Religious Education as Cultural Learning
In Chapter 9 of ‘The God Delusion’ Richard Dawkins considers ‘the role of religious education (RE) as a necessary part of our literary culture’ an essential part of our heritage. We need it he once said at a public meeting I attended, (at the Institute of Education) to understand Shakespeare. And he had previously admitted thinking that a good case could be made for the value of teaching ‘comparative religion’ (CRE) in exposing the contradictions, the incompatibility of the religions claims of superiority, one over the other, and the view that all religions are of equal value. And one could add the consideration of the many absurdities and cruelty in the bible.
This view supposes that religious education is or can be, under in the present set-up and political situation, honest, objective and genuinely comparative including consideration of, and comparisons with non-belief perspectives (NBP). And unless the educational establishment rises up to defend the purpose of education, RE will remain a sham, the teaching of opinion as fact in order to promote religion.
However, it does have the potential for change and the first moves are now being made to include humanism in the curriculum.
I have heard it said many times that a thorough reading of the Bible is the best antidote to Christian belief, but not often that a reading of the Koran, or Torah has the same effect on Muslims or Jews, or that it affects the priests, Imams and theologians who know these books best – despite their much more thorough indoctrination into children that includes teaching them to recite them ‘off by heart’. Nor does the concentration on learning biblical texts or stories with or without the contradictions seem to weaken the belief of millions of devotees of the major religions and cults.
Dawkins main argument in favour of RE is that it is essential to literary culture and the understanding of the Bible as the source of biblical allusion. And he lists many examples. But we all know that Christianity has, through its domination of ‘education’ through the universities and schools, embedded itself in all aspects of our culture and language, from the literature of great writers to popular language. Mister, Master, BA, MC. fellow, fellowship, fraternity and many more for anyone interested in etymology.
But it is not necessary to teach this knowledge as part of teaching religion; it could better be done through philosophy, history. For most of the allusions and parables the meanings are quite obvious, even without having the entire religious context explained – and very many biblical quotations are just meaningless clichés often used without any critique, to give an illusion of wisdom or learning. Children’s education does not currently include a reserved place in the curriculum for studying the classics, or etymology, logic and the application of reason, in order to know that they are interesting subjects, for sources and to enable criticism, and to understand the merit of further study and analysis.
It is possible that intelligent and educated men and women, even scientists will have been shaped by their upbringing and education, very often from middle class families, in segregated, private or grammar schools many of which are more than usually influenced by conservative opinion. It is likely that those who go to such schools will retain what Richard Dawkins calls ‘a sentimental loyalty to the cultural tradition of religion – which is after all part of their purpose.
Sue Mayer
Campaign for Secular Education
2008
(RE as Cultural Learning)