To laugh in the face of husband who tells me I have to convert to catholicism

[brightongirldownunder]

...in order to get our daughter into the right school?!!
Just to explain a little more this is a man who has mocked his sister for converting her entire family in order for them to get into best school in area, a man that married me quite happily in a C of E church and then refused to allow the christening of our daughter because it was 'hypocritical'. Well I did have a bit of a laugh at his expense I suppose...

[GrimmaTheNome]

YANBU
Nuff said

[brightongirldownunder]

I still can't quite believe he said this...baffled...

[onceamai]

TBH we said this in jest a few times.

[newwave]

Tell him not to worry, you have heard the local Satanist coven are setting up a Free School with help from Michael Gove :o

[SparklingExplosionGoldBrass]

Nope YANBU at all. FFS why would anyone even want send a DD to a school that's going to do its best to teach her to hate herself and her body?

[nemofish]

Tell him that technically the Catholic church doesn't approve of masturbation / 'spilling the seed upon stony ground' and watch his face drop...

[brightongirldownunder]

I would have loved for it to have been in jest but he was serious and actually said I'd be letting her down if i didn't. Thing is I've already sorted her primary school out, and she's only 3. He was talking about secondary education..
Luckily he's flying back to Sydney in 2 weeks so I will attempt to laugh it off til then...or develop a taste for some weirdo cult like Scientology just to piss him off...

[Vallhala]

Depending on the quality of schools in your area, he may have a fair point.

That doesn't mean that you need to do as he says suggests though.

[bubbleOseven]

Tell him to convert.

[ratspeaker]

I would imagine that it would be the child that would have to be catholic therefore he needs to go get her christened Catholic asap.

We found the catholic schools in our area take children of all faiths, the muslims, sikhs, protestants etc were not expected to attend mass

[onceamai]

Being entirely pragmatic you may feel very differently when dd is in year 6 and the quality of the local secondaries hits home. If that's the case most catholics expect both parents to be catholic and the child to be baptised into the catholic church - unless of course your dh happens to be PM at the time!

[QuintessentialShadows]

In year six, and in a non-denomination school, without a baptism, and without having spent primary school getting a good relationship with Father and the Church, she has NO chance of getting into a good secondary Faith school.

She will be competing with children whose parents have literally washed the Church linen for six years on a voluntary basis, while their children have attended school, and weekly Mass with their parents. The recommendation from Father is pretty much Everything...

It is amazing how many people discover religion when their children are 3 years old, and school applications go in.

I was regular at our Anglican parish church, and in various committees, and doing voluntary work for the Church, but as we had not done this for three years (new to the area, and our sons had a Catholic baptism) we had no chance at the local CE Faith school.

The Catholic baptism was stronger currency than my regular attendance and voluntary work for CE, so ds1 had no problems getting into a RC Primary. (dh is Polish)

[JaniceSoprano]

your h is a twat.

[Rockbird]

Quint is right. We're really involved in our church and I do smile when I see the yearly increase in numbers at admissions time. Thing is that the nun who is the school liaison and in charge of applications etc is eagle eyed and knows every move people make. If you turn up just for the school, she knows it.

So, as a practising Catholic, I would say that your DH is bonkers. Tell him you've found a really good Jewish school but he has to be circumcised. See what he says to that :o

[Squitten]

Craziness.

I'm Catholic myself but not a fan of faith schools. Agree with Rockbird though - it's always amusing that people think they can just start going to Church for a few weeks and that will be enough. Makes me remember that episode of "Rev"

[kreecherlivesupstairs]

DD and DH are RC, I am a firmly convinced atheist. DD and I are moving back to the UK so that she can start at an RC junior which will feed into an excellent RC senior school.
Your DH is being a twat IMVHO.

[daftpunk]

Tbh, he wouldn't be the first person to suggest this - and he won't be the last. In many ways he's being very honest. He knows catholic schools are the best schools (usually) and will do all he can to get his children into a good school.... despite his previous comments.

[FakePlasticTrees]

If the only good secondry schools in your are catholic, and you are not, then rather than start pretending to have a faith (which be honest, you know is insulting to those who do), perhaps you should start looking to move house to an area with good non faith schools.

[QuintessentialShadows]

Or save money for a private secondary school?

[TheFeministParent]

You don't need to be Catholic, only takes one parent!!

[QuintessentialShadows]

In fact, ask your dh to earn more money, so you can put your children through private education, unless he wants to convert.... That is more honest, isnt it?

[EdgarAirbombPoe]

would you rather he disregarded the quality of your daughters education for the sake of consistency?

[brightongirldownunder]

I waschristened C of E but dont consider myself at all religious and to be frank would rather move nearer a non denominational school than attend I church whose faith I have no desire to become part of ( no offence to any Catholics reading this). I've only just moved back from Australia and can't believe schooling has come to this. It's shocking to read some comments on here that almost legitimise what he's said.... (again no offence to those who have posted doing so)

[brightongirldownunder]

Edgar he's always mocked people who convert to a church he described as "morally corrupt" in order to get their kids into the right school.
Blimey, from what I am reading he's almost got a point in which case I am going to start looking at places to move to where I'm not forced into converting.
I refuse to feel guilty for trying to bring my child up without conforming up one religion, especially when I have a partner who is literally telling me I will ruin her life by not doing so...