Posts by Peter Doyle2

Jessica Kelly4 said:It’s a total stretch. Just a cocktail of Vatican City paranoia, phobias, and media sensationalism. 🙂 It’s just like Dan Brown. He probably wouldn't have made a dime if some idiot at the Vatican hadn't decided to start a public feud. It's the same story with massive institutions—someone always finds a specific angle to complain about, and then they turn that drama into a gold mine.

This is actually brilliant!!
Maybe I'll just write a fantasy novel, bait some religious leader into attacking me in the news, and boom—huge sales and millions in my pocket. Who knows, maybe I'll end up on the bestseller lists like Meyer 🙂

Even Harry Potter couldn't save me😢
Right after high school, during my freshman year of college—just as the whole Harry Potter craze was actually kicking off—a friend gave me the first book. I read it, I guess, but barely. It just wasn't interesting to me at all; I felt zero urge to keep going. 😢That required reading list absolutely killed me—well, it killed any interest I had in reading, anyway.

I’m not saying everything should be based on some easy, trendy bestseller. But the sheer volume of books assigned for high school reading lists is just too much—they're often incomprehensible or just plain boring. Consequently, 99% of kids just grind through them to get the grade. It seems pretty pointless to me.
Maybe it would help if professors—like someone else mentioned earlier—provided more guidance or context before students even dive in. Instead of forcing them to tackle an entire book, they could focus on the most compelling, essential chapters.
General literacy levels would stay intact😉 and kids wouldn't feel so frustrated. If a student actually enjoys one specific excerpt, they might actually decide to finish the whole thing. As it stands now, they give up right at the start and just rely on SparkNotes or online summaries.

edit: And why on earth is HP so hated by certain church groups? 😲 I mean, it's fantasy! Wait, does that mean George R.R. Martin or Tolkien are on their blacklist too?

steelskipper5 said:It’s almost like you’ve never had to deal with American bureaucracy before. 🤷
The whole process is basically a masterclass in how life works.

Personally, I’m bummed that Animal Farm wasn't on the required reading list, along with a few other dystopian stories. They actually help you make sense of the world, even if they are pretty dark and depressing. And honestly? That’s exactly why people end up loving them.

not at all. The Bible, the Iliad, the Odyssey?! Give me a break!! For a 15-year-old—which was freshman year, if I remember right—it’s just pure nonsense. It's a total turn-off and a complete trauma when it comes to reading.

If they’re taught correctly, they aren't traumatic at all. But then we run into the issue of teaching competence, which seems to be hitting new lows every day. And things might get even worse once teacher salaries take another hit.

🤣 The whole process is, I guess, basically a perfect snapshot—not just of the bureaucracy, but of our entire American system of government. Beautiful.
Orwell is a total legend—honestly, I’d put him on every required reading list, and not just for Animal Farm.
But I guess that's just my take on things. 😢

It’s a bold move—and honestly, that’s exactly my point. I mean, how are you even supposed to properly process something like the Bible, the Iliad, or the Odyssey... on a watch? ☕ Maybe you could just give the kids specific, interesting chapters or small excerpts—rather than making them tackle the entire epic at once. I guess that might be easier. 🙄
It’s honestly kind of ridiculous—back in high school, they only gave us a few select chapters of the Iliad for our reading assignment, whereas my cousin, who went to a vocational technical school, had to read the entire thing from start to finish. I guess the curriculum is just all over the place. 😕 To what end, I guess?

steelskipper5 said:Man, that is the million-dollar question right there. And honestly? I’m not sure you’re gonna like my answer. 😁

See, the whole point behind most of our school systems isn't just pure education or even "character building"—it's about enculturation. Or, if you want to call it what it really is, indoctrination. The goal of teaching history isn't so kids learn facts, but so they soak up those national myths that keep the country feeling like one big, homogeneous unit. Even the required reading list? It’s not about making kids love books; it’s about cementing a specific canon that supposedly serves as the foundation for our entire culture.

That’s why, for instance, a classic like Marley's Judith stays on the curriculum. In certain parts of Western culture, apparently it's vital to know exactly how to poison someone or kill them in their sleep. ☕

Look, putting my cynical side aside for a second—these reading lists fail even by the standards of "enculturation," and the way teachers force students through them is just terrible.
But hey, that just brings me back to my usual whining about semi-literate Americanists...

Heyyyy, where did you disappear to?
I feel like I should respond with a post full of Masons, reptiles, and all that stuff. 🤣

Yeah, okay, just kidding... but...
I can't say you aren't on the right track here.
Because, I guess, my impression is that the purpose of required reading—and schooling in general (especially here in the States)—isn't to teach kids how to think, but rather to pour certain "dogmas" into their heads.
Though, that might be a much bigger issue than just school books, since the whole education system feels broken and fails to meet children's actual needs. The reading list is just one small piece of that larger puzzle.

brisktiger56 said:I’ve been daydreaming about this ideal parent-child dynamic—one where a kid comes home, cracks open a book, and actually feels comfortable enough to complain. Like, "Ugh, I really don't get this one. Why did you pick this for me?" And instead of getting hit with a lecture about how important the classics are, or some tired monologue about why the Secretary of Education insists this specific title belongs on every middle school syllabus, the parent actually listens. Imagine if the conversation stayed focused on the actual book—building a genuine, critical opinion about the story itself—rather than spiraling into a debate about the educational system or why we shouldn't question the "approved" reading list. It would be about the literature, not the bureaucracy. Honestly, I think that kind of approach might have done you some good too.
Quincy:

Let’s be real here—the whole idea of a book being "popular" or the general culture of reading is basically in a death spiral. It seems like a massive chunk of kids and teenagers just don't read—and honestly, can you blame them? We aren't exactly helping matters by forcing this exhausting, incomprehensible, and frankly unnecessary pile of high school reading assignments down their throats. It feels like we’re actively pushing them away from books by shoving these "heavyweight" works at them before they're even ready. I mean, shouldn't we be focusing on actually sparking an interest in reading? Shouldn't we be handing them literature that actually speaks to them—stuff that feels relevant to their lives? Instead, we lean on the prestige of these "great classics." But let's be real—what does it actually matter if a book is considered a masterpiece when 90% of the time it just sits there unread? Most kids just end up skimming SparkNotes or searching for some quick summary online to get through the assignment anyway. It feels like a lot of wasted effort. 🤷

Yeah, tell me about it. It’s definitely easier to just copy-paste than to actually sit there and strain your brain—classic teenager behavior, really. They always seem to have much more important things to worry about than, say, actual comprehension.
Quincy:

Look, like I was saying—it’s all perfectly doable if you just handle the heavy lifting during class time using the textbooks. As for required reading? Just give them something light, like some teen fiction. You know, books that don't feel like pulling teeth to get through. I’m not saying the entire current reading list is garbage, but let's be real—the vast majority of it is.

I honestly wish we could just let people skip the classics if they wanted to—like, if someone wants to dive into some light, fun beach read instead, let them. It would be great if they could just talk about that in class, maybe write a quick review or something. Instead, you always have those specific types of kids who act like they’re absolutely obsessed with Tolstoy, getting all worked up over discussions about War and Peace... It would actually be way more engaging for them, and honestly, they’d probably learn more from those debates than anything else. But hey, what do I know? I’m not exactly a teacher. 😛

Oh man, since we're talking about Kafka...
I complained at home about how much that stuff sucks. My mom just looked at me like I had two heads—like, sure, Kafka is fine, but how could I say he's bad?
Then I asked her what the whole point of the book even was. She couldn't really give me a straight answer. Apparently, she read him when she was seventeen and thought she understood it all... not! But hey, at least she thinks Kafka is cool.☕

As for the rest of it...
If my opinion actually mattered when it came to high school reading lists, I'd probably scrap 90% of today's requirements and just cover them via textbooks in class. I'd leave maybe two or three understandable masterpieces as mandatory, and let everyone else pick for themselves. Maybe not total freedom, but a list of maybe 50 books covering various genres that actually appeal to teenagers. Then they could write, discuss, and debate—encouraging each other to read because they actually want to, not because they have to.
No one is ever going to say the Iliad is particularly exciting, I guess.🙄

Kate Cox2 said:oh, I am right there with you..
I was exactly the same way in grade school, flying through anything I could get my hands on. My English teacher used to hold onto my books for weeks just to check if I had copied them from somewhere—she simply couldn't believe how fast I read or how well I wrote..

But high school.. it destroyed me.. I avoided as much as I possibly could (which was quite a lot) by using all sorts of tricks, but I couldn't escape Kafka. Even today, I feel nauseous just thinking about *The Metamorphosis* and *The Trial*. I honestly cannot wrap my head around what kind of moron decided to include that in a high school curriculum???
🤮
Is that stuff still being assigned in high schools?

You know, I guess my transformation was actually pretty cool—it really turned out well. 🤣 If Pajcekica had been a guy, I guess Gregory would probably be in my top 10 names—maybe. 🤣
I mean, even if it is totally absurd, the book is still somehow readable and easy to follow—plus, it’s pretty short. 🤣
Well, regarding that whole process—I guess it’s just how things work. 🙂
The issue—and the whole process, I guess—is still being worked out. Maybe we'll see some clarity soon. 😲 🙂

Could any of the teachers, professors, pedagogues, or psychologists hanging out here on Reddit please explain what a 17-year-old—which is junior year of high school, if I recall correctly—is actually supposed to get out of this book? I mean, besides the realization that LSD is a total disaster. 🤷 😂
And don't even get me started on the Proust and those little pastries—honestly, it’s a whole other conversation.
All that talk about Judith, the equinoxes, all those debates and complaints—honestly, I don't even want to get into the weeds with it. It’s just not accessible for a high schooler. Not even close. The Bible, the Iliad, the Odyssey?! Give me a break. For a fifteen-year-old—which, if my memory serves, is when you tackle these in freshman year—it's just total nonsense. It’s a complete turn-off, and honestly, probably just a total reading trauma.

Let's be clear—I’m not against reading. I guess I just see it as an idea where kids could maybe pick up one book a month.
I really am not.

I'm just generally against forcing kids to read total nonsense—you know, those incomprehensible, useless books that only serve to leave them traumatized or, at the very least, staring at the page with a massive "WTF?" expression.

The sad thing is—even though I was kind of a slacker and a bit of a troublemaker back then—we didn't actually sit down to write out our literature assignments. We just worked through them during study hall periods. It usually involved shuffling from desk to desk while the teacher threw out random questions... like what color the wallpaper was, I guess. 🙄So, I basically read about 99% of all that stuff assigned for high school reading—and honestly? I can't remember much of it today. All I really recall is that Gregory was some kind of bug, Raskolnikov killed his grandmother, and in Anna Karenina, everyone's just a miserable family member in their own unique way. Or something like that, I guess.
I guess I can't even begin to describe how much baggage I brought with me from high school.
That’s why, for instance— Sadako wants to live—I guess. I remember my elementary school reading list almost perfectly—honestly, I still remember more than half of those books even now. I won't bore you by listing every single title and author, though.

Linda Price5 said:There were times when, immediately after finishing a required school reading, I’d sprint to the local library just to find something decent to read—anything to cleanse my palate so I wouldn't grow to loathe literature entirely. It was much like needing to get back behind the wheel of a car as quickly as possible after being stuck in a gridlock of bumper-to-bumper traffic.

I honestly fail to see the objective here. Is the goal of the curriculum to ensure students graduate thinking books are an absolute misery, ensuring they never pick up a single page again for the rest of their lives? 🤷

Exactly. That’s basically what happened to me, and I know plenty of others too.
Personally, I used to feel like an incompetent, immature moron—kind of convinced that "adult literature" just wasn't for me, like I was stuck at an elementary school intellectual level whenever it came to reading.
To be honest, even now, I mostly stick to YA, fiction, or fantasy.
I guess it's because I'm only just now trying to catch up on all the stuff I actually should have been interested in during puberty. 🤣
But hey, maybe I'll eventually reach that "adult" level. 🙂 🤣
Then again, when I remember devouring Taylor Swift back when I was 13 or 14... today, that feels... weird, maybe? It's a bit heavy... it actually makes me want to cry. 😢

Thanks for nothing, high school curriculum. 🙂

brisktiger56 said:it really is pretty tragic

now I'm back at it—actually swallowing books, enjoying the process, basically carving out every spare second just to read. honestly, I probably could've finished a mountain of literature by now if those damn mandatory high school assignments hadn't ruined everything for me.😠 yeah, I feel genuinely robbed because of those books. they cost me almost ten years thanks to the massive aversion they burned into my brain.🙄

It’s a shame you didn't have some empathetic soul to talk to back then—someone who could've helped you push through so those school assignments wouldn't have nuked your love for reading in the first place...

Luckily, you finally made it back to the fold.😉

But to whom? Maybe some shrink, I guess, because that aversion was just too deep—books literally made me feel sick. If I couldn't even bring myself to read stuff like *The Outsiders*, which is, you know, a timeless classic, then it's pretty obvious. I tried, but it just wasn't happening. Brrr, thinking about it now gives me the chills.

Let's be real, the "popularity" of books and reading culture is tanking.
A huge percentage of kids and teens aren't reading. And honestly, the exhausting, confusing, and totally unnecessary grind of high school required reading isn't helping at all—especially in high school. Wouldn't it be better to actually encourage young people to read by giving them literature that actually speaks to them? Instead of pushing them away from books with "too heavy" works? I mean, what does it even matter if these works are "great classics" if, in 90% of cases, they stay unread anyway because kids just use SparkNotes or the internet to get by? 🤷
As I said, you can cover all that fine through a history textbook or a lecture. For required reading, maybe stick to light teen fiction—stuff that's actually accessible. I'm not saying the entire current curriculum is bad, but most of it is.

Well, I'll weigh in too...

I HATE ASSIGNED READING!!! 😠

There, I finally said it. 🤣

The story goes like this:
Ever since my mom signed me up for a card at the local public library back before first grade, I basically spent my entire childhood with my nose stuck in a book. Elementary school reading lists were actually fine—they weren't enough for me, though, so I just read whatever else I could find.
I used to love books and reading; I was never late returning anything. In fact, I’d probably be sprinting to the library a month before my books were even due because I’d already finished everything and needed something new. 🤣

And then came high school. 🙂

It killed me. Literally. They aren't sane!!!! It completely soured books for me. I mean, how are they supposed to encourage eloquence or literacy by essentially torturing us with works written in some archaic, regional dialect we can't even grasp?! I hated those assignments (they were at their worst in junior year—just total gibberish). I never understood them, and they absolutely crushed my desire to read. I mean, how are you supposed to get into a story, or a character, or even follow the plot when you have to flip to a glossary for every second word?! Honestly.
Okay, look, these are important works. Historical masterpieces. I get that.
But are we really going to stay this broken if we just cover them through a quick lecture in class instead of making them mandatory reading?

Anyway, it took me nearly ten years to recover from the trauma of high school reading lists before I could pick up a book again.
Isn't that sad?!

Now, I'm devouring books again. I love reading; I spend almost every spare moment doing it. I probably could have read a mountain of books if it hadn't been for that cursed high school curriculum. 😠 So, yeah, I truly feel scarred by those assignments. They basically robbed me of ten years because of the intense aversion they caused me. 🙄

There’s no such thing as a stupid question, just stupid answers.
The teacher reacted really poorly.
It was almost as if he had said something incredibly foolish—she shouldn't have even implied he was being dense 🙂

And regarding that "stupid" question, you'd be surprised how many grown adults actually approach pregnant women with questions like that ☕
This is just more proof of how much we need comprehensive sex education in our schools. If the question had been directed at a teacher actually qualified for that curriculum, I doubt anyone would have been called names.

When I say things work this way across the board, I mean confirmation isn't the only sacrament where godparents end up shelling out big bucks—it’s the same story with baptisms and weddings too.

I mean, it feels like First Communion is somewhat less intense since there aren't really godparents involved, but I’ve noticed people are starting to celebrate Communion in restaurants more often lately. And once you're at a restaurant, family won't even dream of showing up unless they cover at least one seat, and if the family covers the seat, then I guess the godparent should probably cover two... and so on. 🥳

I guess that’s just my impression as an outside observer.
I don't really participate in these traditions, nor am I—God forbid—ever asked to be part of them.
If it’s someone I’m not actually close to in life, I’d probably settle the godparent duty with a quick, minimal gesture.
But if it’s someone truly close to me, I’ll agree, though I’ll probably include a long-winded lecture about my actual views on the church and faith. If they still insist on me being their godparent, well, what can you do? Okay. Only, money wouldn't be an issue then, because I know that when I give to someone I care about, I'm giving from the heart and doing whatever I can.
And honestly, I don't care at all that everyone else is out buying scooters or laptops; I simply can't afford that stuff. And the person asking me to be a godparent knows that, too.

It sounds terrible to say, but sometimes I feel like getting a divorce just on paper would be worth it just so people would stop nagging me about godparent duties.
Anyway, I personally think a church wedding is one of the biggest headaches in life. 🙄
Fortunately, I grew a backbone in time and didn't raise my kid to just follow the crowd and... well... go along with everything.

Rachel Jones8 said:Guess their version of "promoting" is pretty weak then...😢
And apparently, tradition is just a total joke.

But, if you really think about it, isn't that just how things go everywhere?
Okay, I know this thread is specifically about Christ, so I shouldn't drift too far off-topic—though it feels like everything ends up being like that eventually.
With all the sacraments (except maybe Communion—I guess those numbers are still relatively reasonable since you don't need specific godparents, though I hear people are even booking out restaurants for those now...) it's basically the same story. It's expected that the godparent will go to great lengths to 🙄

Rachel Jones8 said:It all feels so confusing to me... why doesn't faith promote things like modesty or simplicity instead of constantly asking for... laptops, gold, tablets, or huge donations for this and that?
Man, 🙂

Actually, I'd argue the exact opposite—I think faith, the church, and the sacrament itself are supposed to represent something completely different.
It seems like we've just developed this local tradition where people feel pressured to buy gifts worth an entire average paycheck, or sometimes even taking out a small loan just to cover it (I remember back in the day, everyone was obsessed with getting those high-end scooters—basically motorized things that cost at least $2,000 or more).
It would be really interesting if someone living abroad could weigh in—maybe tell us what the typical gift values look like over there, or if people even receive significant gifts from godparents during Confirmation. ☕
For instance, what about people in Italy, Spain, or Portugal? They are traditionally Catholic countries, so I'm curious about what their customs are regarding the Sacrament of Confirmation. 🤷

Rachel Jones8 said:What kind of crowd are we talking about? Not just the secular types, but actual religious folks? Don't they usually make a huge deal out of those ceremonies and all the gifts?🤷

We don't live in atheist neighborhoods, 🙄
we’re basically the first "outcasts" because we don't subscribe to the ideology. We don't consider ourselves religious, and we don't exactly follow church traditions religiously—not that we'd want to—so we aren't going to mark our kids with those rituals from day one just to fit in.
That pretty much makes us an immediate target, I guess.
There are very few truly practicing believers around us. About 99% of our family and friends are "religious" on paper—mostly just because everyone else is.

Realistically, sacraments have turned into a "follow the crowd" type of thing.
And we really aren't interested in following the crowd. 🤣

Last year, I served as a godmother, and I ended up getting the godchild a tablet.
Not an iPad, just some Prestigio model—it cost about a thousand dollars, maybe a little more. Just thought I’d throw that out there in case anyone needs ideas..

To be fair, it was for someone very close to me, my niece, so I really didn't mind spending the money.

I've noticed lately that everyone around me seems to be buying or receiving laptops whenever a godparent role is involved. Personally, I'm not really feeling that vibe.

We didn't actually have a religious ceremony for the little one; we aren't planning on enrolling her in religious education classes or anything like that.
Do you want to know how people reacted?
"Oh, poor thing... all the other kids at school will be bragging about what they got for their First Communion, and she won't have anything."

🤮
Well... cheers to Catholicism here in America ☕

Do you honestly believe that I—or any other moderator for that matter—should be forced to explain the specific color of every single card or the reasoning behind why a certain card was chosen today?
Or am I supposed to run everything by the forum users first to get their approval on which card to release?

Decisions like those are handled internally among the moderators, if they even need to be discussed at all.
And within that context, the statement "moderator decisions do not concern you" was made.

Besides, the PZK isn't just a place for filing complaints and whining.😉

Look, moderator decisions have absolutely nothing to do with you.
But since I already explained this to brightpuma via DM, I might as well lay it out here for everyone:
The yellow card was issued simply because the user is brand new and this was her first infraction.
That’s really all there is to it.

And just to reiterate—this thread is about the reorganized RID.
If anyone has an issue with a specific topic, or feels like someone's moderation style is off, please—just open a new thread.
This is starting to get exhausting.
I come in here hoping maybe someone will suggest something actually useful, but instead, it's just constant nitpicking.🙄

So, did anyone actually say anything?!
Did you read the whole thread or just the first few posts?!

Look, let's be honest—every rulebook is full of loopholes 😉
The global forum guidelines state that we're supposed to follow our wonderful rules across the board.
And that includes over at RID.
It’s not like we just made this rule up because of Rod 😬

brightpuma said:Ugh... not just that. Now I actually regret even clicking on this thread. It’s always the same when I stumble onto topics where parents from my generation are branded as bad, lazy, or impatient just because they occasionally dared to discipline their kids.

Whatever, I don't care anymore. I was naive enough to talk about how RID is "a bright spot right now." Turns out it's the exact same old story, just with different people involved. 🙄

Look, see,
whatever your take is on that kind of "discipline," you can be certain that backing it up here won't earn you any sympathy or approval.
Not with anyone involved.