This story amazes me. A man in Louisville, Kentucky has gone to court to prevent his son from attending an all male Catholic High School. According to the newspaper article by Louisville's Courier Journal, the father who is an atheist does not want his son attending a Catholic high school because of the religious influences his son will receive while there. The boy's mother and father have been divorced for 8 years and both are commercial airline pilots. The son, who has been going to a catholic grade school for the past 8 years has chosen, on his own, to attend the Catholic High School and is not being forced by the mother. Here are a few facts: - The boy has been going to school for the past 8 years at a Catholic Grade School.
- The High School he wishes to attend is one of the top 10 high schools in the country for its quality of education and discipline.
- Going to this high school will be no different than the grade school he attended when it comes to religion. Both his grade school and the high school will require he take a religion class every year until he graduates.
How can his attendance at this school cause him any more "problems" than what the previous 8 years at the Catholic grade school? A few facts about the High School, St. Xavier High School: - The school has been in existence for the past 144 years.
- You do NOT have to be Catholic to attend. I graduated from this school and I never have been catholic AND I even had some Jewish friends who went to school with me.
- The Quality of Education is far superior that other schools in the Louisville area.
- The schools requires all of its students to wear dress shoes, dress slacks, dress shirt, tie and a sport coat....EVERY DAY
- It is a Catholic High School run by the Xavierian Brothers, but they do allow the students to make their own decision about religion.
- Most students who graduate from St. Xavier will have enough college credit to apply to their first year of College. When I attended the University of Louisville, my first two years in college were a waste because I didn't realize how good an education I received in high School. My first year at U of L, my college classes used the same books as I did in high school.
- Tuition is around $8,000 a year to attend this school.
- Most students who graduate from St. Xavier will have scholarships for college, either for achidemics or sports.
What I don't understand is why a father would protest so strongly about his son going to such a school regardless of religion. The boy is old enough to start making some decisions on his own and he has made an excellent decision to attend a superior school. It is always preached / taught that the best education is a "Well Rounded" education which covers many different schools of thought. A judge in Louisville is scheduled to make a decision within the next two weeks, I sure hope he decides in favor of the boy. What are your thoughts? Here is the article out of the Courier Journal:
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080406/NEWS01/804060502
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Sincerely,
Sean Allen
Skype: sean.allen5
http://www.internationalfinancingsolutions.com/
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It's amazing what grown people do when there is a divorce just to make life h*ll. You see it all the time, I hope the judge throws the case out!
Sean, I imagine it comes down to the fact that a parent feels responsible for their child regardless of their age. Why this father decided to wait until now to protest is anybody's guess and may or may not seem to be a logical reason but it is his to make.
I would imagine also, that his 'reasons' may very well be the same or similar to a devout Christian father not wanting his child to attend a school where he would get a Muslim education or some other religious education. I dare say that few devoutly Christian parents would be comfortable sending their children to an atheist-centered school where the basic indoctrination might be anti-god.
In our predominantly Christian society, we tend to think in Christo-centric ways and sometimes fail to acknowledge that other well-meaning people (parents) can and do have very different standards/values/beliefs from our own.
If the tables were turned and the father were to put his son in an atheistic-centered school and the mother protested would we have the same reaction? It is something worth considering. My guess is that most people in our society would defend the mother in that case... so what makes this any different?
Tell dad not to worry. I bet his son no longer believes in Santa Clause or the Easter Bunny and I bet that with a good education and if he learns to think for himself, he will come to the position that there is no God, on his own. I found that attending good a Catholic grade school, high school and college to be to be an important factor in my move away from organized religion to no religion and ultimately to the inevitable conclusion that there is no God