Editors’ Note: With Ann O’Donnell’s lively and thoughtful article we inaugurate a new monthly column written by Catholic laywomen. The column will rotate among several authors and will bring a distinctive perspective to a variety of issues. We are confident that our readers will richly benefit from the voices of Catholic women rooted in the “common wisdom” of the Catholic tradition.
At the outset, let me admit to a personal skepticism about spending years and years in school. I am not a scholar and left the “hallowed halls” as soon as I could convince my sainted parents that they had more than fulfilled their duty by attempting to educate me formally in institutions of higher learning.
During high school, my Mondays and Tuesdays were spent daydreaming about the events of the previous weekend. Wednesday was consumed with mild anxiety about whether I would have a “date” for the upcoming weekend. In those days, a girl did not accept a “date” after Wednesday. Invitations after that evening were a sure sign she was “playing second fiddle”—such admissions could ruin a girl’s reputation! With Wednesday’s worries affirmed or neutralized by a young man’s call, I was free on Thursday to concentrate on cramming the week’s classroom material into the available gray matter.
Monstrous little teenager that I was, I had to develop good skills in order to bluff my way through the convent and graduate. I succeeded and have a been a “sucker” for multiple choice tests ever since. When a copy of the National Catholic Educational Association’s “survey [on] the religious knowledge, attitudes and practices of Catholic high school students” appeared on my desk, the competitive juices began to flow. I could hardly wait to test myself against today’s generation of students, who, we are told, “know so much more than we did.” With artgum close by (it leaves less evidence of ambivalence over the correct answer than does a regular eraser) and sharpened #2 lead pencil placed next to the unopened test, I set the alarm clock to signal when 30 minutes had elapsed. Although the class periods were longer than 30 minutes when I was in high school, by the time we invoked the power of the Holy Spirit to inspire our answers (I prayed harder than most), received instructions and got the tests in hand, there was no more than about a half hour left in which to record the answers. The queasy feeling in my stomach appeared and I knew I was as ready as I’d ever be to test myself.
I finished before the alarm rang—my first sigh of relief. After comparing my scores to those of the Catholic high school seniors in a large Eastern diocese and finding myself in what might be termed a “genius” category, I sighed my second sigh.
The boost to my vanity was short-lived when I realized what an awful indictment this little exercise had proven to be for religious education in today’s Catholic schools. If a committed “non-student,” who hasn’t been inside a religion class since 195-, like myself can outscore students who presumably are fresh from their religious education, something is amiss!
Let me explain a couple of the concerns I have. In a section called “Confidential,” there were questions related to “attitudes, beliefs and practices.” Here, there were no “right or wrong” answers, but 62% of the students weren’t sure about the existence of Hell, 47% thought “living together before marriage is the intelligent [emphasis added] thing to do.” To the statement, “Sexual intercourse outside of marriage is always wrong,” 82% responded that they either did not agree or were unsure.
Two of the multiple choice questions, which did have “right and wrong” answers, serve to explain some of the “attitudes” the students revealed. Why not test yourself on two of these questions:
Which of the following statements is NOT compatible with a Catholic view of sexuality?
A) Sexual pleasure, as created by God, is good.
B) All persons have a right to sexual happiness.
C) By its nature, sexual activity is a barrier to Christian living.
D) Sexual activity must take into account the happiness of both persons.
“C” is not compatible with Catholic teaching, but one-third of the students did not know this. Questions formed in the negative can be confusing, but there is more than possible confusion lurking in this part of the survey. Do the National Catholic Educational Association test developers intend to teach that “B” is compatible? Have they discovered a “new right” for “all persons” to “sexual happiness”? If so, let us hope they are discreet in promulgating this “new” Catholic doctrine. God forbid that rapists and child abusers should become aware of such a “right”! These professional educators must know that students learn through the information presented in questions, and a grave error has been made by implying that sexual happiness is some sort of right for “all persons” irrespective of how they achieve it.
One more question for you:
Which of the following statements reflects a Catholic position on the basis of morality?
A) Morality is ultimately based on tradition and custom.
B) There is an objective morality based on the nature of man.
C) Because each person is unique, there are no universal moral laws.
D) In every age, people create their own morality by free choice.
Only 49% of the Catholic high school students knew that “B” is the correct answer. 51% did not!
Parents, who sacrifice in order to give their children what they think is a grounding in Catholic teaching, should be alarmed by the results of the testing that occurred in the particular diocese I have referred to. Perhaps the failure to teach the basis of morality accounts for the “attitudes” the students revealed. “Values Clarification,” now taught in so many Catholic schools, may actually produce “Values Modification”—at the expense of authentic Catholic values and teachings.
How can students be expected to arrive at moral prudential judgements in perplexing questions like national defense and competing economic systems when over 50% do not even know there is an objective morality which guides decision making?
It would be no “Trivial Pursuit” for parents and students to test their knowledge by taking the National Catholic Educational Association survey. I will be happy to send copies to any interested parties. Please send $2.00 to cover printing and postage costs to: SURVEY, P.O. Box 8326, St. Louis, MO 63132. I would be delighted to learn your results. [Editor’s Note: this survey is no longer available from this source]