MOUSETHIEF, IT SURE SOUNDED LIKE THAT WAS YOUR POINT.

OK, the teacher was being abusive. Abusive teachers were not unusual in my youth. But I can't recall this particular teacher being abusive in other ways. Maybe the reason I can't recall it is that abuse WAS so commonplace. This incident stood out in my memory because it was highly unusual for a teacher to use religion as a means of humiliating a student. I remember even then thinking that she (the teacher was female, by the way) was hitting below the belt in a way that was worse than run-of-the-mill abuse.

If a teacher calls you a thief, you can deny it. If she calls you an idiot because you haven't learned all your verbs, you can maybe take comfort in the fact that other students haven't learned them either, and anyway, you can resolve to prove her wrong by learning your verbs in the future. But if she insults your religion, what can you do?