Kevin Sheehan
Castlerea, County Roscommon, Ireland
I was born in 1949 of Irish father and English mother and was brought up and educated in England. My family life was very simple and did involve being baptised and taken to church whilst a baby/young child.
My first school was a state school for a one year before moving house and placed in a roman catholic primary school. My memories are not too comprehensive apart from extremely strident nuns and the mother superior. Catechism was strictly enforced and I suppose the inevitable dogma that age has fortunately forgotten about, apart from some latin phrases from the mass. Arguably the mass in latin was excellent because you had no idea what was going on.
I do remember attending church as a choir boy and swirling the incense around and other ritualistic activities.
My liberation came from my mother allowing me to go to a state run secondary school where I was able to avoid prayers and religious instruction. So I was lucky to escape indoctrination from 11 onwards. So I became an unwitting refugee from Catholicism.
I was chased by the parish priest because I never turned up to be an alter boy again. It think it was the black dress and white frock that did not suit me.
So I cannot profess to an intellectual metamorphasis from religion to Humanism. That came later when the experiences of the world opened up the world of science and through much reading and thought I was led to the idea of truth. On the way I visited atheism but found that just complaining about religion was not enough for me and left everything in the negative.
Humanism however opens up the possibility that human beings might be able to co-operative together and live a moral / ethical / rational life in a world of freedom (with responsibility ), universal human rights, Full democracy and liberty. All fired by human creativity and imagination and Humanist community structures.
The only caveat to this world is that it will not exist believing in the supernatural. Let us hope that Humanism will help us get there.
Kevin Sheehan
Castlerea, County Roscommon, Ireland
I was born in 1949 of Irish father and English mother and was brought up and educated in England. My family life was very simple and did involve being baptised and taken to church whilst a baby/young child.
My first school was a state school for a one year before moving house and placed in a roman catholic primary school. My memories are not too comprehensive apart from extremely strident nuns and the mother superior. Catechism was strictly enforced and I suppose the inevitable dogma that age has fortunately forgotten about, apart from some latin phrases from the mass. Arguably the mass in latin was excellent because you had no idea what was going on.
I do remember attending church as a choir boy and swirling the incense around and other ritualistic activities.
My liberation came from my mother allowing me to go to a state run secondary school where I was able to avoid prayers and religious instruction. So I was lucky to escape indoctrination from 11 onwards. So I became an unwitting refugee from Catholicism.
I was chased by the parish priest because I never turned up to be an alter boy again. It think it was the black dress and white frock that did not suit me.
So I cannot profess to an intellectual metamorphasis from religion to Humanism. That came later when the experiences of the world opened up the world of science and through much reading and thought I was led to the idea of truth. On the way I visited atheism but found that just complaining about religion was not enough for me and left everything in the negative.
Humanism however opens up the possibility that human beings might be able to co-operative together and live a moral / ethical / rational life in a world of freedom (with responsibility ), universal human rights, Full democracy and liberty. All fired by human creativity and imagination and Humanist community structures.
The only caveat to this world is that it will not exist believing in the supernatural. Let us hope that Humanism will help us get there.
Kevin Sheehan