St. Pete "Catholic" Blows It

You wanna know why Catholic education is taking a nose dive in this country? Because Catholic schools are not Catholic enough to be considered Catholic and not good enough to compete with elite private schools. The end result is an expensive school with pseudo-Catholic teachings that only confuses our children and, inevitably, weakens our faith.

This year at St. Pete "Catholic" High School the sophomore literature class was given the task of reading a book printed by MTV in which an observer in high school passively watches people engage in masturbation, rape, drug use, homosexuality, promiscuity and bad parenting, among other things.

Should these subjects be taught in school? Sure.

Should they be taught in a Catholic school? Absolutely.

But, should they be taught using a book that passively observes, in graphic detail, various aforementioned activities without any moral or ethical discussion or consequence? Absolutely not. And should such a book be used in a Catholic high school, a book in which the only reference to Catholicism is that the main character's lack of any religious faith is due to his parents having attended Catholic school?

Hello? Does that make sense? What ruling idiot thought that was a good idea?

Its hard to discuss such matters without it quickly being construed into "those darn ultra-conservative Catholics want to shield their kids from everything." That's not true at all here. All of the subjects could and should be discussed in Catholic schools, but not based on a book that holds none of the acts up to the standards demanded by the Catholic faith.

As stated before, the book explains in detail the acts mentioned, including a scene where two drunk teens engage in foreplay, where the man slips his hands into the girls blouse and pants even though she's repeatedly saying No. Or a scene where this main character brings his sister to get an abortion, after which, on the drive home, while discussing another subject they break into deep, hearty laughter.

You can just feel the remorse for killing the fetus, can't you? The weight of the potential consequences of sexuality, right? It's a perfect example of Catholicism in action, isn't it?

Really, you just have to randomly open up the book and you'll feel like you're reading Playboy or Penthouse magazine. When concerned parents discussed this matter with the priest Principal, their concerns were basically disregarded. As a matter of fact, the priest said he had actually read it himself two years previously and approved the book. He thought it would spur discussion.

What a complete moron.

If I were to convert this book into a film, I would have to put a big XXX rating on its cover... it's that graphic. This priest's justification for using this book... this book out of all of the books in print today... is equivalent of having the kids watch a porn video with with the expectation that it's to spur discussion on a Catholic view on abstinence.

It just shows you how pathetic Church leadership is today. What an embarrassment.

Do they expect me to believe that there is not ONE book out there that covers the same subjects in a way that is less graphic and that might even, oh I don't know, articulate potential consequences of certain actions on your life, let alone your soul? There's not ONE? MTV has cornered the market on providing thought-provoking books on sexuality to Catholic educators? Is that what they're telling me?

So, we are left with yet another Catholic school blowing it.

Our kids today are getting inundated with consequence-less sexuality on a daily basis. Other than the home, Catholic schools are the last places dedicated, faithful parents have to look for assistance in filtering through the barrage of illicit behavior by, instead, tempering them through the beliefs and expectations of our faith. Yet, time after time, our schools that call themselves Catholic fail this very simple task.

Why would I spend $40,000 to send my child to St. Pete "Catholic" when I could send my kid to a public school for free and get the same curriculum? Well, now, I'm not.

Is this a condemnation of this book? No. It's a condemnation of our church leadership. It's about entrusting my children in the hands of people who make so blatantly bad choices. What other bad choices are being made there? And do I want to risk finding out?

Nope.

For what it's worth, my children will not be going to St. Pete "Catholic" as we had planned. That's $80,000 of my money that just left the school's coffers.

I hope that spurs a lot of discussion.