Teach Religion in Schools – Here’s why

The philosopher I was most inspired by, when I was young, Bertrand Russell, would turn in his grave if he was to read this blog. But he himself would have wanted me to have a mind of my own. I will, in this article, be making a case for religious education in schools.

I am writing this because of my own experience. Spiritual and religious teachings have been vital for my sanity and survival. Also my niece, who is in school in the UK told me that one of her subjects is religious education. And this is being done in the UK, the country of Bertrand Russell.

When I met them about a year ago both my niece and nephew (both about 13 years old) spoke of the importance of being balanced. This is a very important concept of Buddhism and has played a vital role in my well being. In addition once I had my nephew criticize his mom – my sister (who is apt to lose her cool at times) – of being filled with hate. This is another lesson that I wish I had learnt when I was their age. Purifying your mind of defilements is taught in both Hinduism and Buddhism. These two anecdotes will explain why I am impressed by religious education.

But in India religious education is anathema amongst the people who run the country. Gurcharan Das in his book, The Difficulty of Being Good, relates how he was asked to give a lecture to young students in a school in India. At that time Mr. Das was studying the Mahabharata and he said enthusiastically that he would love to give a talk on this – one of the great epics of the Hindus.  The principal of the school was however taken aback and reluctant. She said that the subject would not down well with the people whom the school depended on for donations.

There are two viewpoints on this – For and Against. Below is the viewpoint against Religious Education (RE) in schools:

1. One point is that children should be taught to be scientific and sceptical in their temperament.
2. The West, which has pioneered the secular and scientific approach, have a track record of high economic growth and scientific achievements since the Renaissance.
3. The secular viewpoint developed as a result of incidents of state sponsored persecutions of religious minorities in Europe. But Hinduism is a very tolerant faith which stresses that the Divine is One, the sages speak of it in different ways. So there is reason to believe that there is less chance of persecution of religious minorities in India.
4. There is also, in India, the ever present threat of communal violence and that may also be a reason why RE is not taught here.
5. And lastly people in power want to follow and want to be seen as following the teachings and wishes of the founding fathers of the country. This is not a rational and detached but a sentimental approach but we Indians are a sentimental lot.

As against that here are my reasons for RE (Religious Education) in schools:

1. The first point I have mentioned before. I know the value of spiritual teachings and my sanity and survival is the result, in no small measure, of my being trained in spirituality. A school is a place that fits the student for the challenges of life. Withholding such valuable and vital teachings from young students who will need them later and doing so for political reasons is not something to be proud of.
2. Then you have the famous sentence by Gibbon in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire:
   “The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful.”
   So RE may prove to be quite useful from the law and order point of view.
3. It must be added that the Roman Empire survived for about 1,500 years following the death of Julius Ceasar. So they knew a thing or two about running a stable nation.
4. Next I will say this to the scientists and sceptics: Religious teachings have not been proved to be false in all the centuries till date that succeeded the religion being established. The sceptic might respond that these teachings have not been proved true either. To this I would say that if I tell you that the Qutub Minar exists and you want to check whether the statement is true or false there is no other way than to make to journey to the monument and see for yourself. Similarly there is no other go for it but to walk the path and see if you can experience the Divine. Experiencing God is a revelation and religious teachings are a map that takes us to that experience. They are not a mathematical theories that can be proved true or false.
5. Lastly as the Bible says – By their fruits shall you know them. Judge RE by its fruits.

Regarding how to implement a Religious education curriculum that is acceptable to all communities I would say that we can learn from the British who are already teaching their kids RE. We can get some tips from them.

Please do a search for Religious education in the UK for more on this subject in you are interested.

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