tried to summon Satan but was interrupted because he caught our priest praying! We called him Father Ted, he loved it.

In all, pressure free and nothing forced on us. We were free to debate if we wished.

Dog of Tears

Bongalongherb wrote: »

Every day we had religion classes and I would stand up and say to the religious teacher that I wasn't going to take part in forced brainwashing, and as such she dragged me out of the class and I was left peacefully alone in the hall where I would have a cigarette.

Were you wearing a leather jacket and slicking back your hair with a flick comb?

Donkey Oaty

A lot of the religious people (Catholic priests, nuns, Protestant ministers, lay Christians) I came across in education in Ireland in the 1970s and 1980s were very decent, compassionate, open-minded people who genuinely loved engaging in discussions with atheist kids like myself.

tomwaterford

I was taught for one year of religion by a comPlenty over the top religious zealot....too such an extent a priest came in one day she expected us to kneel down on a dirty floor and kiss his ring....this was 2004 ish!!!!
and was send to the principal for refusing to do this and quiet rightly in my opinion telling her to fcuk off and he more or less agreed she was a complete nutcase and told me I'd not have to bother with her class again

Zen65

freshpopcorn wrote: »

So, how was it for you?

I was educated also by the "Brothers". This was in the 70's for the most part. They taught a lot of things in Religion class that we might nowadays consider to be improper. Among their teachings were:

• The Jews are evil, because they killed Christ. They will always be evil because it is in their nature to be greedy. A brother gave us a long talk about this in primary school.
• Women get pregnant because the sacrament of marriage allows their bodies to have babies
• You can only marry somebody from another religion if you sign a promise to raise your children as Catholic
• There are no other 'good' religions - anyone with another belief is doomed to spend eternity in hell.
• You may never touch yourself for pleasure
• Masturbation is ALWAYS wrong, even if the alternative is to damage your mental health (yes - those exact words!)
• Everyone is part straight, and part gay. Being Christian means that you only act on your straight desires; anything else is a sin.
• Everyone believes in God because "they believe this is 1975" - so they must accept that Christ was born in year 1. A particularly strange RE teacher spent the hour listing the proofs that God exists, and that was one of them.
• Thinking anything impure is a sin, even if you do not act on it
• The English should be shunned at every opportunity
• Babies that die before baptism cannot enter heaven
• There is no heaven for animals
• God made women to serve men

Not all of the religious teaches I had in those years were nuts, in fairness, but mostly they were either zealots or disinterested. I lost interest in religion by the time I reached college, being tolerant of it but not really engaging. Now, in truth, I mostly laugh at how bizarre the human condition is that it so often seeks to find ways of trying to convince itself of a higher power, especially one that is interested in us.

Bongalongherb

Dog of Tears wrote: »

Were you wearing a leather jacket and slicking back your hair with a flick comb?

Far out, were you in my class ? thats exactly what I was doing. It's a small world.

DEFTLEFTHAND

tomwaterford wrote: »

I was taught for one year of religion by a com

A Communist? :mad:

catallus

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

I have a gun. :mad:

It'll take more than guns at this stage, Father!

shruikan2553

Mostly fine, a few stories that I cant even remember. Then there was the odd teacher who was completely insane. Stuff like yelling at students for not believing creationism or getting every student to say abortion is wrong.

shalalala

I had most of my religion education in England. I actually really enjoyed it and still do enjoy learning about other religions traditions etc. It made me very aware of the fundamental differences between religions, and therefore I am understanding of peoples outlooks.

Over here i barely got any religious education and it was all catholic. It wasn't actually a class teaching us anything about the world and I felt very let down by it.

The_Valeyard

Bongalongherb wrote: »

Every day we had religion classes and I would stand up and say to the religious teacher that I wasn't going to take part in forced brainwashing, and as such she dragged me out of the class and I was left peacefully alone in the hall where I would have a cigarette.

Stand back everyone, we got a rebel here!!!!!



We watched movies, that was about it. Although my relations tell me its very different nowadays, they have been to a mosque and synagogue, study all the majors faiths and do some philosophy. Seems alright to me.

kneemos

Mostly fear based back in primary school.
Secondary school progressed to indoctrination.

looking back most of the Brothers and religious teachers were disturbed characters.

tomwaterford

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

A Communist? :mad:

Worse..much worse

(See edited post)

YellowFeather

Our religious teacher was batshit crazy. She was a nun - but one of the evil ones. I don't remember a single one of her lessons, but I do remember her shouting at us at random - such as for having a ruler on our desk when there was no such ruler present. As green little first yearers, we were terrified of her. Always waiting until she finally snapped and gave one of us a belt.

I wish her well now, but by Jaysus she was a wagon.

Eugene Norman

For me it was basically a civic class.

kneemos

YellowFeather wrote: »

Our religious teacher was batshit crazy. She was a nun - but one of the evil ones. I don't remember a single one of her lessons, but I do remember her shouting at us at random - such as for having a ruler on our desk when there was no such ruler present. As green little first yearers, we were terrified of her. Always waiting until she finally snapped and gave one of us a belt.

I wish her well now, but by Jaysus she was a wagon.

The nuns were the craziest of the lot.

razorblunt

We had two classes a week, one was used as an extra English class which was handy for the LC. The other had to be "proper" religion so there was a VHS stuck on that was ridiculed by the class for 45 mins. Good times.

Shannon757

Twas a doss because I got in a fight first day of first year and the teacher hated me for it. So I just sat quietly in the corner reading and what not

abutler101

Primary school - had to learn off about 15 prayers in 1st class, including long ones like both creeds and the angelus. We spent about 20 minutes every morning saying them until I was in 4th class. Also had a half hour class four days a week before lunch. The priest would come in once a month for confessions which were not optional.

Secondary school - three x forty minute classes a week - as much time spent on religion as on history, geography. I have had three different teachers in three years. The first one hadn't a clue and just made us write out passages of the book, so like any class of first years we did nothing. Second one took it very seriously. He gave out punishments for questioning Christianity and barely skimmed through the chapters on other religions in about a week, and they are about 1/3 of the course. My current one is very laid back we just talk mostly about current issues and the exams.

Bobby Baccala

I had a complete nutcase of a religion teacher for 5th and 6th year, she once suspended me for dropping a bible on the floor! She used to do this creepy thing with her face where she'd go from looking like she was about to stab you to wearing the most forced smile I have ever seen in my life.

She used to pick on one of the lads whose mam brought him up atheist so he was exempt from the class, which annoyed this psycho bitch! She also wouldn't listen to simple and plain logic, 100% convinced that everything is an act of God.

She also told me when I grew up I'd realise that she was right and I was wrong and that I was a foolish child but years later and I still maintain she was a fúcking nutcase and I was an alright lad!

pauliebdub

It was seen as a doss class in my school as well, despite the fact that the school was a Christian brothers. It was actually quite a laid back school in many way, apart from the odd mass there wasn't much religion really.

There was a lot of religion in the primary school I went to, learning prayers, saying prayers singing hymns in a group in front of statues, visits from priest, forming groups to sing at mass, do prayers of the faithful, catholicism only, we never learned anything about other faiths.

Einhard

Zacchaeus was a greedy little man.

Bongalongherb

The joys of having to go to school in belcamp college, and this college had its own church inside. They would take you inside to pray to gremlins in the sky. Funny times.

pauliebdub

Donkey Oaty wrote: »

A lot of the religious people (Catholic priests, nuns, Protestant ministers, lay Christians) I came across in education in Ireland in the 1970s and 1980s were very decent, compassionate, open-minded people who genuinely loved engaging in discussions with atheist kids like myself.

The priests I encountered were mostly fine too, a couple had issues with anger and used to fly into a rage, I'd regard most of them.as reasonable people but I wouldn't say open minded at all. The nuns were a different matter, usually very hard, tough women Difficult to like.

lazybones32

"Jesus sat down in the shade of a tree and said to the children come sit by me" - a song we learned as kids and the only thing I remember of religion from school.

sunbabe08

every day between 12-12:30 at least we didn't have exams. we learned songs and prayers.

AppleBottle

I remember having "confession" when I was in primary school. The priest would come in once, maybe twice a year and we would give three times when "we didn't show love" and the priest would forgive us for our sins. We also had religion books and studied them often enough.

I did Religion as a subject for my junior cert, we had to do it. I got an A In 5th we had one religion teacher for 5/6 weeks and we would do different topics with them. The only one I remember was sex education and being told about safe sex. In 6th year, it wasn't a subject, instead we did a weekly two hour class on current issues and we would have many different visitors for the Simon Community, Gardai, nurses, St Michael's house etc. That was always a great two hours each week.

catallus

Einhard wrote: »

Zacchaeus was a greedy little man.

Ha! Flashbacks! :eek:

We had a teacher who made us sing that song, she beat us all indiscriminately.

"I don't give a damn about God, just get in fúcking tune, ye little bastards!"

The_Valeyard

AppleBottle wrote: »

I remember having "confession" when I was in primary school. The priest would come in once, maybe twice a year and we would give three times when "we didn't show love" and the priest would forgive us for our sins. We also had religion books and studied them often enough.

I did Religion as a subject for my junior cert, we had to do it. I got an A In 5th we had one religion teacher for 5/6 weeks and we would do different topics with them. The only one I remember was sex education and being told about safe sex. In 6th year, it wasn't a subject, instead we did a weekly two hour class on current issues and we would have many different visitors for the Simon Community, Gardai, nurses, St Michael's house etc. That was always a great two hours each week.

We also had the guest speakers in 6th year. Some of them were pretty cool.

UpCork

Convent school. Had a nun for religion for a few years in secondary. In primary it was a lay teacher but they were still very much under the religious thumb of the nuns who were patrons of the school. They liked me a I came from a religious household.
Very closed minded. You learned about Catholicism only - no reference to or education about other religions. You also weren't allowed to question anything or to disagree. I was taught religion before it became an examinable subject, so there was no structure to the classes really. I preferred the lay teachers in secondary school as they allowed a bit more debate, but not the nun.

zcorpian88

In primary it involved the usual religion class every day, revising prayers for particular religious shindigs, saying the angelus when the bell was rang by a student out in the hallway at 12pm, saying the grace before meals prayer and 12:40 at lunchtime sometimes we were made sing it by one particular teacher and he'd even conduct the class by waving his hands about like an eejit, then saying the grace after meals prayer when we were queuing to come in off the school yard at 1:20.

Being forced to choose Patrick for my confirmation name by my mother, both my Grandad's names are in my middle name and my father's name is Patrick so my ma was like your name will be really neat then, I thought she was bonkers because I wanted to pick my own, plus Patrick is just not original and I was the only one in the class that had Patrick as a f**king confirmation name. Also my teacher during my confirmation was an absolute wreck the head, the whole class had to make this artwork about the Saint we choose and we had to write a few paragraphs on our Saint to go in the middle of the artwork and they had to be hung in the church on the day, the teacher made me write out the long paragraphs 3 different times because she was nitpicking about my handwriting, by the 3 third time I wanted to shove the whole artwork down her throat.

Religion wasn't anywhere near as bad in secondary, was treated kind of like a free class, there was no exam in it, at least for us there wasn't so nobody was really bothered with it. We had a priest try to teach us it in like 3rd year I think it was and the whole class pretty much shot him down over it, mainly because there was no exam for it, I didn't mind him trying to teach it, he could please himself for all I cared, but the rest of the class just hindered any of his progress and he kind of gave up on it.

cloud493

I was so good at it. They used to do quizzes every week, and special ones at the end of the month and term and school year, and you won prizes for it, and I won every time.

whisky_galore

A waste of time.

The Backwards Man

I didn't do RE so I spent the time reading encyclopediae and, funnily enough, the bible. Not a bad read actually, better than Moby Dick anyway.

tomwaterford

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I didn't do RE so I spent the time reading encyclopediae and, funnily enough, the bible. Not a bad read actually, better than Moby Dick anyway.

Some twist at the end of it.....Dallas would have been proud

spud82

A waste of time. In second year we had a nun give us sex education. I am not joking!! We all had to right questions on a piece of paper and she pulled them out of a box and she answered them. Highlights of that experience including us getting a class detention because noone would admit who had written what is a 69, and when she told us we got get pregnant by giving a BJ if we swallowed, and how when we got married we had to have sex whenever our hubbie asked.

KingBrian2

In preparation for my communion they gave us white chocolate buttons to practise on so not bad.

Duke O Smiley

For a Marist Brothers school, it's pretty tame. There was one loon of a religion teacher but she left a few years back; now the RE teachers are a hot twenty-something year old and some guy of about 30. Younger than the usual anyway. On the whole, the ethos is pretty religious though.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

UpCork

KingBrian2 wrote: »

In preparation for my communion they gave us white chocolate buttons to practise on so not bad.

Lucky you - we only got wafers that tasted stale. I''d say I was about 12/13 before I could look at a wafer again.

Mint Sauce

Primary school, it was all about Catholicism, and the new/old testament. Secondary school it was compulsory, considering it was an RC school, in addition to the above also covered social issues, and touching on other religions. Sixth form, whilst not compulsory (there was no exam), it was recorded that you attended, and you recived an award. Subject content did not cover the testaments at all, but again was on social issues, politics, sexuality, morals, etc. Also covered other religions, including talks from Jewish and Islam minister's, and their book. Also visited a synagogue, and the communal area of a mosque.

Canis Lupus

Religion class was a time to catch up on homework for other classes.

Cen taurus

Whatever we learned in national school for the sacraments, in secondary school the teaching was either non existent, poor quality, and often totally incorrect. I still can't tell if this was due to deliberate misinformation by the teachers, or down to ignorance. From what I've heard not much has changed in the secondary schools.

I left the faith for many years, but came back to it after re-learning it all for myself.

No wonder so many people who were brought up Catholic still have so little real understanding of it, and its not their fault.