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[av_heading heading=’ PSYCHOTROPIC ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY ANGELICA LOUISE PFLEIDER
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MAJORITY of my life was spent in a Catholic school. Sixteen years to be exact. As a result of this, a few values and norms have been instilled in me.
My high schools years were the most prominent manifestation of these since my school was very strict. My batchmates and I had quite a conservative attitude that we thought was perfectly fine and normal.
This was before I checked out an infamous page of Facebook. A disgruntled Senior High School student currently going to school at my Alma Matter created it to vent out his disappointments through dank memes. It has received attention from various faculty and alumni for its offensive content.
I felt disgusted when I first checked out the page until I read one particular post; a narrative about the ownerâs experience during an Impromptu speech contest. Of all the questions he picked, it was about whether or not he was in favour of same-sex marriage (a topic that is usually followed by gasps and being sprinkled with Holy Water) and he expressed his opinion of why he is in favor of it.
As expected he lost the contest and later on got called into the Guidance Counselorâs office for having a âcontroversial opinion.â
Excuse me, opinions are subjective. What gives you the right to say it is controversial? One of the lines he mentioned in his post that really struck me was, âWhy did they even bother including that topic in the contest when you couldnât even express your opinions about it freely? Itâs like they just wanted to hear a particular answer and only that answer could be correct.â Maybe they were hoping for a confirmation from the parrots, ehem, I mean students themselves that they were trained well. It sucks when Polly turns around and pecks your hand.
This is one thing I noticed about Catholic schools, especially ones that are known for their âdiscipline.â To keep with their conservative reputation they donât encourage freedom of expression or opinion. Anything you are caught doing that could jeopardize the sacred reputation of the school could get you expelled.
Whatâs worse is that sometimes they even make other Christian religions look inferior to the Catholic Faith. This is something that not only happens in schools but also in other Catholic communities. They would rather oppress their members who are a little different and liberal than adjust to the modern mindset of society.
Donât get me wrong, I love both my Alma Matters even for all their quirks but this is something I was only able to notice after I looked upon it from the outside. Iâm happy I have been exposed to different people; my opinions on issues are much different than they were when I was in high school. Maybe thatâs why fewer and fewer young people are active in the church because of this mindset.
Times are changing and so are the people. I hope the Church and Catholic schools will be willing to develop with society as a source of strength and support for the people and not go against it. It could be a welcoming community for outsiders, not one that discriminates. (angelica.panaynews@gmail.com/PN)
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