Here’s one very creative and colorful bulletin board which welcomes students and teachers alike. It looks quite nice and displays artwork of the students. It presents Edmund Bojanowski, a Polish Catholic layman who performed works of charity during his lifetime and died while studying to became a priest. He was made a saint posthumously by Pope John Paul II. Why błogosławiony Edmund Bojanowski friend of children and patriot of teachers? Okay, okay, he was Polish at least. But why not Thoth the Egyption god of education, writing, and language? Let’s switch it up for a change. And why does Saint Edmund Bojanowski appear to belong to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band?
![IMG_0776[1]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6sp1j1xms6Ya99mkoHj0aFHe97XCC74cRew5UoMppVKmIm86q5NowXGAr0EDHxi4bsRliLQlyQdXEm-szzmN9dKmbFH747o_Ad1nkf9LS3piDaUDigtRNBYHsfThGXKSHIXR0ZiIJiSc/s1600-h/IMG_077619.jpg "IMG_0776[1]")
Here’s another bulletin board welcoming the kids to school for the new school year. It looks nice and friendly.
![IMG_0777[1]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgApMG1b9icq2VfwFkTrjCCKUpAIVRUW4xqR7ziUljALVpwwNlI8xaPF_6dLM1piHYTOdiuEcCSRcHWThuJy1k-nOT8LPqSmReCg3DHVF7bIEUqP3L_7FZ4ZqLNi33luLUjQe3tEhSLTCk/s1600-h/IMG_077714.jpg "IMG_0777[1]")
The children are greeted by a welcoming angel and baranek.
![IMG_0782[1]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYObEDpi24gQzuW9GTYPUx5XcGdFqfBBalBDqpDEAv5r84Uiv6zUvaR3LJAaQ2s2KkeYNbHfnoPiRz7D_voKwOUBTUQWJC_EVjGqGEP-pJe8KW_U62wduX7ypjK3nGY0hvjZS-W4vgFtE/s1600-h/IMG_078214.jpg "IMG_0782[1]")
If the angel and the baranek are not able to show you the way, don’t worry, Jesus will come to the rescue as this poster explains that “Jesus leads me through life”. Why not “Allah leads me through life”? Or “Mohammad leads me through life”? Or “I find my path through life”? Nope, it’s gotta be Jesus. I mean if you want. Nobody’s forcing you. ‘Cause elementary school kids are able to look at this poster and decide if they want to be led by Jesus or not. It’s not undue pressure by the dominant religion or abuse of majority position in society or anything.
![IMG_0781[1]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirmv_BVYBrClvW53kmPZBZAmyOwyw6O0G-u8bcSOnjZbKfAEZn7UPQxiSMkdGQm3u2QmQFaN29NvBjYI-IdLxr1QEEdvrTJK1csBVRDYg45X9RWxuQmg7XhAi4ynIK0LUZE1834uSNXlI/s1600-h/IMG_078114.jpg "IMG_0781[1]")
Maybe a prayer for a good start this year?
![IMG_0778[1]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibnn2zb1577IND9-JVVlkN1qCfULKnc-yr87kpfvJGIpqMP9WHirUR_tv7G2YIy9DNvwHSi_xE-iAfInlQVtzQbYKnzigm7u7b34gztMK4FGoFbm6ugJDohBCRlmlXhzEE6hIPBnP2POU/s1600-h/IMG_077814.jpg "IMG_0778[1]")
![IMG_0779[1]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIiH4l5wUqLdQViz1r4p4xGsAQEFFeItbvUAsDpdC-gG2xIDbqdY_rw5ctAKHLuWKuu56GrhKXpm8DzRxjDwGKDlDD5UfEOPBJsbwvcEBYkUgjzhubFGRfmr6lMG5QhkyvpsUekVinQvE/s1600-h/IMG_077914.jpg "IMG_0779[1]")
Here’s my fast and very uncreative translation:
My Lord, when I hear the bell, it is you who reminds me that I must take advantage of every moment because time cannot be turned back. Give me the concentration and the courage to accept all new knowledge. I want to listen well and question wisely. Don’t allow me to disrupt my friends or teachers. Give my teachers a lot of good and patience. I want to grow up in wisdom and in your graces so that for all achieved wisdom I will be in gratitude to you and to those who teach me well.
![IMG_0780[1]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgZTCEehMbQ0aZ23PvTtFA4PnVr0RWuaV0Jhqpmns6T-Y3v7KjXs__qMC8Hl6CqA30Uj5co_LF29pynbuNUPJ4KRFJFJrQepK_GOM4tVwV11Vuf7KbeEFQ2kgQtAfdWgYL7wmKE7kahkg/s1600-h/IMG_078014.jpg "IMG_0780[1]")
Good God, it’s the start of the school year. New adventures await us. A new time, new tasks, new chances. I ask you, bless us. Grant us the will to work, enthusiasm in discovering the mysteries of the world, the joy of being together, a willingness to help. Help us sow the seeds of good and of peace…Bless our mouths so they will speak words of kindness and bestow smiles. Bless our hearts so they will grow in love for you and our fellow man..Bless our feet so they will carry us in the direction of people and places where you can be found.
And that’s our świecka szkoła, in the words of the principal, caring deeply about all children and completely without bias.
błogosławiony = beatified
baranek = lamb
świecka szkoła = secular school
23 comments:
Gone much, much worse since I left then.
Can't remeber such a fucking indoctrination in the village school my girls were attending.
But it was starting already - slowly and gradually, the local bunch of "men in dresses" (or "kieckowi") was pretty good at getting invited to all local events, especially when anything new was opening/starting, to deliver the blessing. The new school sports hall was blessed. The new bank building was blessed. The surgery car was blessed. And - last, but not least - even the new sewage plant was blessed!
Couldn't stop myself from bursting with laugh every time I imagined the priest raising his arm and blessing the shit :DDDD
Defo it was the holy shit!
Are you sure that school is świecka and not Catholic? Who's the patron, Tomás de Torquemada?
@czarownica - 21st century meets the dark ages
Is it different than communist/socialist propaganda? Zamienił stryjek siekierkę na kijek.
Niedobrze mi jak to widzę, jak uzurpują sobie monopol na słuszność.
Taki katolicki kraj a tyle pieszych ginie na drogach, tyle nieufności, tyle złodziejstwa, śmiecenia i chamstwa. Naród wybrany... przez kieckowych.
Czarownica, teraz akurat jest okres ofensywy (najlepszą obroną jest atak) kościelnej.
czar, WZ, Me - Besides the blessed schools, cars, buses, new buildings, new roads, new basketball courts, new sewage treatment plants, my favorite is this one -
http://kielbasastories.blogspot.com/2011/10/i-couldnt-resist.html
Paris Hilton side-by-side with a priest for the grand opening of a shopping center in Katowice. That's right, Paris Hilton of underage, homemade porn accidentally released to the public....and a priest. That's hot.
Głupi są ci ludzie pozwalający na pobłogosławienie czegokolwiek lub umieszczania takich treści a nie ksiądz/katecheta .Za czasów gdy ja chodziłem do szkoły(podstawówka,gimnazjum i liceum) to mieliśmy dyrektora pozwalającego rozwieszania treści religijnych tylko w sali religijnej(pomijając wyjątkowe sytuacje) .Jak się daję dużo swobody księdzu(i nie tylko) a nie wymaga od niego to wiadomo , że będzie próbował nadużywać stanowiska .Gorszy jest fakt ,że najczęściej pojedyncze osoby niszczą reputacje większej grupie ludzi
z mocherowymi beretami nie wygrasz tylko ich wzmocnisz
Zobaczymy :)
Jak miło poczytać komentarze świeckich osób. Te eleganckie faki i szity. Od razu czujemy, że jesteśmy w Wielkim Bo Świeckim Świecie. Kto wie, może nawet w samym Imperium Dobra?
Intelektualne blondynki plotą banialuki o Torquemadzie... tak, to musi być Ameryka.
Ciekaw jestem do jakiej bozi, do jakich mocy, czarnych, białych czy zielonych Gospodyni tego bloga będzie wyć z głębi swojego matczynego serduszka gdy któregoś dnia kultura kraju jej pochodzenia zawita do szkoły jej dziecka.
Bo że w końcu zawita, to mamy jak w banku. Polacy małpują najpierw to co najgorsze.
Dziecko Gospodyni będzie leżało w kałuży krwi w polskiej Sandy Hook a Gospodyni będzie wtedy wyła z rozpaczy.
A może tylko swoim matczynym skowytem dziękowała za pełną adopcję amerykańskich zwyczajów i norm kulturowych w kolejnym kącie świata?
Nabijaj się kobieto z religijnej indoktrynacji ciemnych katoli w Polsce, nabijaj. W końcu pochodzisz z kraju jak to kiedyś trafnie określił Financial Times zamieszkałego przez "natural born killers" i śmieszą cię kretyńskie baranki i aureolki. Co innego bombowce nad stadionem z okazji sportowego meczu. O, bez bombowca i straganu naganiacza najemników do wojska nie może się obyć!
Oj zdziwiony, czy tacy jak Ty zawsze muszą widzieć tylko dwie alternatywy? Nie zauważyłem, żeby ktoś tutaj twierdził, że ateizm to idea ludzi dobry lub lepszych od wierzących. Tak samo ateiści jak np. chrześcijanie potrafią być zarówno dobrzy, jaki i źli. Różnica chyba polega na tym, że wierzący często postępują źle wobec innych pomimo reguł religii albo nawet za ich nakazem. Ale najbardziej dokuczliwe jest powoływanie się i usprawiedliwianie swoich działań czymś, co dla pozostałych jest abstrakcją, wymysłem. To tak, jakbym ja sobie wymyślił jakiś wyższy nakaz i wymusił na Tobie postępowanie wg niego, niezależnie czy Ty wierzysz w prawdziwość tego nakazu czy też nie. I ta uzurpacja monopolu na słuszność. Po prostu zostawmy to co nam wspólne czyli przestrzeń publiczną wolną od ideologii, które zarezerwujmy dla tego co prywatne i osobiste.
I mogłeś sobie darować osobiste wycieczki w stronę autorki bloga bo to nawet nie argument.
Zdziwiony: Piłeś? Nie pisz.
Chris: Holy shit. From your account and other people's experiences, I see I'm really lucky to have dodged the bullet. I spent a total of ten years in Polish schools and never had a single religion class. I can't even remember seeing a priest anywhere near school. That was twenty years ago. Seeing this kind of crap in a public school in a EU country in 2014 boggles the mind. Don't give up your fight! BTW, love your blog, longtime reader, first time commenter. :-)
Chris,
chcialabym sie podpisac rekami i nogami pod Twoim artykulem. obecnie nie mieszkam w kraju ale chce tam kiedys wrocic...nie do baranka ani krzyza w szkole.pozdrawiam i wspieram w dazeniu do celu :)
zdziwiony - To ja, Amerykanska Gospodyni bloga. Shootings in school in my country have everything to do with guns in the hands of the populace and very little to do with catechism classes in public schools. Because that is the issue in my posts - that catechism is taught in the public school where my children (yes, those children which you suggest are going to be found in a "pool of blood in a Polish Sandy Hook") have been forced to attend without my permission. I would feel the same as an atheist, a Jew, a Muslim, even a Catholic if I didn't give permission for them to attend.
If I understand your comment correctly, you are angry at me and others like me, but I don't see why. My point is that religion has its place, your home and your house of worship, a private school of one denomination.
I taught in a school in the US where there was a shooting so I have some experience in the matter. I get from your post that you feel there is a causal relationship between that lack of religion in American schools and the number of school shootings. I don't agree with that assumption. I feel that easy access to guns is the culprit. In my humble research, many of the school shooters were conservative Christians who attended services within their communities. That was the case in my school.
Now that I think about, I went a bit easy on you. You start off with comments questioning my or readers' intelligence. Then you move on to comments about my country and about my children. I don't appreciate any comments about the death of my children and me wailing in sorrow.To be fair you hit Poland and the "Polish monkeys" on the way too. When you write a comment on my blog, you are writing to me, Chris, a real person. This is not a newspaper or some media service.
So to answer your question, (in the future you can pose the question to me, Chris, and you can use "ty" not Gospodyni) to what god I would pray or cry to when it all goes wrong - I would or will pray to none. That's my belief. I never pray to anyone, or anything...and I haven't shot anybody yet.
I was so involved with the previous comment that I forgot the rest of you, wybacz.
Me- You summed it up perfectly. "Po prostu zostawmy to co nam wspólne czyli przestrzeń publiczną wolną od ideologii, które zarezerwujmy dla tego co prywatne i osobiste." Thank you. Nabijamy dalej...
Beer Guzzler - You really lucked out...or maybe the situation is worse now?? It just goes to show that it doesn't have to be that way. We had catechism at church when I was a kid.Thanks for the support and thanks for the comment. Excellent tag name, by the way.
Dorota D.- Thanks for the support. I will keep on keeping on ;)
Nauczanie religii w kościele wróciłoby gdyby
1)Zmieniono trochę konkordat z Watykanem
2)Ludzie zbuntowali się przeciwko religii w szkole(Najlepiej w całej Polsce)
Aby nie było obowiązku nauczania religii wystarczy zmienić kilka paragrafów w konstytucji
Jedyna co trzeba zmienić ,to mentalność ... Ale to czasem może być za trudne(łatwiej zmienić prawo niż moralność)
o yes,zdziwiony w ameryce strzelaja a w polsce gwalca niemowleta tacy pobozni katole,pozdro z new jersey
Wojtek - It's like the chicken or the egg, what came first and what to do first - fight the konkordat or fight the mentality. I don't think that one little Chris has any chance to change the konkordat so I am trying to change the environment around me, bit by bit. In most cases I am not changing the minds of people but at least I can make them aware of how the issue looks from my side. Next fight - 3 days of cancelled school for rekolekcje.
Anon - Bad news travels fast, right? There's the recent case in Florida where the grandfather shot and killed his daughter and her children and then committed suicide. Here in Poland where we have limited access to guns, a guy killed his whole family by burning the house down while they slept. He bought some big insurance policy prior to doing that and they arrested him at his girlfriend's apartment. Did you hear about it in New Jersey? Pozdro z Polski!
Powodzenia w walce z rekolekcjami , aby się udało :) Rekolekcje to akurat zapychacz czasu i sam nie lubiłem tego , szczególnie gdy nauczyciele następnego dnia pytali lub robili kartkówki . Kto będzie chciał to i tak pójdzie do kościoła :)
As I'm in high school I still remember very clearly my promary school and I'm really greateful it wasn't the one you have. I was a kid back then so maybe I just haven't noticed, but even that there were many events connected with religion. I really wonder why. Fun with all religion classes started later, but that's another story... Containing teachers of this subject (I really don't know how is "katecheta" in english... kind of not my usual vocabulary I think) reafusing to take money for missions in Africa because it came from selling halloween cookies. Well, money went to animal shelter, but none of us could understand the reaction...
I don't get teaching religion at school. Fortunately my hihg school doesn't make any problems with not attending at religion classes.
Julia, Kraków
Hi Julia. I'm glad that you don't have problems at school with religia. I have to say that compared to some places in Poland, we have it easy. Our kids don't get any flack from their classmates for not attending religia, just from katachetka, but I have my eye on her ;)
I don't get the whole Halloween thing either. I mean I get that it's not a Polish tradition and for that reason people might not approve of it. But I don't like the religious arguments against Halloween especially since I went to Catholic school and our priest dressed up as Dracula every year. He also conducted mass as Dracula (we had to go to mass every morning before school).
Julia, thanks for commenting. It's nice to hear from someone who's at school and knows what it looks like now from the inside ;)
"Zdziwiony"
Panie zdziwiony, moje dzieci nie chodzą na religie i są z domu gdzie uczymy o wszystkich mitologiach świata. Niestety, dzieci z rodzin kochających nauczanie o miłości do blizniego nie dają im spokoju. Są gnębione i mają dokuczane. Do tego usłyszały już nie raz "wypierdalaj z mojego kraju" od właśnie tych bogobojnych 10 latków. Z rodzin, które na kolanach do kościoła co niedzielę się czołgają a w tygodniu zieją nienawiścia i szyderstwem. A co do Pana komentarzu na temat wojsk amerykańskich. Może jednak pomyślmy nad tym w ilu konfliktach nasze wojsko brało udział w ciągu ostatniej dekady. Czy nie mieliśmy pięknej defilady naszych złomów w Warszawie w tym roku? Czy nie widzimy co roku na święto niepodległości na ulicach miast tej właśnie chrześcijańskiej bratniej miłości przesłanej na cegłach i podeszwach glanów młodzieży wychowanej na takich właśnie wartościach? Dlaczego zamiast szykanować osoby wolno wypowiadające sie bez krzty nienawiści, nie zwróci pan uwagi na obłudę instytucji kościoła? Na to jak łamią Polską konstytucję, jak ukrywają najgorszych kryminalistów. Tak, powiem to, bez sekundy zastanowienia się - to są pedofile, złodzieje i kryminaliści jakich nie ma w tym kraju. Jeżeli Pan, panie zdziwiony, ukrywałby pedofila, byłby pan tak samo winny i zatrzymany przez policje.
Więc może jednak nie Pan sobie daruje swoje wywody na temat moralności i polskości. Ostatnio jak sprawdzałem, to jest to religia RZYMSKO katolicka a nie Polska lub już napewno nie słowiańska. Odkrywając tą obłudę, wracamy do swoich prawdziwych korzeni a nie padamy na kolana przed chorą sektą. Dla Pana Halloween i kultura Amerykańska jest straszna? Dla mnie, udawanie że pijemy krew martwego bustwa i sporzywamy jego ciało co niedzielę - to jest dopiero przerażające. 2000 sezon The Walking Dead drogi panie "zdziwiony"
Hey Chris, sorry about the rant, but man... I've been living in a small town community and the shit that I've been seeing here is mind boggling. They've even brought the holly spirit nonsense here, with the touch on the forehead and fainting elderly and youngins. I've had parents pull children out of my school because we discussed traveling around the world and while on Japan, we touched on Buddhism. I love the way you keep your emotions at bay and are able to keep your distance. I'm working on it lol... as you can see, it's not going well :D
Cheers, and keep on keeping on.
I to mnie wlasnie denerwowalo w poslkiej szkole I nie tylko. Ale w sumie to wiecej religijnosci widze w USA niz Polsce. Nawet z ta debilna indoktrynacja. Even in hospitals they ask me "what my religion" and since it is a big "no, no" to be an atheist I pretend that I am a Catholic. I think that it is easier to be an open atheist in Poland then in USA. President of USA says "God bless America". I have never heard it from polish president. I like diversity in American schools but this is diversity among religions. There is no place to be an atheist. They are going to hate you. And this is my reflection after living in USA for last 15 years/
iwona
Iwona - I remember for the longest time, I was the only atheist I knew. The first atheist I met was a professor at my university who was way weird. I figured I am weird and he is weird so atheists must be weird. When it comes up in conversation in the States that I am atheist, people usually tell me that they will pray for me which is offensive but whatever. In Poland people accept it from me I think because I am a foreigner. My m-i-l had not accepted it. However, I don't remember any religion in my public high school unlike I see here. We had a big Pope Day celebration at school with a mandatory assembly so I just kept my kids home that day.
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