Fake Christian Education

Louis St. Laurent High School. The “Catholic” School that I attended.

Very few people get a proper Christian education these days in the West. Growing up as a Catholic, I went to a Catholic School but let’s be honest, apart from a morning prayer and some religious celebrations where the students used it as an opportunity to clown around, it wasn’t Catholic at all.

Why do Catholic Schools exist? Imagine a 35 year old mother and her first child has reached the age of four or five and is ready for school. The question now arises: Public or Catholic school? The mother was raised Catholic but doesn’t really believe in religion anymore. However, she’s not opposed to the idea of religion and certainly wouldn’t want to deprive the child of a chance to believe it so she sends the child to Catholic School for some religious exposure.

Good intentions? It may seem like it but this is actually a lazy way of going about it. The mother is sending her child to a Catholic school because she doesn’t want to go to Church on Sunday, say grace before every meal and pray the rosary at night with her family. That would be getting the child true Catholic exposure. The only problem is it’s too much work! She has to drop her child off at a school anyways so she might as well kill two birds with one stone and get him to the Catholic school for some religious exposure.

The Catholic School system appears to be an easy way out for quasi-Catholic parents. I’m not talking about private schools where Priests and Nuns teach and has daily mass and costs $15,000 a year per student. Those schools are typically pretty good. I’m talking about government run public schools that call themselves Catholic but are secular to the core.

As a Catholic, I oppose the Catholic school system in my region. I became religious in University. Twelve years of Catholic school couldn’t set my faith ablaze but four years of secular University could. A bit ironic, isn’t it?

When I have children, I will not send them to government run Catholic schools because I’d rather have pagan teachers that call themselves pagan than pagan teachers who claimed to be Catholic. The Catholic school system is not a friend of the Catholic faith but in fact one of its largest enemies. The fact that most don’t know it’s an enemy is why it is so dangerous.

So if you’re that 35 year old parent who wants to give some exposure to your child regarding the tradition you were baptized into, put some work into it. I know that if Catholic schools didn’t exist, most of these parents would just send their children to the public school without thinking about it. A few on the other hand might put some effort into it and make their home a Catholic home so their children can experience the faith that they grew up in.

A Catholic school doesn’t make good Catholics. Exposure to the Catholic faith makes good Catholics and you won’t find this at a government run “Catholic” school.