If there's one thing I've heard too much of, it's RE getting slammed. Why is it that people think RE is worthless? If you take the time to read this post, I'd hope that, if you are of this opinion, you won't be any longer.
Well, religion is an aspect of society that's not going to be going anywhere any time soon. Barely scratching the surface of RE, you learn about different people's religious beliefs. It's important to understand the cultures that have formed society in order to actually understand society itself. That's a basic goal RE acheives.
Community cohesion is a vital thing that's necesary to achieve in the UK's multi-cultural societies, in places like Birmingham, for example. In areas where there's no sense of cohesion, there will be high levels of support for extreme right-wing parties, like the BNP. Is this honestly how we want the UK to go on to develop? I didn't think so. RE teaches students to really think about what a person's beliefs mean to them, and how it's their identity. Differences aren't something to be afraid of, but something to be celebrated. What other subject celebrates this? What other subject will bring this cohesion to a diverse society like the UK?
Whether you believe it was an act of Jihad or not, look at the Islamophobia that surfaced after the 11th September 2001 disaster at the WTC. This Islamophobia still arises today, with prejudices on people's religious belief and their exterior appearance. What's helped to lessen such prejudices? RE. In RE, students are not only taught that Islam is a religion of peace, however are also taught about the negative effects of prejudice on society.
Although I constantly campaign for people to realise that RE isn't a dictatorship where you're told to believe the words of a holy book, RE does actually hold significance in the religious-self of a human being. As I've said above, religion is here to stay. It's something that everyone is going to think about in their lives. RE provides a safe place to develop your ideas, whether you're a modern day Oscar Romero or you're an advocate of Dawkins, you still have a set of moral beliefs, that you've developed from all of the different experiences you've had, the things you've read, heard and been told; RE brings a binding for all of these different sources, and enables a human to practically apply these morals to ethical dilemmas, such as is there ever such a circumstance in which war could be just, or is it right that we're worrying how we're going to pay for our holiday when there are children starving to death in an impoverished shanty town.
This is just a short collection of my ideas on why RE is important. There may be another post like this to follow, so do check back!
Thanks for reading.
Well, religion is an aspect of society that's not going to be going anywhere any time soon. Barely scratching the surface of RE, you learn about different people's religious beliefs. It's important to understand the cultures that have formed society in order to actually understand society itself. That's a basic goal RE acheives.
Community cohesion is a vital thing that's necesary to achieve in the UK's multi-cultural societies, in places like Birmingham, for example. In areas where there's no sense of cohesion, there will be high levels of support for extreme right-wing parties, like the BNP. Is this honestly how we want the UK to go on to develop? I didn't think so. RE teaches students to really think about what a person's beliefs mean to them, and how it's their identity. Differences aren't something to be afraid of, but something to be celebrated. What other subject celebrates this? What other subject will bring this cohesion to a diverse society like the UK?
Whether you believe it was an act of Jihad or not, look at the Islamophobia that surfaced after the 11th September 2001 disaster at the WTC. This Islamophobia still arises today, with prejudices on people's religious belief and their exterior appearance. What's helped to lessen such prejudices? RE. In RE, students are not only taught that Islam is a religion of peace, however are also taught about the negative effects of prejudice on society.
Although I constantly campaign for people to realise that RE isn't a dictatorship where you're told to believe the words of a holy book, RE does actually hold significance in the religious-self of a human being. As I've said above, religion is here to stay. It's something that everyone is going to think about in their lives. RE provides a safe place to develop your ideas, whether you're a modern day Oscar Romero or you're an advocate of Dawkins, you still have a set of moral beliefs, that you've developed from all of the different experiences you've had, the things you've read, heard and been told; RE brings a binding for all of these different sources, and enables a human to practically apply these morals to ethical dilemmas, such as is there ever such a circumstance in which war could be just, or is it right that we're worrying how we're going to pay for our holiday when there are children starving to death in an impoverished shanty town.
This is just a short collection of my ideas on why RE is important. There may be another post like this to follow, so do check back!
Thanks for reading.
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