Religious education

For an overview of religious education as taught in schools around the world, see religious education in primary and secondary education.

In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion (although in the United Kingdom the term religious instruction would refer to the teaching of a particular religion, with religious education referring to teaching about religions in general) and its varied aspects: its beliefs, doctrines, rituals, customs, rites, and personal roles. In Western and secular culture, religious education implies a type of education which is largely separate from academia, and which (generally) regards religious belief as a fundamental tenet and operating modality, as well as a prerequisite for attendance.

The secular concept is substantially different from societies that adhere to religious law, wherein "religious education" connotes the dominant academic study, and in typically religious terms, teaches doctrines which define social customs as "laws" and the violations thereof as "crimes", or else misdemeanors requiring punitive correction.

The free choice of religious education by parents according to their conviction is protected by Convention against Discrimination in Education.[1]

Religious education is a contentious topic everywhere.[2] Some nations, including the United States, neither publicly support religious education nor include religion in the curriculum.[3] In other contexts, such as the United Kingdom, an 'open' religious education has emerged from Christian confessionalism that is intended to promote general religious literacy without imparting a particular religious perspective.[4]

  1. ^ Convention against Discrimination in Education, Article 5
  2. ^ Jackson, Robert (2014). Signposts: Policy and Practice for Teaching about Religions and Non-Religious Worldviews in Intercultural Education. Strasbourg: Council of Europe. ISBN 978-92-871-7914-2.
  3. ^ Moran, Gabriel (1989). Religious Education as a Second Language. Birmingham, Alabama.: Religious Education Press. ISBN 978-0-89135-072-9.
  4. ^ Copley, Terence (2008). Teaching Religion: Sixty Years of Religious Education in England and Wales (New updated edition. ed.). Exeter: University of Exeter Press. ISBN 978-0-85989-819-5.