Self-Twisted Response Paper

In the monograph entitled, Architects of Catholic Culture, Thomas Cook (2011) notes that there is a “configuration of core beliefs and values that distinguish Catholicism from other Christian denominations.” (p. 17). Among these beliefs is the attitude that community strengthens the individual’s relationship with Jesus, and as such, it is an integral part of faith formation. Additionally, Gospel values inform the catechesis of elementary schools, which frequently include faith, service, courage, and social justice, among others.

With reference to Peta Goldburg’s (2012) Transforming religious education: Implications from the Second Vatican Council, the following discussion will review and critique the important religious education approaches that has had an impact on the Catholic schooling system for the past fifty years, and also help shape the contemporary classroom we teach in today.

Catholic social teaching (CST) or thought are belief or set of belief that is taught or developed by a catholic church or religious organisations (Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, 2016). It expresses human dignity as a foundation for the common good in our society to flourish together as one (Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, 2016). Therefore, this wiki page will explain and discuss each of nine CST.

I believe that the religious atmosphere, or culture, of a learning environment is crucial for the success of the learners. “The atmosphere and relationships in the school are as much the focus of the Catholic school as is the formal religious education.” (Church Document Quotes) The importance of my root belief, Make God known, loved and served, encompasses so many aspects of the culture for learning. If we, as school leaders, along with our teachers and students are always making God known, loved and served, it means that we are being respectful of one another. By having the foundation set for loving and respecting self, others and the world, we ensure that

Catholic Social Teaching is a group of key teachings which are designed to reflect the church`s social goal.

Perhaps it was an unintentional cruelty on the part of my parents to enroll me first in the progressive Montessori school system that encouraged critical thinking and creativity, followed by an evening catholic school program that required unquestioning obedience to a monolithic religious dogma. When I began the sixth grade the window of an English professor and a family friend gave me access to his extensive library and personal text notes because of my growing interest in literature. In the first few months of my library visits, the Catholic program phoned my mother to discourage my further attendance in both the church and the educational program. I had begun incessantly probing my young Catechism instructor about the faith, and his unsatisfactory response had prompted my protests and refusal to participate in any religious ceremonies or sacraments. I had discovered both the Antichrist and Civil Disobedience during my forays into the library, and though I was unable to grasp the intricacies of these texts, the basic messages resonated with my experiences of perceived oppression and religious conditioning.

The principles of the Catholic social thought are broken down into nine separate principles, which will be explained below:

Katie went through her childhood learning from her family about what it is to be a good Catholic. During her adolescents and young adulthood, Katie’s perspectives started changing. By the time she graduated from college and entered adulthood she took on religion with her own terms. Throughout Katie’s story there are examples of how her religion has influenced her attitudes, perspectives, values, beliefs, and behaviors. In Katie’s teens she questioned her religion and changed her attitude (Thomas & Schwarzbaum, 2006).

When I went into Grade 9 religion, I thought that it was going to be one of the most useless and boring courses that I took as religion is not significant in my life. About a quarter in to the semester, I was surprised when I realized that I actually enjoyed going to religion class every day. The heated discussions about controversial topics, the interesting lessons and the captivating movies were all responsible for the best hour and fifteen minutes of my weekdays. I was raised by parents who didn’t believe in any religion, but they never forced their belief on me. Until a year ago, I was completely uneducated about the Catholic faith. However, I learned a lot about Catholicism during religion class. That’s when I realized that just because

The text was formatted effectively to allow readers to compare and contrast between the differing perspectives regarding the topic. The evidence has been referenced appropriately and has been used to draw a valid conclusion. The report was succinct and provided clarity when defining religion and spirituality. One potential improvement could be increasing the sample size of the survey. This would allow people who don't come from a catholic school to be involved, hence, reducing any bias. Overall, this investigation was in-depth and the evidence from the private Christian college allowed for a reliable

The Religious Education (RE) grades 1-8 policy document highlights and provides opportunity for students to become familiar with their Religion. Within section 1.3 of the document, the Evangelization, culture and the Catholic school addresses all students, the believers, searchers and non-believers. Therefore a summary of this section of the RE is the role of Catholic school is to renewal the faith within all of the community. It is the teacher duty as evangelical nourishment to start the “spiritual growth of each person” (p. 4). It highlights how the “soil of the believer” (p. 4) is identified as essential for the connections of the student and family culture. The connection is the power needed to encourage the students’ experiences, values and beliefs in their journey of their faith. This section guides the missionary activity for non-believers, initial catechetical activity for those partaking in the Gospel and pastoral activity for those more enrich within mature faith community. As our students grow up in Canada they are fortunate to have the freedom of religion and appreciation for diversity (p. 4). In summary this section is calling upon the educators to embrace the faith and teach the learning to meet the standards and reaching all students, no matter where they stand in evangelization. Therefore, we as educators share with the Catholic Churches responsibilities for the development of social and cultural society views and need to work in collaboration with the

I went to St. Mary Catholic School from pre-3 to 8th grade. In me was instilled a devoutness that was supposed to last me throughout my life. If it weren’t for my dad disliking organized religion then they would have brainwashed me into being a devote catholic. Free thinking wasn’t allowed and if we didn’t agree with the viewpoints that they were trying to teach, then we would get shut out. When I would disagree with some of the viewpoints all the teachers would say is, “That’s a question for father Jim.” The few times I actually asked the questions it seemed as though he couldn’t give me a straight answer. I always thought to myself, “what is the point of believing in an ideology if you don’t have answers to questions that an eight year old comes up with.”

My parents raised my brothers and I in a Catholic household. Throughout our childhoods, they instilled in us at an early age the importance of honesty, kindness, forgiveness, and love. However, these lessons usually related back to God. Due to our faith, my family would go to church, say grace before our meals, and pray every night. Despite this upbringing, doubt still festered in my mind. At the age of 13, I began to question my faith. A year later, the questions that led to myself choosing to not be Catholic changed my outlook on the morals of myself and others, death, and my attitude about life.

Since the first Sunday after I popped out of my mother’s womb, I have been forced to go to Church an hour a day. Never was there a time when my catholic parents asked if I wanted to personally go to church; it was always my dad saying “Get ready, we’re leaving soon” without me giving it a second thought. I was enrolled in a catholic elementary school, so I assumed Catholicism had to be the one and only correct religion for most of my childhood. Bible study, youth group, week long catholic camp, and other religious activities filled my free time. All this came to a crushing end though when I first entered high school. The high school, still a catholic one, contained much more diversity of people and opinions than my previous elementary school. This new place, paired with my unlimited access to the internet through my school-required laptop, led me to discover unfamiliar ideas pertaining to religion and how to

I went to St. Mary Catholic School from pre-3 to 8th grade. If it weren’t for my dad despising organized religion then they would have brainwashed me into being a devote catholic. We would get shut out if we questioned the religious teaching of the day. When I would inquire about the lesson all that the teacher could sum up was, “That’s a question for father Jim.” The few times I actually asked him questions it seemed as though he couldn’t give me a straight answer. I always thought to myself, “ What’s the point in believing in something if a priest doesn’t have answers to an eight-year-old?”