Some days are Sunny, others are a B*tch

30 day Blogging-Nov 24, 2021

PROMPT November 24th

In a previous prompt, I asked you to write about your
best, or favorite teacher. Tonight write about your darkest teacher.


Note from me: The following is something that happened to me I actually learned from. I am not saying there is anything wrong with any type of religion at all(freedom of religion is, after all, something I deeply believe in). It was just so unusual in that time period and in Georgia.


I wanted to graduate from high school early at 16 so I could begin junior college so I took a Literature and advanced Algebra course in summer school. The teacher was a new one out of college, I guess someone figured summer school would be an easier way to plunge into high school teaching. It tends to be less difficult anyway because most students are making up courses they have flunked.

It was 1970, and this woman was very young, probably 22 and I believe she thought she was doing something interesting. Now you have to understand, I live in the Bible Belt and it was very conservative then.

The teacher decided to introduce different types of religions to us. She had someone speak to us about Buddhism, Hinduism, Wicca, and finally of all things, the group that had members handing out flowers at airports etc.
A group of six came in their robes and bare feet and sat in a circle showing us Transendential Meditation complete with beads and Hare Krishna chants. Now I thought this was all fascinating, after all the Beatles and Stones had gone to visit the maharishi in India and that it was cool. She wasn’t really dark ,just different and strange, compared to what we were used to. But this was a group of kids whose parents thought the Ouiji board was satanic.

Of course a couple of the kids went home and told their parents. We got a replacement the very next week. I often wonder what happened to her. She made the class interesting, that is for sure but Chamblee, GA wasn’t Berkley.

I believe this was the Moonies (The Unification Church of the United States) that came out to talk to us. They were quite famous then for their leader, the Rev Moon that had huge marriage ceremonies for a hundred couples at once. He also supported President Nixon against the Communist “problem”. I remember parents having their children removed from the group and deprogramed.