The Place of Religion in School

Events such as the Christchurch massacre have sparked a fresh conversation over religious studies in our school system. … On the more violent end, says Douglas Pratt, an honorary professor of theology at the University of Auckland, religious naivety can suck people—young people in particular—into more fundamentalist forms of religion, “which become highly prejudicial and feed forms of extremism.” “So, you have increasing and competing polarizsations of extreme views, either saying this religion is the only right religion and others saying all religion is wrong, and any sense of a middle ground, seeing values within the religious sensibility and structures, is missing. …”  At the same time, there are growing calls for more education about religion—as distinct from religious instruction—to be included in the school curriculum. Complete Article HERE