Justin Gest writes in the guardian.co.uk about whether multifaith religious education is a failure?
In advance of the release of a new pamphlet, Philip Barnes questioned the success and value of religious education in the UK. He writes that religious education fails to engage pupils’ interest and “does harm” in alienating many devout people by suggesting that all religions are equally valid.
This is interesting. Are all religions equally valid? If a particular faith encourages acts of violence as a means of defending a particular version of truth, are they equally valid with a tradition that, say, doesn’t? How might we best present this to a group of eighth graders?
Of course I agree that there should be a much more sophisticated discourse surrounding faith in pluralistic societies. But these discussions need to embrace nuance rather than cling to blunt offerings of pablum. Schools might just be the right environment for this as long as teachers can bridge the gap between conviction and wonder. Otherwise we’ll run into trouble.
Gest continues:
… if issues of religious difference are not addressed in schools, they will certainly be addressed outside of them, potentially by people with hate-filled agendas of misinformation.
These people exacerbate the greatest problem facing social cohesion and inter-religious relations today – perceptions that religious differences are irreconcilable.
