Did they teach you religion in school?

fraggle said:

Yep. Here in the UK, religious instruction is mandatory. Every morning we had an assembly where hymns were sung, though from memory, apart from the hymns I don't recall a huge amount of actual religious content to the assemblies. I think they typically just consisted of the headmaster or one of his deputies rambling on for half an hour. Suffice it to say that by the time we were teenagers, my friends and I had long ago stopped bothering to sing the hymns.

I remember attending Bible studies classes in primary school (that was in the public school system nearly 50 years ago), which I think were once a week and non-denominational. That was quietly phased out long ago, though religion's creeping back into the classroom by way of a federally funded chaplaincy program.

I attended an all-boys independent Roman Catholic school for the best part of 5 years, so naturally, yes, there was religious instruction. Lots of it. 6 times a week we hauled ourselves to assembly (Sundays too, of course, if you were a boarder), recited passages in front of our respective crosses, accepted the "optional" body of Christ, and never failed to miss a day which celebrated the life of whatever saint or figure in Catholicism.* When I became a prefect for the school, the operating of these tasks fell largely to me, on rotation, and I would often read aloud in mass or lead the precession in reverence of the lord thy God...

However, my relationship with religion was a little complicated. Here, my exposure to the concept of a god as expressed through theism was the first time I had ever considered it at length, and I cannot at any one point remember calling myself anything more than agnostic (a term which I have come to learn pertains only to knowledge, rather than belief). I could have elected merely to attend these religious events as they were mandatory, rather than become another cog in the wheel of their proceedings, but as I had spent almost all of my life beforehand travelling, adapting to new environments and meeting new people, I saw these events and teachings as an opportunity to mix in with the others, and make myself feel at home.
I remember being absolutely terrified when I was dragged up to the school on the first day, as I had rather expected a cult (which, of course, it was)! I imagine fitting in was one of the first things on my mind, and it's probably why, when I saw that there were a number of boys who elected to sit down during communion, I suspected that they were just being "a little nervous" with the prospect of eating a wafer, crossing oneself, then trotting round the chapel to be seated once again.

When I left school and entered uni, I failed to recognise any system of acceptance beyond acting invincible and joining in on pub crawls, and so promptly left all of that nonsense behind me.

It's a bygone experience, and not at all regrettable. I think naivety is something that's to be valued when you're young, as when it's gone -- replaced by knowledge, sensibility, experience, and acceptance of one's own identity and position -- these actions and relationships can only be passed off as foolish.

*Sadly for the patron saint of Portuguese smelt fisherman, there was never a candle lit.

My family isn't religious and I was only sent to religious school because of the Special Ed they had which the public schools didn't have, so therefore it wasn't optional to learn it.

They taught us mythology (religion). Greek / Roman mythology, Norse mythology and how conquering nations messed with mythology.

One of my friends has a Buddhist family who, for some reason, sent him to a Catholic school for a while. He doesn't seem to know an awful lot about either religion despite this.

My education in Biblical matters consisted of my (hardcore atheist) dad reading us some stories from Genesis in a form designed for kids. He just did this once, and I'm not sure why. Maybe we'd asked a question about it. M*A*S*H must have been on that night because I remember picturing God as looking like Radar (scrawny, little guy in army fatigues and glasses).

My cousin didn't like the way that public schools argued with her (my cousin)... so she spent a fortune sending her 4 kids to a christian / church school that she calls the rich people school. Her kids went from being passive to being angry aggressive bible pushers. Even her 3 year old asks do you believe in god? you should. Nothing like having a religious confrontation with a 3 year old.

I was fed a bit of woo, some of which maybe originated from some religious propaganda, but nothing directly about religion.

I'm not sure what to say. I mean, throughout my school years I had some pretty reasonable RE teachers, especially the one from high school but I keep thinking about kids from the first or fourth grade who are in danger of being indoctrinated by fanatics but on the other hand I think it is important to know at least the basics regarding religion even if you are an atheist.

In my country, politicians are taking steps to ban RE from schools and a lot of people are against this since my country is almost 90% Orthodox Christian.

And Printz, an atheist family in Romania :D? they must be interesting people.

DooM_RO said:

And Printz, an atheist family in Romania :D? they must be interesting people.

I've met others too. Most metalheads seem to be atheistic too, though I'm not a metalhead.

Yeppers, mandatory. It was one of key points in my life why I am now proud atheist.

OT: I somehow managed to read that title as 'did they touch you in school?'.

j4rio said:

OT: I somehow managed to read that title as 'did they touch you in school?'.

I rather hope that was after you formed the content of your post...!

Yes, they did. I thought it was interesting, and joined the church, or more like they did the watering thing, but I hardly ever go to any church or temple. I prefer to do religious things in my solitude.

There was also some rumors about one religion teacher touching students, or giving them better grades if the dressed provocatively.. I didn't notice anything like that in that teacher, instead I noticed he was a strict teacher who also told jokes and ended classes early if the students behaved correctly. I think all teachers should be like that, though most people seem to hate that kind of teachers, which probably explains the rumors.

st.alfonzo said:

I rather hope that was after you formed the content of your post...!

Whoopsie!