After two weeks in a Muslim country, I got to think even more deeply about a subject I am particularly drawn to: Religion and its presence in school.
In Portugal around 80% of the people are Christians (Catholics), but the state is nonreligious, secular. Some schools do however offer a class on Christian moral and religion, in which they discuss the values and principles of Christianity.
Now, I've always wondered, if the state is secular, why are public schools offering a class that is clearly for Christians? What about atheists, Muslims, Jews or any other religious group? Are they just excluded?... Shouldn't we try and come up with a class where everyone can participate instead of alienating a part, however small, of the student population?
In Düsseldorf I observed pretty much the same. Although the state is nonreligious as well, the school offered "religion classes". Hoping these would be less limiting than the Portuguese ones, I went to observe one of these classes. The class was about freedom and religion. After a while observing the class, and with my basic knowledge of German, I understood they were talking about the bible. But to make sure I was getting the right idea, at the end I went to the teacher and asked him a few questions about the class. What religions they discussed and who was invited to participate on this class. "This is a class about Christian values and every student is invited to participate" he told me. But if we only discuss the Christian values here, where would a Muslim kid, for example, go? "For those, there's the possibility of taking philosophy classes."
In Germany, Islam is the second largest religion in the country (between 2.6% to 5%), after Christianity (61%). And yet, schools offer philosophy as an alternative to religion?
In Jordan the scenario was similar, although reversed, as Islam was the main religion. In schools, children have Islamic Studies where they learn about the religion and its values. And although the country praises one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, there is no talking about this in school (or in the normal society for that matter...).
Seeing all of this, I presume there are many more countries where I will find the same type of tendency with their own religion. I just think, particularly at this day and age, that this separation leads to even more conflicts, even less empathy.
Why are we not creating awareness to all religions? Why don't we give our students an overview of each religion, even if we don't go to the smallest of details?
I know, from experience, that kids are interested in this topic. They want to know, they need to understand. So why don't we explain to them the differences between religions and the historical reasons behind those differences? This dialogue can be as simple or as complex as we want. We can go in more or less detail depending on how young the children are and how interested they are in the topic.
I believe that a more aware population is a more empathetic one. Knowing what makes us different, helps us to see what makes us the same. And maybe, just maybe, all the conflicts based on our beliefs, the color of our skin, or the clothes we chose to wear would come to an end.
In Portugal around 80% of the people are Christians (Catholics), but the state is nonreligious, secular. Some schools do however offer a class on Christian moral and religion, in which they discuss the values and principles of Christianity.
Now, I've always wondered, if the state is secular, why are public schools offering a class that is clearly for Christians? What about atheists, Muslims, Jews or any other religious group? Are they just excluded?... Shouldn't we try and come up with a class where everyone can participate instead of alienating a part, however small, of the student population?
In Düsseldorf I observed pretty much the same. Although the state is nonreligious as well, the school offered "religion classes". Hoping these would be less limiting than the Portuguese ones, I went to observe one of these classes. The class was about freedom and religion. After a while observing the class, and with my basic knowledge of German, I understood they were talking about the bible. But to make sure I was getting the right idea, at the end I went to the teacher and asked him a few questions about the class. What religions they discussed and who was invited to participate on this class. "This is a class about Christian values and every student is invited to participate" he told me. But if we only discuss the Christian values here, where would a Muslim kid, for example, go? "For those, there's the possibility of taking philosophy classes."
In Germany, Islam is the second largest religion in the country (between 2.6% to 5%), after Christianity (61%). And yet, schools offer philosophy as an alternative to religion?
In Jordan the scenario was similar, although reversed, as Islam was the main religion. In schools, children have Islamic Studies where they learn about the religion and its values. And although the country praises one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, there is no talking about this in school (or in the normal society for that matter...).
Seeing all of this, I presume there are many more countries where I will find the same type of tendency with their own religion. I just think, particularly at this day and age, that this separation leads to even more conflicts, even less empathy.
Why are we not creating awareness to all religions? Why don't we give our students an overview of each religion, even if we don't go to the smallest of details?
I know, from experience, that kids are interested in this topic. They want to know, they need to understand. So why don't we explain to them the differences between religions and the historical reasons behind those differences? This dialogue can be as simple or as complex as we want. We can go in more or less detail depending on how young the children are and how interested they are in the topic.
I believe that a more aware population is a more empathetic one. Knowing what makes us different, helps us to see what makes us the same. And maybe, just maybe, all the conflicts based on our beliefs, the color of our skin, or the clothes we chose to wear would come to an end.