Religious Education

Religious education is an important part of any balanced educational curriculum. Unfortunately, many religious education classes are used as pretences to indoctrinate children with a state sponsored religion, or to celebrate or give preference to one religion over others, in most cases the religion favoured in the region in which the class is taking place.

In most cases, however, religious education refers to educating students in religious studies as part of a wider curriculum of study. Religious education in this sense is essential to fostering understanding and tolerance between major world religions, and can go some way towards alleviating the underlying tensions in many communities where a religious ‘status quo’ is being challenged by, for example, immigration. However, a curriculum including religious education can only succeed if it is a balanced approach to all religions, allowing students to explore the spiritual with their own natural inquisitiveness. An approach that heavily favours, or can be seen to heavily favour, one particular religion, can undermine the efforts of an entire religious studies curriculum to promote cultural awareness an inter-theological understanding. In general, a good religious education programme will be a balanced one, taught in a manner that will foster and encourage discussion and consideration of the various philosophical, moral and theological concepts behind each world religion.

Religious education can also refer to the nature of a student’s education. Monks, nuns, priests, imams, rabbi’s and their equivalents in all religions will have received, or should have received, a religious education, traditional at a religious education institute, such as a seminary.