Posts by James Alvarez2

Drew Johnson2 said:Well, a dear friend and I once found ourselves in quite the predicament during our college years... One particular night, I was staying over at her rental apartment, and we were both still lounging about in our pajamas the next morning when there was this sudden, sharp knocking at the door. To our absolute bewilderment, it was a local priest accompanied by two altar boys, arriving to perform a house blessing. I turned to my friend, whispering urgently, "What on earth is happening?" and she just looked at me, completely baffled, wondering why anyone would even want a blessing in the first place. Being an atheist myself, and with my friend leaning more toward the agnostic side of things, I decided to step up and politely attempt to explain to the gentleman that a blessing wasn't exactly what we had on our agenda... However, the priest remained quite steadfast, insisting that since the landlord had requested the blessing, he was duty-bound to see it through. My friend, ever the pragmatist, simply shrugged and told him, "Fine, if you absolutely must, then go right ahead."

So, there we were, just sitting on the couch sipping our coffee while he went about his business... We did make one small request, asking if he could perhaps just bless the physical space itself and skip over the actual inhabitants, but, well... one must respect the formalities when they arrive at your doorstep.

That makes zero sense. It’s honestly creepy that a priest would just barge into an apartment like that if you two weren't feeling it.

You don't bless houses, you bless families. Blessing walls when the actual people don't even want it is pointless.

rowdypanther12 said:It would be really interesting to see the official numbers, especially if they tracked them throughout the entire year.
Around Christmas, people flock to our local parish church—it gets so crowded you can barely drive past because of all the cars parked on the street.😁 Personally, I only know three families who actually attend regularly every single Sunday.
Most other people just show up for the big holidays like Christmas and Easter.

I'd be interested in the official numbers too.
And then I'd want to know what those parents in the other 86% or whatever percentage actually have to say about it.

I took religion classes in school even though my parents didn't go to church, just because I wanted to. My sister didn't want to, so she didn't.

Even more fascinating is the number of kids who pick religious studies in high school but never actually step foot in a church service.

Jason Ortiz5 said:You could've picked a much harder route! I moved to a town that basically centers around its own massive shrine and survives entirely on religious tourism. Being an atheist, I honestly had zero clue what that actually meant for daily life. And let me tell you, the whole vibe of the town definitely spills over into the local schools.

Man, my biggest "fail" was when the local priest started doing house blessings. My auntie—who's also an atheist, by the way—left her gate wide open just because she didn't want to offend the priest she works with. (It’s kind of a local thing here; leaving the gate open is how you signal you're inviting the priest in). Since we live on the ground floor, he rang our bell first. I had absolutely no idea what was happening, so I opened the door, saw the priest, politely told him, "We don't need anything, thanks!" and shut the door right in his face. Can you believe that? Let's just say the whole town had something to gossip about thanks to me for at least a week. 😶

I used to go with the priests for blessings for years—they always made sure to be super careful about who they said they visited, who they didn't, and exactly where everyone lived.

Brenda Doyle5 said:My father-in-law said the exact same thing to the priest years ago when he visited their place 🤣 We've lived in this house for a few years now and not once has a priest stopped by—and I'm pretty sure it’s still the same guy.

The New York Post ran an article yesterday saying 86% of students are taking religion classes. ☕

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In my area, they keep a list for the blessings. If you tell them one year you don't want it, they put it on the list, and if you don't reach out the following year to say you changed your mind, your address just gets skipped automatically.

86%??
Way too high.
Regarding what Summer asked:

rowdypanther12 said:I was wondering if there’s any data available on how many people attend Mass on Sundays at least semi-regularly?

That 86% figure should roughly match the number of parents attending Sunday Mass—but those numbers aren't even close. If I estimate that there are 200 kids doing First Communion in my parish, and we maybe have 100 parents showing up (out of 400; though even 100 might be a stretch), then that percentage is nowhere near 86%.

Daniel Gomez10 said:@8472
I don't think there's anything wrong with being intimate with your spouse once you have kids.
But honestly, I feel like sex should always be about more than just pleasure—it should be about building a family. 😬

That’s total BS 😁

Lawrence Torres56 said:Look, this isn't just a pathetic excuse—it’s actually pretty dangerous if someone is seriously sending a kid off to religion class just to dodge supervision.

Then how do you explain why so many kids show up to Sunday school, but hardly any parents ever step foot in an American church?

I'm with you on the money part, but this...

mistydrifter55 said:So, having a baby through medical procedures is a sin. Naturally.
And having a baby through sex is a sin. Of course.
No matter how you spin it, you're "conceived in sin," which then gets "canceled out" by baptism.
🤷Nothing controversial here. Just totally normal stuff.

It makes me wonder: what about all those kids sitting in religious studies classes at school who haven't been baptized? If we follow this logic, isn't that just a bunch of "sinful kids"?
And don't even get me started on the ones who don't even attend religious classes. 😲
Those "sinless" baptized kids? They couldn't care less about which religious class they end up in.
The real issue is that these unbaptized kids aren't showing up to church and aren't leaving donations, and often, the baptized kids are skipping mass right along with them.

But if religious instruction is everywhere in the curriculum and daily life, it gets under your skin. It plants that classic Catholic sense of "guilt" if you happen to miss a service.

The whole point is rounding up the "flock" (and please, don't let the people who don't realize > calls them His flock take offense).
If there aren't enough believers in the pews—and there won't be unless they're constantly reminded the church exists—then there's no reason for anyone to stay, oslobožemenebodi sorry to support their church financially.

However you slice it, it’s all about the money. 🤔☕

That's straight up wrong. 😬

redridge13 said:So, what, we're talking about original sin?
Isn't that just something we all inherited from Adam the second we were born?

Original sin is the root of every single sin humans commit, including the one mentioned above. Any Catholic needs to grasp why confession happens before communion.

And it’s definitely not the same thing as inheriting sin from your parents.

Susan James said:If IVF is considered a sin, then what are you supposed to do with a child conceived that way? 😕
Do they even have a right to live? 🕺

Are they allowed to be baptized (once the parents have gone to confession and been absolved)?
Can children conceived through IVF attend religious education classes?

Is this topic ever brought up in elementary or high school religious studies?
And if it is, how is it handled?

Personally, I think it’s fine to debate these topics in medical school. If someone isn't prepared to tackle those kinds of heavy ethical questions, maybe they should just specialize in ophthalmology or proctology instead. 🤷

A bit provocative, but look... 😬

Sin isn't some credit you inherit. You committed it, not your kid.

Every child has the right to baptism, regardless of what their parents did or if they went to confession after the IVF.

shadowcrane91 said:Whoa, where am I even claiming that???
It *can* happen, it just isn't happening right now.....
Personally, I don't have an issue with it

I mean, you probably have a hard time even making sense of all those dots, commas, and the total lack of spacing...
Just a reminder...

shadowcrane91 said:Look, we only have one single shift for grades 1 through 8 here...
So basically, religious ed can't be scheduled in a different block, and we can't just move everyone to the first or last period... which means it ends up stuck right in the middle of the school day.
And yeah, sure, a staff member—like a teacher or a janitor—might catch them out in the halls if they're wandering around...
But it’s not like they're being supervised for the full 45 minutes.
Honestly? I'm fine with it.

Am I allowed to actually have an opinion and say this is okay to me?????

Or am I supposed to just bow down to your collective consensus and pretend it's a huge problem????

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@Steve (I was literally just typing your name as Shaquille like five seconds ago...) 🤣 So you're basically claiming you're Steve... 🤣)

The way you write about believers hits home sometimes. I don't really fall into that category you're describing, but man... I can totally see where you're coming from if you're stuck dealing with those types of people daily... 😢

Wait, so you're saying there’s only one shift and religion class can't be moved to the second one? 🤣

Does that mean the whole school just sits empty from 2 PM until tomorrow morning?

shadowcrane91 said:Can you point out a single place in my posts where I said I'd have a problem with religion class being during the opposite shift....????

I have zero issues with that.....

Take my first graders, for instance...... five of my kids take an elective computer lab taught by our teacher..... three of them don't stay for after-school care...... so they have a one-hour gap before computer lab and just hang out in the hallway..... and nobody's complaining.... everyone just dealt with it.

And how on earth do you know those kids went home and then came back for tech and PE???
Maybe the situation was such that for some families, it wasn't even worth the trip home.

Look, if you don't care about dragging your kid to religion class during the opposite shift, fine. But if some other parent starts losing their mind because their kid only gets an hour of supervision while yours is sitting through religion class—and they’re convinced the whole schedule should be flipped... then honestly, we don't even have a problem here...

Either we got it... 🤔
You only support religious studies in theory during the off-shift...

shadowcrane91 said:I don't know... I was basically walking around with a key around my neck starting in first grade.
I practically raised myself while my parents were at work... which is like, over 50% of my friend group.

So, to me, this stuff is totally normal.

But honestly, not much feels "normal" these days. For example:
It seriously makes me sick when I see a 7, 8, or 9-year-old whose parents still have to tie their shoes or zip up their jackets for them.

Like, are you kidding me????

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You keep hiding behind arguments about homeschooling, but that's not even the point here. You're missing the forest for the trees... trying to prove religion doesn't belong in the public school schedule isn't what this is actually about...
So why don't we just schedule religion as third period, German fourth, and English fifth? It makes zero sense. You’ve got kids taking religion and German who don't even get a break, while the English students get a whole hour gap... or the ones only taking German end up stuck with two hours of nothing... ridiculous...
Yeah, right. Like language teachers actually need to clock in every minute and stick to some rigid schedule...

You already said it yourself—the kids in my kids' class have to wait until AFTER regular school hours just to get some computer time...

There was this kid in my class who went to Islamic studies, and he was constantly wandering the halls causing trouble. One time, some guy from the local mosque came out of the restroom and decided it would be a brilliant idea to toss his backpack right into the toilet...

Both schools where the kids come to my parish for sacrament prep have religious ed right in the middle of the school day... as if there isn't one single school that's just an isolated case...

shadowcrane91 said:Seriously, if nobody else had an issue with having a massive gap in their schedule and waiting around for hours during the opposite shift, why is suddenly this gap a "problem" just because it's for religious studies?????

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It’s not "waiting hours," they just show up for the opposite shift at a different time.

And she was talking about subjects that aren't even izborni. If you really think no one complained, go ask her if kids are still switching shifts for shop class today.

Wait, hold up... if switching shifts for shop class wasn't an issue, and you're fine with that, then why is it a problem when your kids have to switch shifts for religion class?
Either way, you'd be driving them yourself, so you clearly don't care...

shadowcrane91 said:Basically, over fifty posts later, I still haven't seen a single coherent argument explaining why it's somehow "great" that these non-religious kids are forced to be independent by sitting alone in the hallway during class instead of being in the room.

NON-RELIGIOUS KIDS?????
Honestly, kids today need to be way more independent than they already are...
Don't you think?

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NON-RELIGIOUS KIDS?????
Honestly, kids today need to be way more independent than they already are...
Don't you think?

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NON-RELIGIOUS KIDS?????
Honestly, kids today need to be way more independent than they already are...
Don't you think?

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It’s got nothing to do with how independent kids are. I’m looking for actual arguments to prove why religion classes should be part of the regular school day (and not just because 86% of people want them there...)

Look, I've made my stance clear as a Catholic, but I don't think religion belongs in public schools. If we stopped forcing kids into these classes just so they wouldn't be stuck hanging out in the hallway alone, maybe the number of believers would finally drop to a more realistic percentage...

shadowcrane91 said:Look, I don't care if my kids are on their own... they're independent enough.
They're solo at the playground or the local park too, and half the time I don't even show up until later.
Why should they be forced to sit around inside just because I need to finish making lunch?

I played outside by myself all the time growing up... my parents weren't hovering over me every second.

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First off, please stop with the dots, question marks, and massive spaces, it hurts my eyes to read this.

Second, you conveniently ignored this post above:

Sarah Hall53 said:I’m honestly just as curious as everyone else—like, why would there even be a gap in the schedule for younger kids back before religious studies were added to the curriculum? It doesn't really make sense to me.
btw, does anyone else realize how many schools are tucked right next to busy main roads without any actual playground space? Or think about the classrooms filled with those little troublemakers... there are just so many variables at play here. Leaving a handful of kids totally unsupervised for forty-five minutes isn't exactly a genius move, is it?
I mean, seriously—how happy would you actually be if your kid ended up with a scheduling gap alongside two or three other students, especially if one of them is that specific type of bully who's always picking on people or being aggressive whenever they get the chance? Knowing they'd be left alone like that twice a week... I don't know, it just feels wrong.

But whatever, I'm just here to point it out for you.

You've got one kid (because it's always easier when there are two together to look out for each other), and you leave them alone under these conditions. A bully in the class, a school near a major highway, TWICE A WEEK.
Not all kids are equally independent. Not all of them know how to defend themselves from insults or physical stuff, and they don't all handle sudden freedom the same way...

I don't see why it's not clicking for you that you're constantly comparing your kids to someone else's child.

shadowcrane91 said:Look, I'm not going to get into how they decide on religious curriculum in public schools... that’s not really my lane.
Outside of a few people on this forum, I haven't heard a single soul in my neighborhood, my school, or even at the park complaining about it... and trust me, we have a massive circle of friends and acquaintances, both Catholic and non-Catholic.
As for having religion taught in schools? I've got absolutely nothing against it.

I didn't ask if you could personally change the school's religious ed schedule—I asked if you, as a Catholic, find it okay that first graders are left wandering hallways, classrooms, or playgrounds alone while your kid is stuck in class.

Someone made a great point: schools have all kinds of kids, not every school has a fence, some are right next to busy highways, and kids do crazy stuff...

That’s what I’m getting at—how can you, as a Catholic, not care where someone else's kid is just because yours is in religious ed? Hint: the answer isn't "I won't change the schedule," since we know you don't have that power, but the fact is things are set up the way they are.

briskbison55 said:I mean, yeah, what kind of gaps? I guess the only real gaps we had were when a teacher called out sick, but even then, a sub would step in or they’d just let us go out to the playground. Honestly, all this talk about "supervising" kids like they're some kind of fragile little things... it feels totally foreign to me.

That's just being preachy, and honestly, we have clergy here too.😉

And besides, the Constitution also guarantees everyone the right to practice their own faith, which is why elective religious studies classes exist in schools—so parents who are working don't have to drive their kids somewhere else.

English is an elective too. Computer science is an elective. Sports is an extracurricular. And yet, kids get driven to those.
If a kid is doing religious ed at a church, then they should be doing it at their local parish, right where they live.

This is actually a perfect example. Poor kids are being forced to be driven to things they "CHOSE." Once they start prepping for First Communion or Confirmation, poor parents have to drive them to Mass, drive them to church classes, drive them to rehearsals before the sacraments... meanwhile, the kids have soccer practice, games, model building, field trips... poor parents, just constantly rushing, poor kids, everything has so many rules and obligations once you pick something.

What you guys are stubbornly ignoring is that most people on this thread don't have a problem with religious ed being in school at all, just in a different period—just like any other elective (where kids don't need rides because they already know the way to school).

It honestly makes me ashamed to say I'm Catholic.
Not because of the people looking at the altar, but because of the people standing next to me in the pews every Sunday.

shadowcrane91 said:That's just how they identified on paper... nobody forced them to pick a label... so if that's what they said, that's what they are.
Works for me since I'm Catholic... as for everyone else who's suddenly annoyed about it, shut up now that you've already made your mark... unless you wanna go change your status.

As a Catholic, you’d probably find this totally fine...

Sarah Hall53 said:And besides, setting up a scheduling conflict like that right in the middle of a normal school day... I mean, for the kids who don't opt for religion, maybe someone watches them, or maybe they don't—they just end up hanging out in the hallway staring at nothing for 45 minutes, twice a week.
What a brilliant way to handle it. Truly. It definitely doesn't feel like any kind of subtle pressure being put on parents to force them into choosing religious ed... ☕

I'm asking you as a Catholic.

That’s not what I asked you.

And then there's the whole first period issue.
It's because some kids from the neighborhood can walk to school together, but others just can't. Maybe someone doesn't want to leave their kid home alone for an extra hour...

shadowcrane91 said:Look, if parents didn't want this, they wouldn't be enrolling them in the first place.
So, personally? I don't find it sad at all.

You really think people would push for religious ed classes so hard that they'd want them scheduled during an after-school shift instead of during regular school hours?

Donna Taylor5 said:I don't see what's so hard to grasp here.
Kids eat up this stuff; it doesn't sound half as ridiculous to them as it does to us.
With a good storyteller and a bit of imagination, any myth makes perfect sense to them.
I teach history, so I know firsthand how much they love these legends.
Wait until you see their eyes light up and hear the questions they start firing off 🙂!

Did you just jump in on the last post or did you actually read the whole thread?

History in elementary school?
You gotta explain metaphors... that's literally all I'm talking about.

Lawrence Torres56 said:Honestly, kids don't sweat this stuff nearly as much as we adults do; it doesn't trip them up because they aren't obsessing over every literal word, right? They probably just soak up the metaphorical vibe of the story and move on.

In science class, they teach Christmas and Easter strictly as major American holidays, which seems totally fine to me; regardless of what a parent believes, shouldn't every kid have the right to understand what these holidays actually represent?

First graders grasping metaphors?
Like, "grab a rib, make a wife..."?

Just out of nowhere?

Matthew Young35 said:I’m not trying to start a fight here, I’m genuinely curious about one thing: how do kids actually process it when they spend two hours listening to a teacher explain that God created humanity—you know, the whole story of Adam and Eve—only to sit through an evolution lesson immediately after?

If they actually went to college, a religious studies teacher should just teach from Genesis and tell the kids to ignore evolution entirely.

But sadly, way too many of them don't do that... 😢

I'm not talking about your kids' school specifically, just speaking generally here.
A lot of schools have this split where one class doesn't do after-school care and the others do. Adding another variable to the mix just makes scheduling a total nightmare.
The situation at your place sounds even more ridiculous if everyone stays late and takes the same language, yet the religion classes are all over the place...