How was religion in school for you?

Zebra3 · 08-07-2017 01:41PM

Samaris wrote: »

That...sounds familiar. Was it in Kerry, by any chance?

Nope, Dublin.

PopePalpatine · 08-07-2017 02:25PM

Noveight wrote: »

Colouring in pictures and the odd sing-song. Alive-O was all about the happy dayz.

I couldn't stand the singalongs in religion class. They were kind of like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQraG_TjZWs

vampyre · 08-07-2017 03:52PM

I was supposed to be exempt from religion classes but C of I primary school ignored this and ongoing row between parents and teachers added to the already mind scarring experience that was national school. There were 5 R E classes a week in convent secondary school and they didn't force me to participate so I got to do my homework.

franklyon · 08-07-2017 03:56PM

I spent RE class doing homework for other classes. Pretty sure the teacher didn't mind either as long as we were quiet.

Dirty Dingus McGee · 08-07-2017 04:01PM

I enjoyed it.Nice relaxing class learnt about other religions and used to read these teen magazines with a kind of religious slant to them.Learnt about morality and stuff like that.I remember we read an article about LeBron James in one class, what It had to do with religion I'm not sure but it was enjoyable none the less.

Badly Drunk Boy · 08-07-2017 04:05PM

I think we broke one of our religion teachers. She was an ex-nun (but I think a bit durty). I was lovely (as in, non-existent) but she got abuse from the other lads. I think she ended up on the front page of the Sunday World about some scandal to do with another of our teachers. She was the baddy, and the other teacher was a true gentleman. (Having with a baby for a priest while going out with the teacher or something.)

Grayson · 08-07-2017 04:05PM

I had daily lessons in dogma and doctrine. There were regular retreats too. There was one when a priest told us that if "We had immoral thoughts about people of the opposite sex, people of our own sex or about animals we could tell him in confession". We were regularly told that sex outside of marriage was wrong as was being gay or trans. And we had youth defence over once to give a talk about abortion.

Badly Drunk Boy · 08-07-2017 04:07PM

Apart from that, I saw 30-35 minutes of the first Batman film. I never got to see the end...

corner of hells · 08-07-2017 05:16PM

Primary was largely colouring in stuff, singing and lots of prayin' , secondary was boring up till fifth year till we got this new teacher .

Progressive in his outlook and open to sensible debate on a variety of topics.

He even got the principle to agree to a retreat with the neighbouring convent.

All was going well on the retreat till a young lad was caught fingering a young one in the hall that was to be used for a mass on the last day of the retreat.

Set religion right back about 500 years in the two schools.

pauliebdub · 08-07-2017 05:17PM

Primary school was very religious, the school had constant stream of visiting priests, monks, nuns, consecrated virgins, missionaries and from religious charities. Everyday it was prayers in the classroom, prayers outside in front of the statue, singing hymns and learning guff by rota.

Secondary School had barely any religion at all. Classes were a total doss.

Samaris · 08-07-2017 05:23PM

Grayson wrote: »

I had daily lessons in dogma and doctrine. There were regular retreats too. There was one when a priest told us that if "We had immoral thoughts about people of the opposite sex, people of our own sex or about animals we could tell him in confession". We were regularly told that sex outside of marriage was wrong as was being gay or trans. And we had youth defence over once to give a talk about abortion.

"Well, NOW I'm thinking about it, Father! I hadn't given the notion the slightest thought before you indicated it was a) possible and b) something people do!"

08-07-2017 07:40PM

Didn't have a religion class in secondary, and from all I've heard on boards, I'm happy about that

Grayson · 08-07-2017 07:45PM

Samaris wrote: »

"Well, NOW I'm thinking about it, Father! I hadn't given the notion the slightest thought before you indicated it was a) possible and b) something people do!"

He started off my saying that if anyone laughs they're not mature enough to deal with the subject. I burst out laughing when he mentioned the thing about animals.

theteal · 08-07-2017 07:46PM

Does anybody remember their first confession? It was actually my last confession. Even at that age, that carry-on was just weird to me. I also didn't like the like the creepy priest, I didn't know what the aroma was then but I did later discover that it was gargle, he wreaked of the stuff. So eh, yeah religion was awesome!

freshpopcorn · 08-07-2017 07:51PM

theteal wrote: »

Does anybody remember their first confession? It was actually my last confession. Even at that age, that carry-on was just weird to me. I also didn't like the like the creepy priest, I didn't know what the aroma was then but I did later discover that it was gargle, he wreaked of the stuff. So eh, yeah religion was awesome!

It was on weekday night in the Church their was a small ceremony and their was two priests on the alter doing confessions, you walked up and sat down said the prayer and your sins and went back to your seat and said another few prayers.

iguana · 08-07-2017 08:38PM

It was pretty awful overall. In primary I was totally taken in by it but I was in secondary in the 90s when the X case and the subsequent referendums happened and and later the divorce referendum. At the same time the church scandals started to become public knowledge and it was just so infuriating to have so much religion foisted on me by a church that was behaving so hypocritically in claiming to have a moral position that gave them the right to influence and dictate how people lived their lives.

But much, much worse than any of that. I had a religion teacher who was a real Holy Mary but used to sometimes be really lazy and just play Charlie Landsborough's My Forever Friend on a loop for 40 minutes so we could really 'think about the lyrics.' They wouldn't fuçking do that in Guantanamo Bay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOql1c-Ytjg

boardsuser1 · 08-07-2017 08:42PM

Started school in the late 80's finishing in the early 00's

All i can remember is day dreaming.

ilkhanid · 10-07-2017 06:18PM

Early primary school in the country: a history of Catholicism book. Liked it , it had good pictures-Old Testament stuff.
Later Primary up near Dublin. Boring, boring, boring...7 deadly sins, 10 Commandments, all the dreary stuff. Awful
One year of Secondary School. Mad, new-fangled touchy-feely book: photos of people dancing on beaches, kids making daisy chains, sunsets, dolphins, aged elders sitting happily on porches...you know the kind of thing

xzanti · 10-07-2017 06:24PM

I don't remember having to draw Jesus on the cross at 6 years of age.

I had to sit down with my little boy not long ago and supervise him drawing a dead man nailed to a piece of wood, from his own imagination for his homework. it sort of struck me as a bit wrong tbh.

Ipso · 10-07-2017 06:27PM

One thing I remember is during lent one time, someone in my class (may have been me) was eating a sweet during lent and the teacher went into a tirade about Jesus suffering for us. I was probably around 6 or 7 at the time.
At secondary school I remember the protestant students had a free class every Friday, our teacher for the last year was a complete and utter bore. One day he went into a rant against Jehovah Witnesses/born again Christians 9there was one in the class). Another day he moaned about people playing golf on a sunday, this was someone who had no problem going to a pub to watch football.
My overall thoughts on it now are what's the bloody point, most adults don't have a clue what they're meant to believe so why bother getting children involved.

Galwayguy35 · 10-07-2017 06:50PM

No problem a all.

2 people in my class had no religion so they did other work while the class was on and weren't made take part and this was in a school run by the nuns.

All this bullsh1t on this thread about being "forced" to do this and that by people who went to school years after me, all ye had to do was say ye didn't want to do the class and that would be it.

Paddy Cow · 11-07-2017 10:50AM

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

No problem a all.

2 people in my class had no religion so they did other work while the class was on and weren't made take part and this was in a school run by the nuns.

All this bullsh1t on this thread about being "forced" to do this and that by people who went to school years after me, all ye had to do was say ye didn't want to do the class and that would be it.

I remember in Junior Cert the priest came around at easter to do confessions. Myself and another girl said we didn't want to do it and we were forced to. I went in and said I've nothing to confess lol The priest gave me a blessing. It wasn't even nuns running the secondary school. So yes, people were "forced" to take part in religious stuff they have no interest/belief in.

Akrasia · 11-07-2017 11:01AM

freshpopcorn wrote: »

I actually heard a very funny story about these kids and their parents kept them out of religion in school and always said they'd let them choose later on in life. When they were in their late teens/early twenties they got really into religion and their accepting/open parents weren't that accepting after all.

When you say 'not that accepting' do you mean that they still tried to convince their children that religion is nonsense, or that they shunned them, had them killed and or sent them away to institutions to have their sin beaten out of them?

We're only 2 generations away from children in exile because they did't follow the church's puritanical doctrine
Islamic law says apostates should be killed.

Akrasia · 11-07-2017 11:05AM

"And now I lay me down to sleep, I pray to god my soul to keep, and if I die before I wake, I pray to god my soul to take"

This was the prayer at bed time I was told to say every night before bed as a 7 year old child. I remember a few times I woke up in the middle of the night and remembered that I had forgotten to say my prayers and was terrified that if I died I might have gone to hell.

I would never ever ever put the suggestion into my own children's mind that there is such a place as hell or 'purgatory' where people go to if they hadn't been to confession or if they hadn't said their prayers before they suddenly died

Syphonax · 11-07-2017 11:26AM

I was probs one of the last generation who grew up before clerical abuse really came to the fore and always believed religion was a good, honest, respectable way to lead your life, that religion held the path to answering life and death questions. Its ironic that the internal abuses the church is guilty of are the reasons for its downfall and why secularism is now thriving. secularism was always, probably going to happen but its far more accelerated because of clerical abuse.

Thankfully religion in school was for me no more than one class-a-week and involved no corporeal punishment, the stories my parents told me about their time in school was nothing short of horrendous. I regularly went to church and was an alterboy up until about 15. I lost my faith when I realized that the church provided no more clarity on life and was little more than believing in Santa Claus. I alaways had hoped that hte more I learnt about religion (Christianity) the more I would understand life, sadly its mere blind faith.

Wanderer78 · 11-07-2017 11:32AM

freshpopcorn wrote:

How was religion in school for you?

An indoctrination, realised when I got older that a religious order had gained control of our educational system and were brainwashing kids with their nonsense. Thank God for the science community, Adam and eve et al, gimme a break!

Estrellita · 11-07-2017 11:41AM

Lots of stories, singing and colouring in primary, I enjoyed it. Secondary more of the same, not so much of the colouring. Had to do some projects / assignments etc. I liked the visits from representatives of other religions, such as the Hare Krishnas. I enjoyed religion it would be fair to say, it was a chilled out class.

jcorr · 11-07-2017 11:44AM

I skipped to do maths in the school library (leaving cert year i might add and i really needed the time on maths), but the religion teacher got wind of it and came down to the library and went mental.

Got a bollocking from the PE teacher gor the same craic also.

I was glad when the leaving results came out. I passed everything and didn't have to see any of them again.

whisky_galore · 11-07-2017 11:52AM

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

All this bullsh1t on this thread about being "forced" to do this and that by people who went to school years after me, all ye had to do was say ye didn't want to do the class and that would be it.

Good luck with that when you have a Holy Joe (or a Holy Josephine) parent(s).
The only one who got a free pass in National School was the Jehovah's Witness kid.

National School was the usual indoctrination, second level had one teacher who was a bit of craic and didn't take it that seriously and another one who was a repressive bint who quizzed kids on what the sermon was from the sunday before. Hated that crap.

wes · 11-07-2017 12:59PM

I did my homework, if the class was later in the day.

How was religion in school for you?

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