In the educational process religion can both reveal the identity of the teacher or learner (the teacher in the hijab, a student in the bale), and be an object of study (religious wars in Germany in the course of history). However, religion as a separate subject is only possible with a developed shared understanding and consent. Such an agreement would mean changing of the political system and the Constitution. Both the Church and the school have a single task: to shape the minds of people in order to instill in them certain social and intellectual skills. This is a similar task, but in one case is initiated by a ritual connection with the transcendental, in the other — a formalized relationship with the baggage of knowledge accumulated by humanity, and with a certain worldview. Therefore, the question is whether the introduction of basic religion doctrine in the school curriculum is vital for the formation of a holistic worldview and the worldview of a child, for his spiritual upbringing and comprehensive development, or not.
There are certain facts to consider. According to statistics, 21st-century children become more and more aggressive, disobedient and intolerant (“Crime And Violence In The Schools”). The reasons for are not social, economic or physiological, but rather spiritual. While it is true that a lower social standing and economic stability in a family can make children agitated, it is still their spiritual world that makes the final say in their actions. Children from poor families can be obedient and study hard. It all depends on their upbringing. The school are responsible for a big part of the upbringing process. In modern schools, children often focus on external success, the formation of active leadership (“Crime And Violence In The Schools”).
However, all these monstrous distortions occur most likely just from lack of culture or faith. In the first place - from the wrong education. Society has no concepts of the highest values and ideals. The scene of unbridled egoism and moral chaos generates negative phenomena in politics, economy and social areas. To overcome the crisis it is important to refer to spiritual principles. Considering it, spiritual and moral education of the younger generation takes on the extreme importance and should be understood as one of the priorities of state programs in the aspect of the national and spiritual security of the country. Religion at its core is one of the best ways to become a cultured and intelligent person ("Culture And Religion").
Mark Chancey noticed in his journal, that “increased attention to religion in high schools might result in better-prepared students at higher levels of study. Avoidance of involvement in this area is by no means universal witness, for example, the important work of the AAR Religion and the Schools Task Force and the Society of Biblical Literature’s recent creation of a working group dedicated to the issue” (Chancey 556). Consequently, religion studies in schools are definitely a question worth considering.
The current situation in the world and in our society, the growth of global problems and sudden life changes form a particular current thinking of the younger generation different from that of their parents and grandparents. Because of this, the new approaches to religious education must be used and teaching professionals should strive for an organic and effective combination of traditional and modern forms. In the field of religious education, it is quite applicable to teach techniques offered by modern science and tested in practice in the field of secular education. However, the methods, techniques and means of teaching used by teachers, must be projected for a specific audience of different religions’ members who follow the existing stereotypes, and often resist new things in teaching.
We also cannot ignore the problem of slight intolerance in religion among students. Religion in schools is another obstacle between the faith generally accepted by the Orthodox Church and other variations on the explanation of the structure of the universe. When ministry does something for the sake of other beliefs, it simply cannot be avoided by mass media. Thus, there are “right-wrong” public discussions regarding the correctness of the decision. Nevertheless, an example could be the case of the construction of two - Arabic and Hebrew – education institutions: the Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn and the Ben Gamla Charter School in Hollywood, Fla (Feldman).
One should, however, not forget that religion should unite, but not to pit. In school, children should be taught to respect the beliefs of others, learn from them, to show their interest in the issues and problems that this or that religion sets itself. This is one of the few ways to establish the so-called friendship of nations. One must take into account the fact that every religion at its core has its doctrine aimed to teach and educate its believers. As for the Christian church, it also shows that God loves each of His children, which could also be a reason of international partnership. “We have every reason to conclude that moral action extends over the whole empire of God, that Benevolence exerts its noblest energies among the inhabitants of distant worlds” (Dick 73). Religion can help in improving relations between countries, including in scientific fields (“AIBS Bioscience Editorials”).
Actually, children who have learned by heart the principles of a religion, its dogmas, by the time of adulthood are less likely to commit any sort of crimes or sins against other people. With their true belief in God’s will and power, they even will be glad to be useful to the people in need. It especially concerns aged ones, who desperately need care and kindness.
Of course, being a religious person is not a guarantee of a perfectly acting human being. Even atheists have faith; however, it may be different from what a very religious person, who believes in God, may see as faith. On the contrary, the opinions of atheists regarding religion also deserve attention.
However, at least, one question remains - how to combine one class for children of different religions? If the same ethical issues are included in all religious education, is it possible to take them together? On practice, shared learning of the basics of the Catholic and Protestant creeds leads to disagreements, and if the Evangelical community has no objection to the presence at the lessons the children of Catholics, the Catholic community believes that Catholicism should study only those who are going to become Catholics. A few years ago in Hesse both churches signed an agreement that the future joint education of Protestants and Catholics is possible only in exceptional cases. However, there is allowed the creation of advanced classes for people of a single faith for the students of neighboring schools.
With the increasing tendency to teach children their rights and willingness of them to express their own point of view, it is inevitable that one-day schools became a place of confrontation between representatives of different religions. It is so typical for children - to express their point of view directly and openly, without fear of consequences.
However, the small group of teachers in Modesto found world religions curriculum, which is to be taught to the 9-th grade children due to their awareness of aspects of not only religion but tolerance and humanism as well (“One Nation, Many Gods”). Thus, by teaching about religion, children do not necessarily have to practice it. They simply need to understand the different faiths and the morals that go with them. Nevertheless, the current educational system guides students in a different direction.
Modern school curricula are very often focused only on the intelligence, rationality, immoralist conceptions (i.e., tolerance as an acceptance of evil along with the good), moral neutrality, on the manipulative nature of the methods of educational influence and learning. They use anger management and another psycho in damage to the formation of the free will of the child's behavior and upbringing; along with odds with the traditional Orthodox view of pedagogical priorities, forget about the importance of education in general and moral education in particular. St. John of Kronstadt said: "Modern education removes false from the true light, and brings us closer to him. And without Christ all education is vain" ("John Of Kronstadt - Orthodoxwiki"). Children in the school are offered images of liberal freedoms and appropriate lifestyle, far from those ideals, which have for many centuries Orthodoxy prepared people from.
Consequently, the perception of most modern people of the idea of the spiritual life is absent. This is due, primarily, to the fact that the culture in our days has lost much of the traditional character, has become a secular, out - and even anti-religious. During the XX, century the process of secularization was particularly intense. The influence of religion, the presence of traditional elements in various spheres of modern culture has been minimized or eliminated altogether. Religion, unfortunately, has ceased to be a part of an inner spiritual experience, the Foundation of their worldview.
Nevertheless, becoming a fanatic of the faith is not the way of showing your respect towards God. The reason for this phenomenon is in the lack of the person to the cognition of the religion’s idea, and premature human desire to get to the truth. This is what leads to fanaticism in religion, where it is necessary to know the truth in the process of spiritual growth. “All religions are good except when they try to resist nature” (“Ezekiel and Leadership”).
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Chancey, M. A. "A Textbook Example Of The Christian Right: The National Council On
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