Losing Their Religion

(In this part of Germany it’s mandatory for students to attend either religion or ethics classes as long as they are in school. However, as the trade school for this specific profession is very small it does not offer ethics classes. As this is the case I — alongside with three other students unaffiliated with any religion, a Muslim and a Greek-orthodox student — am assigned to attend Lutheran religion classes as the syllabus focuses mostly on ethics. Nevertheless, in our first lesson we decide to make the teacher aware that six of the 18 students are not, in fact, Lutheran. He assures us that this won’t be a problem; he’s sympathetic to our situation and no knowledge of Lutheran or Christian religion will be necessary for this class. Skip forward a few weeks to our first test and are taken aback:)

Question #1: “Explain the Paschal Triduum!”

Question #2: “What’s the function of the German Evangelical Church Assembly?”

Question #3: “Name the angels of the first sphere in Christian theology!”

(Needless to say, we went to the principal and, however they managed to do it, religion class was no longer mandatory for us six students.)