Teacher difficulty

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religionteacher123

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Hi,

before I begin this I do not want any negativity. I am writing from the perspective of a modern day secondary school religion teacher who is genuinely concerned and worried. I am witnessing a growing negative view towards the catholic church. Unfortunately I can see why. Students have several questions as to why priests are not allowed to marry, the question around homosexuality, euthanasia and the church, abortion and the church etc. Students seem to be under the impression that catholicism is holding back our modern society and I fear that unless some changes are made to the church (such as priests being unable to marry or females being unable to join the priesthood etc) the future of Catholicism seems uncertain and unsettling. I feel as if my students feel that Catholicism is a massive fraud and that anyone who believes in it is simply brainwashed. I am just wondering if others feel this way that changes should be made? Or what are your thoughts? Again, I am genuinely curious and any negative comments are unwelcome. This has genuinely been my experience as a teacher and I am just wondering if you think that if some changes are made could this change the future of Catholicism? Thanks in advance.
 
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The church literally survived being persecuted by the Romans, invasions from Barbarians, and being persecuted again under communism.

She’ll be fine.

She just may not be as present in western nations as she has been historically.

The church does not need to change. Truth is truth.
 
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Defend the Church! You are able to form the next generation of saints! the politicians, priests, nuns, laity… perhaps the first American pope- all sit in your desks! engage them. show them the Truth.
 
You are blessed to have such an amazing opportunity to be a religion teacher!! I wish I had this job! Please educate yourself as much as you can with apologetics so you have loving, well formed Catholic answers to your students concerns. Dive deep and learn a lot. Then you can provide them with Truth, and this will greatly help them. Teens are often only given worldly views, and then in their high school years they stray from their faith because they have no solid foundation. They need the Church’s perspective and you are so lucky to have the chance to give that to them. God bless 🙂
 
I grew up with a father who basically believed all of what you said. Especially the brainwashed thing. It wasn’t until college and searching on my own did I realize the Church really holds the Truth in its fullness. Looking back, I can see the beauty of everything I took for granted in my middle school religion classes. Your work may seem fruitless now but do not despair. I don’t mean this harshly but encouragingly: it doesn’t just depend on any 1 one of us. We don’t always know what part we are meant to play in the lives of others though it’s easy to think as the religion teacher, you’re the prime person to have the most impact on them. In actuality, it’s the family. And so many families are being destroyed nowadays and parents are quite possibly the ones that make them believe the things you’ve stated.

What made me realize the Truth, though, was a personal genuine encounter with God which happened on a retreat in college. Certainly pray for your students (I’m sure you already do) but truly, conversion of the heart takes place in God’s time, not so much ours’. I hope this could be of some help. We had an adoration chapel at my school. Occasionally my teacher would take us to Adoration throughout the year. I think that was very powerful, looking back. If that option is available for your students, please seize it! The New Evangelization has the Eucharist at it’s heart 🙂

But in the end, it is love that will convince them. It was love that convinced me. Words are not enough to change people. It must be love. If all you can do is love them, do that.
 
religionteacher123 said:
I am witnessing a growing negative view towards the catholic church.
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That much is undoubtedly true. The Church has had varying levels of persecution over two thousand years, and we are seeing increased persecution in much of the world.
I fear that unless some changes are made to the church (such as priests being unable to marry or females being unable to join the priesthood etc) the future of Catholicism seems uncertain and unsettling.
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The Church could ordain more married men, although I am unsure how much of a sea change that would be. (I assume that you are aware that there are already married priests.) Women cannot be priests. That cannot change, as you must know.
 
Brittany said:
The Church isn’t what needs to change. People’s understanding of the Church is what needs to change. People need to know the reasoning for our being against abortion, euthanasia, women priests, and everything else.
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I agree with this.

What’s interesting is that other world religions actually share many of these views - and no one condemns them for it - at least not to the extent that Catholicism is condemned.

Islam rejects homosexuality, birth control, abortion, female imams (sort of like a priest), and euthanasia. Just a thought.
 
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You aren’t promoting a club. The teachings of the Church are true, whether they are popular or not. You job is to teach them and answer these young people’s questions truthfully, whether they like the answer or not. As with every subject, you need to continue to educate yourself in apologetics throughout your career and I hope your school is assisting you with that. And even moreso than other subjects, you need to have a passion for what you are teaching because if you are lukewarm, your students will sense that. Of course students are going to have questions and you must help them to find the answers! All of the questions they have have already been mulled over by some of the greatest philosophical minds in history!
 
Of course I know. As I stated, I am just curious to see others’ perspective as this doubt is what I am faced with on a daily basis and genuinely want to see if this is the case elsewhere.
 
Honesty, if you can’t deal with the flames, get out of the fire.

I live in a very anti-Catholic area. The teachers have to be strong and knowledgeable. They have not time to wallow in self-pity and the most certainly do not personally speculate and hope that teachings change.
 
Totally can. Wouldn’t be in the profession otherwise. I am genuinely curious and never stated that I ‘hope the teachings change’.
 
religionteacher123 said:
Totally can. Wouldn’t be in the profession otherwise. I am genuinely curious and never stated that I ‘hope the teachings change’.
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Your “fear” that unless something changes the people will lose faith indicates a hope that it will change. You need to get those thoughts out of your mind.
 
That is the impression I am receiving from my current students unfortunately. As I said, was just curious.
 
How do you explain the truths of the faith and counter their arguments?
 
religionteacher123 said:
That is the impression I am receiving from my current students unfortunately. As I said, was just curious.
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Aren’t your students’ children?

You are there to inform them of why the rules are the way they are. You need to be well versed in real, accurate reasons why things are the way they are.

Teachers need to correct bad thoughts all the time. There are all sorts of wild ideas in highschools these days from the flat earth crowd to the kids who eat tide pods for giggles. Teens aren’t known for their good higher level thinking skills. I think you are looking at your students and seeing their lack of knowledge as reality.

Them being wrong means they need to be educated, not catered to.
 
Of course, and again, I am just curious. Not ‘catering’ to anything.
 
All due respect, but it seems to me that the problem is not the Catholic Church having counter cultural positions. Rather, your students should have the historical and philosophical preparation needed to a, understand why the CC holds its positions, b, understand how natural law theory has helped to produce and mold Western civilization, and c, understand the implications of trying to simply nullify that without any theoretical framework to replace it besides facile and self-righteous social media posts.

There is a tremendous amount of technology being developed in every direction and at a furious pace. In order for humans to make any use of it, progress needs to be harnessed to a stabilized force. Ying and Yang.

Progress without tradition is unstable and reckless. Your students do not necessarily need to ascribe to Catholicism, but they damn well need to respect it (along with other traditional moral systems).

If you are not instilling this respect for ancient wisdom into your students, they will have nothing to anchor them. Worse, they are likely to join the rest of shrill and boorish internet personalities that are driving our lack of culture.

Signed,
  • the agnostic Episcopalian
 
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