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I have a problem involving Christians so I need Christian advice.

F

Fatally Yours <3

Guest
I'm 17 and I go to Catholic school. It's not my fault, I didn't ask for my dad to be Catholic. The problem is next month, my school is having a mission week, which requires us to miss classes. As an atheist, this is irrelevant to me and I want to be able to go to class and learn something useful, it's very important I get good grades as I finish school this year so missing school is a no-no. I figured Christians would know best about how to get Christians to go away and leave you alone, so I joined to ask. :)
 
Well, if you're an atheist at a Catholic school, I can't imagine this is the first time your disbelief has been an issue, unless you woke up yesterday with a new view. What have you done in other cases? What does your father say about it.

This is sounding a bit argumentative toward the faith of the members here. I'll go on the assumption that you're sincere and happily be the end of your joke if you're not. Is a week off of classes for a "missions week" going to impact your education that much? Do you complain when they shut down for breaks or the weekends? Why is this break so crucial to your learning?

If you're able to provide for yourself, I believe you are of age to fend for yourself if you don't want to abide by your father's desire to have you in a Catholic school. Either you acknowledge his authority and the rules of the school, or you set off on your own and make your own rules.

Ultimately, I pray you acknowledge The Father's Authority! :thumbsup
 
I presented them with a copy of the UK law which says that if you're over 16 at a state maintained school (Catholic schools are state maintained here) you're allowed to exclude yourself from school religious services. They still made me go.
I have emailed every non-religious school within an hour's travelling distance but they were all either full or didn't do my classes :sad
As for the school closing for breaks and weekends, during school breaks and weekends, I have work to be doing. During school mission week, I won't be given any work. (Maybe if I ask them nicely though :))
 
Also, me and my dad don't talk anymore (a little awkward seeing as my parents are still married) so he hasn't said anything on the subject.
 
I fail to see how a school sanctioned break is going to cause you to fail in your grades. The teachers can't fail you for missing a class that you have to miss... Nor can the really assign you work while you are not there and expect it to be done.
 
The teachers don't decide the grades over here, my grades are decided at the end of the year after my exams.
Basically, everyone at my school is missing out on a week of teaching time that other schools are having, and we have to compete against those other schools in the exams.
 
You should talk to someone from the UK, we got some of them around here... that literally made no sense to me what so ever.
 
Ok. *Really dumbed down explanation of the British school system*
In Britain, your grades are not decided by your teachers. We gain one set of qualifications at age 16, then can choose to stay on until we're 18 when we gain another set of qualifications. We take exams to gain these qualifications. The exams are sent away to other teachers in other parts of the country because the marking is supposed to be fairer because the person marking it doesn't know you and therefore doesn't have favourites or least favourites. The issue is everyone in the country follows the same syllabus and sits the same exam on the same day. Grades are awarded according to how everyone performs (top 10% get an A, for example). Therefore, as my school is missing out on teaching time that other schools doing the same exams are not missing, it's putting us at a disadvantage.
 
The ultimate curved grading...

No idea what to do. What is their answer to the fact that you guys are missing time to be learning for some exams? Can't you study independently of school? If the syllabus is already figured out for you, why not just do that weeks work at home on your own time?
 
The syllabus isn't covered week by week, we just have to have covered everything by the end of the year.
The problem is if you lose teaching time, you lose weeks of studying in class before the exams, which is really really important.
 
Maybe you could see if there are others in your class who are in the same situation. A group can sometimes have more sway power than a single individual.

As an ex-Catholic I can see why you might be an atheist now. But please do not give up on God, because I can guarantee He has not given up on you. Stick to the Bible and interpret it for yourself. Also come back to these Forums. You just might find the answers to a lot more things.
 
Michae1 said:
But please do not give up on God, because I can guarantee He has not given up on you. Stick to the Bible and interpret it for yourself. Also come back to these Forums. You just might find the answers to a lot more things.
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Yes, very true.

If your atheism comes from being a Catholic then maybe you should change.

I was in your shoes. Last year I was a 17 year old atheist. Now I am an 18 year old Christian. The Spirit works wonders and at an exceptional speed!
 
Here in Australia we have inherited many things from the UK, one of them being education and the way that it's marked (with differences of course). I'm currently doing my last year of school. In fact, I've just finished school and in the next month will do my final exams. These final exams will determine half of my entire schooling mark, for the qualification of what we call an HSC (Higher School Certificate). The other half is internal school assignments/essays etc. Both of these together, calculated by an external body against the whole country will determine our final mark, which is called an ATAR. This ATAR is calculated based upon our ranking against every other student. So if I get an ATAR of 85.4, that means that I am in the top 14.6% of the country. It actually gets complicated becasue of scalling etc, but that's essentially how it works.

So I know the system you're in, and it is very harsh. :yes Your situation honestly doesn't sound that bad. Sure, it could be better, but honestly it's not too bad. Do you have a textbook for various subjects? Why not read ahead in that, otr ask your teachers what you're going to do next in class so you can get ahead and do it while on the mission trip. But to be honest if this is part of the school's curriculum then you may just have to suck it up. Trust me, there are worse things in life. For example, of prime importance is for you to gain an eternal perspective. Go to a church/youth group that is not Catholic and keep an open mind. The Gospel is amazing! Mate, I'm a Christian and I get turned off by many Catholic teachings so don't judge Christianity or God if your experience of Christianity is from a Catholic background.

Another thing - you've got time. I've got friends in the UK and you finish early to mid next year, correct? So it's not like your in the last crucial months of your schooling. Take a breather! It might be fun. :)
 
In South Africa we have had 3 weeks of teacher strikes. (Final end of year exams are in 3 weeks time) The kids that were serious about their studies formed study groups. The kids that want everything for nothing went around and disrupted schools wanting an xtra 25% to be added onto their end of year results. A week of missions would have been build into your schools program so I personally feel if you are serious about your studies you must form a study group with fellow like minded students and take your books with you. Surely there are teacher going with on mission. Talk to them and arrange evening study time.
I agree with Nick reagrding your view on Christianity. Don't judge Christianity on teachings of the catholic Church. Christianity is a personal relatioinship with Christ. Seek him first.
 
Ed the Ned said:
In South Africa we have had 3 weeks of teacher strikes. (Final end of year exams are in 3 weeks time) The kids that were serious about their studies formed study groups. The kids that want everything for nothing went around and disrupted schools wanting an xtra 25% to be added onto their end of year results. A week of missions would have been build into your schools program so I personally feel if you are serious about your studies you must form a study group with fellow like minded students and take your books with you. Surely there are teacher going with on mission. Talk to them and arrange evening study time.
I agree with Nick reagrding your view on Christianity. Don't judge Christianity on teachings of the catholic Church. Christianity is a personal relatioinship with Christ. Seek him first.
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Great words from Ed :). I'm sure there's similar-minded people in your school that could form some sort of study group....c'mon, we all know people that will study no matter what! :D
Ed raised a point I hadn't considered before, that your school would work their curriculum around excursions/missions etc. I don't think that they'd do this mission if they thought it would seriously impact on your studies and end result.
 
Michae1 said:
Maybe you could see if there are others in your class who are in the same situation. A group can sometimes have more sway power than a single individual.

As an ex-Catholic I can see why you might be an atheist now. But please do not give up on God, because I can guarantee He has not given up on you. Stick to the Bible and interpret it for yourself. Also come back to these Forums. You just might find the answers to a lot more things.
Click to expand...
I'm not an atheist because I was Catholic, I remember starting school age 4 and being taught about religion and thinking "well this all seems a bit silly, really." I've been an atheist my whole life, there wasn't one particular event that made me an atheist.
The only non-Catholic Christian I know is this girl I was friends with in primary school, but her "church" seems more like a warped cult so I'm a little bit scared of her.
 
Fatally Yours <3 said:
I'm not an atheist because I was Catholic, I remember starting school age 4 and being taught about religion and thinking "well this all seems a bit silly, really." I've been an atheist my whole life, there wasn't one particular event that made me an atheist.
The only non-Catholic Christian I know is this girl I was friends with in primary school, but her "church" seems more like a warped cult so I'm a little bit scared of her.
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That's our point. Your only experiene of Christianity seems to be either Catholic or weird cults.
 
I don't assume that a thread of posts will convince you to question your disbelief, but I'm led to say this - and I don't make it a practice to knock Catholics. I grew up Catholic and was so until about the age of 25. My parents were steep in it and still are, but in my experience with several Catholic churches, there is very little feeding going on there. They read an OT reading, an epistle reading and a Gospel reading. And that's all you get at church. They rarely, if ever, have anything more outside of mass, i.e. Bible Studies.

I too am not fully surprised that you would not accept it from the Catholic church. It is puzzling that you came to this point at the age of 4. :confused I would have been asleep on the pew at that age. :lol So if I understand this correctly, your father is Catholic, but your mother is uninvolved or doesn't believe. This likely has also add to your disbelief.

I regret the way I responded to your OP with my first response. The way I read it, I have to admit, it sounded like you were here to chastise. :sorry

However you manage to get through this predicament, the more important matter is your salvation (from our perspective - likely not yours). I pray you take the time to give the Truth a fair chance to settle on your heart. It seems even an atheist would have to admit, the notion of eternity is of great importance, even if you don't believe. It's significant enough to take a serious look so you don't spend your entire life never allowing change to take place.

Even if you go and just observe, I would encourage you to find a scriptural based church. Another one that truly feeds its congregation will give you more to think about. And here's a real challenge you might find laughable: suspend your disbelief for a time (I'm not saying to believe but just suspend the disbelief), try to get your heart in an open state, and pray to the Lord to reveal Himself to you. You might scoff at this, but the worst that could happen is... nothing. However, Something much more incredible might. I believe it will. :yes
 
Mike said:
It is puzzling that you came to this point at the age of 4. :confused I would have been asleep on the pew at that age. :lol
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I was a hyperactive 4 year old.
I fall asleep more often on the pews now (my dad still makes me go to church) than I did when I was 4.
 
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