Oh, the things we learned in school…or didn’t! Well, that might depend on the school, in all fairness.
My early education was in a parochial environment with the curriculum heavily focused on all things surrounding religion. Or the lack thereof. I’ve written about this rather rigid teaching structure in the past but still recall the constant daily prayers geared towards the conversion of Russia. That…was a biggie with the Ursuline order of nunnery, years ago. On a personal level, prayers were recited for the conversion of my Protestant father, as well; the statement always brought pitiful looks from my classmates, some who viewed me as an outsider, coming from a “mixed marriage”. Not much was sacred back then, the nuns knew everyone’s business, never hesitating to share same when the need arose.
In retrospect, as students, we didn’t learn to acknowledge, even respect, anyone or anything not enveloped in the Catholic way of life. It was always a “looking-down” on anyone who wasn’t a donation-giving, mass-attending, confession-going, member of our religion.
Being Catholic didn’t make us better than anyone else but that attitude was always reinforced in school. It promoted only tolerance which was ironic given that we were reminded constantly that we were all “God’s children”. In my book, that made each of us the same. However, when posing any question on that very subject to the religious hierarchy, the answer always involved a terse lecture and a God-fearing look coming from the nun at hand. A ruler in her hand was a quick reminder of the moral superiority which was her job to teach.
All of this promulgated so many differences between people, many which remain in the forefront of life today. What most of us have learned, I feel, has been from personal choice and a desire to move beyond even a hint of the prejudices we’ve been raised with. Especially from what was then, and should be now… taught in school.
From Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop…..Tell us about something you never learned in school but should have.
