Hi all! Need some advice. We live in an area with BAD public schools. Only alternative options We have are a Montessori or a Catholic school. Both are backwards. We are leaning towards Catholic. I went to Catholic schools from 2nd grade through high school graduation. My wife was also raised Catholic. She thinks it will be fine to put him in Catholic school, I'm just worried about all the Jesus stuff. They have prayers daily a monthly mass service the kids attend. I don't want him brainwashed, but I also don't want him to try to rebuke what they say. We have never mentioned anything about any religion to him. "Jesus Christ" is just a swear word! Lol
The application for kindergarten asks about what parish you belong to, baptism date and 'll kinda of stuff. We pay more tuition as non believers oops I mean non parishioners.
Anyone have experiences sending their kidnap. Catholic school? I have the education, I could bullshit my way through, but should I pre brainwash my kid so he can get s better and safer education and hope he figures out the religion. Is a way to tame the masses on his own? I hate to introduce the lies of religion, I guess the underlying messages are good, I just don't like the idea of praying to an omnipotent deity and tackling hell and Satan and all that. Help!
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Kudos for wanting the best for your child. Seriously you want to put your child in the grips of a proven organisational child abusing child molesting gang? Seriously? WTFF??
Take a cold shower my friend, re-establish some reality here and think of the best thing for your child. Moving might be an alternative if you are seriously pissed with your State schools...with a good reason not " another parent told me" BS or the murdoch press reported some lame shit. Please reality check here.
Yes I am a parent and a foster parent, more problems with religious schools than normal state schools that's for anecdotal sure buddy.
I know there are more pedophiles in Catholic schools, and priests are predominately homosexual or pedophiles, and I just wonder, do the preachers believe the nonsense they preach? I get the feeling they preach for the easy money, preying on sheep. The cultist nature of the church bothers me. Not sure I will be able to keep my mouth shut with all the god and Jesus nonsense.
I wouldn't worry too much about the indoctrination. At least your child has the advantage of seeing other points of view. Always focus on what's important and that is the overall quality of education. Where discrimination against your family occurs, such as paying higher fees than religionists, just point it out to all who listen. The point is made very clear. In my experience, religionists often undermine themselves, it is just a matter of paying attention to what they say and do.
It isn't that the superstitious cannot understand science or practice critical thinking, it is just that they don't apply it to their religion and tend to conflate ideas and concepts (such as religion and morality) that should be kept discrete.
Back in 1985 when I first became a born-again Christian Catholic system was regarded as evil. Why? Because prayer was still allowed in the public school system and I find the Protestant movement far closer to biblical Christianity. With the rise of atheism now the public-school is atheist. You reap what you sow and I don’t want to make it sound like I’m being mean here but it is what it is. Back to the Catholic school board
Sorry I don't understand what you're aiming at here- what are you trying to say?
@Jax
Hey there, Jax. Sorry to hear about your problem. Tough decision to make. I do not have kids, but if I did I would shudder at the thought of sending them to a Catholic school. Hope you are able to find a reasonable solution.
By the way, try to ignore the Yellow Post guy. He is a troll.
Hey Tin! Thanks! Kids are life changing. I survived Catholic school, I just shutter at the thought of my kid believing the church nonsense. My wife tries to convince me that other people send their kids that have similar (lack of) beliefs.
There is a difference between being an atheist and a "non practicing" Catholic. Like a C&E Catholic . ( Christmas and Easter mass) they aren't devoted to the church but they still believe in the shenanigans. Don't get me wrong, some people NEED religion in their lives. My sister in law was a drug dealer with 2 illigitimate kids, well, she "found god" now she doesn't drink and she and the baby daddy got married. Good for them. My kid doesn't need "god" to learn morality. That's what mommy and daddy are for.
@Jax
Considering I do not have any children, I am certainly in no position to offer much advice, but please know you at least have my support in understanding your decision is not an easy one. On a more positive note, you have come to the right place for advice, because there are many great folks on here with wide-ranging backgrounds and experiences. And pretty much everybody is sicerely interested in helping if they can.
@Yellow Post
TROLL
@the yellow post (who is probably gone)
BULL FUCKING SHIT! You said, "With the rise of atheism now the public-school is atheist." You are fucking kidding me. Never before in US history has public school been so inundated with religious bullshit.
Graduations have invocations and commencements RELIGIOUS BULLSHIT. They pray before and after football games. They have prayer meeting around the flagpole! Fucking Texas has taken out EVOLUTION from the state approved textbooks because religious wingnuts think it doesn't comply with christian doctrine! Public schools aren't atheist at all. Nowhere near! They are supposed to be SECULAR which is NOT atheism. Ignorant fucks like you really piss me off. I hate your fucking stupidity!
Move to Finland
I am serious. If you place your child in a Catholic school, you will allow the Catholics many thousands of hours to indoctrinate your child, something you will probably never be able to negate. If you do not place your child in a Catholic school, your child will suffer a failed education system. Unless you can home-school, you are in a lose-lose scenario.
And if you believe you can negate your child's programming from a Catholic school by having a long talk at the end of each day, they will be exposed (on a consistent basis) to the belief that they are born with sin, will go to hell, and only when they die, will things be OK.
Finland isn't an option lol. I wasn't going to unprogram him.daily, figured we would break it to him when he figures out that there is no Santa. Besides having "god" around will help him come to grips with the eventual deaths of his grandparents. "Heaven ' is a more pleasant picture than rotting corpse
I graduated from a Catholic high school. I wasn't an atheist then, but it only took a few years for me to come out of the ether. I can't move I live in a high cost of living area. There are other private schools but the are very very expensive. Plenty of Christians in the world, I just am having difficulty "pretending " to be ok with all the Jesus stuff. Our options for school are limited. I don't like the religion shit, but it is atleast teaching them morales. *Morales they could learn without a god fearing complex mind you
If I had the money and a child, which I don't, I would opt for a Catholic school as well. My girlfriend actually has a daughter in a Christian school. Since the girl has been around me she has begun asking questions. He he he .... My girlfriend is no longer religious and sees the church for what it is, a business perpetuating myths, false hope, and delusion. She still takes her daughter to the Church to stay in good standing but she has stopped donating money to it. She buys chicken dinners for the homeless now.
I think the Education is good and as long as your child is getting some feedback at home it should not be a problem. He will begin wondering why you do not go to church at some point. Simply saying, "I don't believe in magic people" (My favorite phrase.) Is really enough to get the mind of a youngster questioning.
Most atheists were Christians prior to their atheism. I was a Christian for a time. Intelligence will generally win out. And seriously, even if your child is a Catholic... so what? As long as they are capable of critical thinking and are not a serial killer, does it actually matter?
Ha! Thank you Cog. "I don't believe in magic people " lol. Some people believe in Sun gods, Buddha, Allah, Santa, ect. Just wondering how they teach science in a Catholic school, without refuting their own beliefs. Creationism vs the reality of evolution. Maybe I go with Star Wars. Bible is true, from a certain point of view. Adam was an ameba, and eve was an amino acid. I don't know how u make all the rest of the fables fit. People only.believe what they want to . I try to explain that most Christian holy days were derived from pagan holy days, and some of the obscure rules like "no meat on Fridays " comes from the 1950s I just hate having to deal with religion in 2018. Too bad people.profit from it, or it would undoubtly go away.
"..even if your child is a Catholic... so what? As long as they are capable of critical thinking and are not a serial killer, does it actually matter?" If they applied critical thinking to religion, they wouldn't be religious.
It may matter and it never helps, in my experience. And all superstitions are harmful, it is only the good nature of people who mitigate the problems they cause.
As for most atheists being Christians "prior to their atheism", it would be more accurate to say that people are born without religious beliefs or other superstitions and that not all free ourselves from the conditioning. Religion is mostly parent-given. That is why most children accept the religion of their parents, even though religionists find their children marrying or associating 'outside the faith' less objectionable nowadays.
Interesting take, Zeff, thanks. I just want my kid to get a good education . Just wish I could do it without Jesus. I taunt my religious mother in law. I openly dispute the church shenanigans. Dunno how I will keep my mouth shut. Just hope my kid doesn't end up "pittying me" for going to hell for lack of faith. Easier to raise him to draw his own conclusions without the daily church brainwashing. This is my 1st time posting to one of these boards btw. It's nice to know I'm not alone out here!
Hey gang, I'm wondering, if i am going to have to "deal" with the Jesus freaks, and I want my kid to get into the school, I should probably play along and play nice. Just don't know about baptism ect.
If you want your child to go to the Catholic school you will most likely have to have him baptised, receive his first communion and then be confirmed. You may be required to go to mass every week, and being 5 he will need you to take him. You have no right to argue these things, it is after all a private school. Have you looking into scholarships at the other private schools in the area? Many have them. I don't know where you are, but in my state there are home school groups, where each family has something to specialize in. That might be an option for you. You also need to be sure that the teachers in the Catholic schools are qualified. I had a friend who was a foreign language teacher in a Catholic school, the pay was horrible and she had to act as guidance counselor because there was no money to hire one. I would strongly suggest you do your due diligence. There aren't many things more important than your child's education.
I sent one of my kids to a church-run school (Anglican) for one year because I thought they offered better education than the local public school. I've never met such dishonest, nasty people in my life. They promised us small classes with lots of teacher attention, but they just kept piling the kids in until the classes were bigger than at the public school. It was all about money. The teachers all showed shameless favoritism toward the rich kids. The bullying by other kids was depraved, and little was done to correct it.
So I got my kid out of there and sent her and her brother to the local public high school, which was similar to the one I attended. There were kids there from every kind of family, so my kids learned a lot about life. The teachers were mostly dedicated and imaginative. I joined the PTA and then got elected to the school board. I don't believe in dropping kids at the school gate and forgetting about them. I got involved in their education and the school community. My kids got a good education and went on to university.
I'm not going to advise you one way or another. But I would urge you to think carefully about the risks of a religious education, especially a Catholic one. In my experience, they are dishonest, mercenary, and predatory, and every single thing they teach will be tinged with religion. They will teach your kids fear. The concepts of fairness and equity are totally foreign to them.
Edit:
I should add that my experience was in New Zealand. Judging from what I've heard about religion in America, you should take everything I said about religious schools and double it.
Hello there, Jax!
I hope you are well. I am assuming that you live in North America (please correct me if I am wrong). I live in Lithuania, but I was raised Catholic myself. I went through Catholic education, and I have relatives in Canada who also went through North American Catholic schooling. From personal experience as well as anecdotes from my relatives in Canada, I can tell you that Catholic schools offer fantastic education, but they do enforce a large deal of religiosity into the lives of the students. Schools generally teach math, science, other languages, etc. With the exception of some extreme schools, even a subject like evolution will likely be taught. Religion is often a subject, which is where most of the brainwashing takes place. I remember being taught the idea that one cannot hide from God, or that when person A insults person B, they are really insulting Jesus. In the second grade, I was told that every time you sin, you receive a black dot in your heart, until you go to confession. Once the priest/minister forgives you, your heart is pure once again. While much of the religion taught at these schools is taught in a positive light, the notion of hell is too harsh in my opinion. I remember coming home from school crying because of my fear that I may go to hell one day. I think that in all honesty, you could send your son to the Catholic school. However, you should sit down with him and ask him what he thinks of these stories. Maybe challenge him to think critically, and while he is doing so, try to explain how religion started, and that many of these concepts were used for social control in the past. Because I do not know your son personally, I am not sure how much of a critical thinker he is, and I am not sure how easy it would be to persuade him into belief. If he is the inquisitive type, I think it shouldn't be too hard for him to understand what is going on.
Hey Rat! Thank you. He is pretty smart for a 4.5 yr old. He has quite the vernacular. (He is good with the use of 4 letter words, knows not to use them in mixed company. Kid likes Catman from KISS, gremlins, performance, and he isn't scared of Pennywise. He thinks the scary clowns are his friends after meeting one at spookyworld. Give him option a and option b and he will tell you he had a better idea option 3! He likes.star wars, been to Boston Pops show, baseball games,.hockey games, basketball too, he recognized Tom Brady and Donald Trump. Kid plays drums and converses with Google Home. He tells it to play his hand selected tunes. Very well rounded for 4.5 yr old.
Just hate to have his head filled with mythology while his time could be better spent learning other things. (Spanish perhaps?)
Jax: Is home school an option? You seem like a sensible person.
Thanks, homeschooling isn't an option. Wife And i both work full time, and any first hand experience I have had with home schooled kids isn't good. They seem socially maladjusted. (And that's coming from a guy that went to an all boys high school! *vice principal was found to have boy kiddie porn on his home computer, but nobody at the schoo was diddled as far as I know. Just a bit overwhelmed by all the Jesus stuff. We live in New England. I'd love t9 find some local atheist group. I feel good knowing there are more people out there like me. I don't get to share my atheism with people. When I do, people give me the pity look, they feel bad for me LMAO.
Jax:There are home school co-ops for socialization. Money is not everything. Especially when handing your kids brain over to Jesuits. Then again, if you and your Catholic partner can walk the tightrope that influences your child in a positive way.
Lol @ chimp3! Jesuits lol. True money isn't everything, but it sure helps! We know a.family that sends their kid to this school. They seem normal and recognise the bad school system. Mayve i tell them jesus told me i dont have to pay "non parishiner ".price !
Good luck jax! I bet your kids turn out OK!
One last thought: there's lots of good advice and experience to learn from in this thread.
All of it is about the risks the school might present to the 5 year old. I just wish to mention that an intelligent child may turn out to be more of a threat to the aims of the school, in terms of spreading its superstition and "beliefs", than the school turns out to be to the child :-)
And one more point about the academic results of faith schools: these tend to attract a more conservative membership who understand the importance of discipline in a school. Most British state schools suffer from poor discipline, in my experience.
Thanks Zeff. My son made a comment this am in the way to preschool in regards to how Storm (from x men) controls the weather. I can't wait for him to "correct" the nuns lol... or he will just find a place for the mighty jeebus next to wolverine and deadpool...
@Jox Re: X-Men
Now THERE'S an interesting concept! What spot would Jesus fill on the X-Men team? You could start a whole new thread with that one. LOL
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