"A consequences of its being the only nondenominational state school in Catholic Ireland was that most pupils where drawn from Dublin's Protestant minority. The school itself, however, toed no sectarian line, offering Religious Education (RE) classes characterized by a kind of woolly Christian liberalism, presided over by a well-meaning but - as far as I was concerned - drippily ineffective young teacher named Sophie Shirley. There would be Bible readings and class discussions in which Jesus took on the character of a beatific hippie while God seemed to be personified as an avuncular old geezer who only wanted what was best for His extended family - if that was the case, I wondered, why was I being kept awake at night wondering if the torments of Hell awaited me when I died? I would fire this and related questions at my long-suffering teaching but I never received satisfactory answers, just platitudes about Jesus loving me."
Thus begins my new relationship with Mr. McCormick. I'll be interested to see how this ends up.
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