There is no fine line between “education” and “indoctrination”.  Catechism is famously a system of indoctrination where an elementary book containing a summary of a Christian religion in the form of rigid questions and answers tell the student “how and what it is.” We have now seen Late Night Catechism twice and it was much more meaningful down here in Florida where the audience had only maybe three avowed Catholics and the rest were assumed to be Jewish. The teacher was an actress who looked like the real article and, in spite of caricature and stereotyping, we were immediately subsumed into her world of the Word about Jesus, the Catholic Church and the ritual demanded of practicing Catholics.

Despite the relative lack of an elementary classroom where the kids are expected to behave and answer respectfully, the disarming quality of the “Nun” as teacher charmed us and, I think, even taught us some things we had known before, but a little bit better this time.

Indoctrination is not a nice word when those of us who labored as Public School Teachers tried to teach ABOUT democracy DEMOCRATICALLY.  That is a tall order.  It is much easier to learn by rote answers that are perfectly in accord with the rule book from which the teaching proceeds.  Sister, our bogus but agreeably and arguably real teacher, tried to find Catholics who remembered their early teachings and chided them nicely for forgetting or being reluctant to speak up. So, she taught the rest of us and answered puzzling questions as to who was born without sin and whose birth was of a virgin mother.

Such questions are the meat and drink of any religion based on revelation, miracles ands mysteries. The explanations get trickier and less certain as the probing goes deeper until the final answer seems always to be: “Because I said so”.

I have a big problem with indoctrination.  In a perfect world the inhabitants would instinctively know the rules and regulations so they did not have to be pounded in the heads of little ones who were confused enough by the wonder of life.  Knowing your ABC’s and the formula for “Salvation” placed on top of learning where to pee, how to tie a shoelace and why burping is not acceptable while among adults are the contents in the backpack of responsibility we place on our children’s shoulders as soon as we get them trained for the toilet.  And…that reminds me, we TRAIN animals, don’t we?  How come we train our children?  Isn’t that the same thing as getting them familiar with and competent in answering the questions in a Catechism with the correct answers?  And, of course, hold the question, “Why?”