Commitment, Character, and Citizenship: Religious Education in Liberal Democracy

by Hanan A. Alexander (editor), Ayman K. Agbaria (Editor)

As liberal democracies include increasingly diverse and multifaceted populations, the longstanding debate about the role of the state in religious education and the place of religion in public life seems imperative now more than ever. The maintenance of religious schools and the planning of religious education curricula raise a profound challenge. Too much state supervision can be conceived as interference in religious freedom and as a confinement of the right to cultural liberty. Too little supervision can be seen as neglecting the development of the liberal values required to live and work in a democratic society and as abandoning those who within their communities wish to attain a more rigorous education for citizenship and democracy. This book draws together leading educationalists, philosophers, theologians, and social scientists to explore issues, problems, and tensions concerning religious education in a variety of international settings. The contributors explore the possibilities and limitations of religious education in preparing citizens in multicultural and multi-religious democratic societies.

296 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 2012

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this is listed as an ebook, I read a hard copy. This book has had a profound impact on me. One of the specific concepts that has stuck with me is Steven Vryhof's concept of helping students in schools become "rooted cosmopolitans." You'll have to read that chapter to understand what he is getting at with that term, but this is a core idea if we are going to promote, create, and pull off education about religion in schools that truly demonstrates loyalty to education for commitment, character, and citizenship. Other chapters are equally good, especially those by my friends Siebren Miedema and Jack Seymour. One of the other things that really stuck out to me from this book is how far behind America is on the whole religious literacy issue. For a country with such a high level of religious diversity and a high level of cultural misunderstanding about religion that continues to spawn such bigotry and violence and tension of all kinds, our educational system looks like the proverbial (although not literally accurate) ostrich with its head in the sand on this issue when compared with other countries. Highly recommend this book to educators of all kinds and levels.