Over the past few weeks, people who are passionate about RE have been celebrating its positive influence on society in Celebrating RE Month. For this, I must say thank you, especially to the Celebrating RE team who have put so much effort into creating so many fantastic RE events over the past few weeks for Celebrating RE month. The small - but growing - RE community on Twitter are another constant source of positivity in the celebration of RE. I also can't possibly go without thanking the Bishop Challoner RE department and my own RE teacher, Mr Cunnane.
Over the past few months, RE has faced some battles of status what with the English Baccalaureate and Gove's opinion that "there's too much religion in society". If there's so much religion in society, surely we need good RE to accompany it - this won't be possible with Gove's EBacc. The Government need to put funding into RE that will ensure it's the very best it can be; we need the people of RE today to stand up and be counted, not decline in silence. The Gove Empire is under the impression that we'll not put up a fight, but this March we've all done well to prove this is not the case. What do those passionate about RE say to the English Baccalaureate? We say: letters to MPs and EDM 1375 - http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-11/1375. We say 67 signatures on 27/03/11. We stand united for our belief in RE.
The future of RE is vital, as the quality of RE greatly effects the state of society will find itself in. Without the brilliant RE we find in schools today, I can't help but imagine a growing number of prejudices about both religious and non-religious people, and a rise in the number of people who pre-judge groups based on race, religion and also opinions such as political agendas.
As I stated earlier on in Celebrating RE month, good RE facilitates for a tolerant and cohesive society. We mustn't let the quality of RE deteriorate, like it seems the English Baccalaureate supports desire. I don't believe that saying RE is the single most diverse subject is controversial. Just think about some of the ideas we explore: life after death; just war; situation ethics; capital punishment; drugs and alcohol; scientific explanations as to how we came to be... I could go on.
Once more, I'd love to thank all members of the Celebrating RE team, and all of the RE teachers who have taken part in Celebrating RE Month for making the importance of RE known. When I eventually qualify, I'll be lucky to join such an amazing profession.
A word to all teachers of RE: don't ever lose heart in the most important subject for the understanding of society; the subject we call 'RE'.
Over the past few months, RE has faced some battles of status what with the English Baccalaureate and Gove's opinion that "there's too much religion in society". If there's so much religion in society, surely we need good RE to accompany it - this won't be possible with Gove's EBacc. The Government need to put funding into RE that will ensure it's the very best it can be; we need the people of RE today to stand up and be counted, not decline in silence. The Gove Empire is under the impression that we'll not put up a fight, but this March we've all done well to prove this is not the case. What do those passionate about RE say to the English Baccalaureate? We say: letters to MPs and EDM 1375 - http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-11/1375. We say 67 signatures on 27/03/11. We stand united for our belief in RE.
The future of RE is vital, as the quality of RE greatly effects the state of society will find itself in. Without the brilliant RE we find in schools today, I can't help but imagine a growing number of prejudices about both religious and non-religious people, and a rise in the number of people who pre-judge groups based on race, religion and also opinions such as political agendas.
As I stated earlier on in Celebrating RE month, good RE facilitates for a tolerant and cohesive society. We mustn't let the quality of RE deteriorate, like it seems the English Baccalaureate supports desire. I don't believe that saying RE is the single most diverse subject is controversial. Just think about some of the ideas we explore: life after death; just war; situation ethics; capital punishment; drugs and alcohol; scientific explanations as to how we came to be... I could go on.
Once more, I'd love to thank all members of the Celebrating RE team, and all of the RE teachers who have taken part in Celebrating RE Month for making the importance of RE known. When I eventually qualify, I'll be lucky to join such an amazing profession.
A word to all teachers of RE: don't ever lose heart in the most important subject for the understanding of society; the subject we call 'RE'.
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