Balancing Rights in Religious Education through Collaboration and Dialogue

While the right of parents to educate their children in their religious or philosophical conviction is recognised in Human Rights instruments (e.g. CoE 1952, protocol 1), educators must also attend to the right of a child to autonomy (UN 1989, Article 12.1) and the right of liberal democratic states to reproduce values of equity and freedom. This paper argues that certain forms of inter-religious dialogue and/or inter-religious collaborative learning can assist educators in balancing these rights where religion has significant influence and power over the management of schools and/or the curriculum. It is argued that in addition to the learning benefits which may result, the use of collaboration and dialogue goes some way in addressing three philosophical criticisms of religious education: first that religiously separate and religiously based education pays insufficient attention to the rights of children and, secondly, is likely to contribute to social fragmentation; and third, pupils will lack the skills to overcome prejudice or intolerance where they have no experience of others as a result of separate schooling or from a religiously narrow curriculum, and the latter may in fact support intolerant views. A rationale is developed that asserts the value of collaboration or dialogue as a pedagogical strategy that can, to some degree, mitigate potential negative outcomes from religious education. This argument is further supported with reference to a range of empirical studies.

Córdoban Discourses: A Drama of Interreligious Dialogue

SETTING: Cordoba, Spain, 1135 CE, 29th year of the reign of ‘Ali “amir al-muslimin,” second king of the Berber Almoravid dynasty, rulers of Moorish Spain from 1071 to 1147. Cordoba, the capital of Andalus and the center of the Almoravid holdings in Spain, is a bustling cosmopolitan center, a crossroads for Europe and the Middle East, and the meeting-point of three religious traditions. Most significantly, Cordoba at this time is the hub of European intellectual activity. From the square—itself impressively large and surrounded by a massive collonade, the regularity and ordered beauty of which typifies the Moorish taste for symmetry (so beloved of M.C. Escher)—can be seen the huge Cordoban mosque, erected in the 8th-century by Khalif Abd-er-Rahman I to the glory of Allah, oft forgiving, most merciful. It is the second largest building in Islam, and the bastion of the still entrenched but soon to fade Muslim presence in western Europe. SCENE: Three figures sit upon stone benches beneath the westernmost colonnade of the Cordoban mosque, involved in an animated, though friendly discussion on matters of faith and reason, knowledge and God, language and logic. The host is none other than Jehudah Halevi, and his esteemed guests Master Peter Abelard and the venerable Råmånuja, whose obviously advanced age belies his youthful voice, gleaming eye, quick hands, and general exuberance. It is autumn, early evening…

The Hindu-Jewish relationship and the significance of dialogue : participants' reflections on the 2007 and 2008 Hindu-Jewish summits at New Delhi and Jerusalem

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not new and significant developments for the Hindu and Jewish faiths, and the relationship that exists between them, can be demonstrated from the results of the Hindu-Jewish Leadership Summits of 2007 and 2008 in Delhi and Jerusalem. I argue that new and significant developments can be observed with this Hindu-Jewish encounter with regards to official rulings of Halacha (Jewish law), proper understandings of sacred symbols of Hinduism, and even improved Islamic-Jewish relations. After analyzing the approaches, themes, and unique framework found within this encounter, it is clear that the Hindu-Jewish leadership summits mark new and significant developments in inter-religious dialogue between the two traditions, culminating in the redefinition of Hinduism as a monotheistic religion.

Pope Francis and the challenges of inter-civilization diplomacy

Abstract This article addresses the role of Pope Francis in the interfaith and inter-civilization dialogue of the Holy See. Specifically, it analyses the main aspects of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Russia, China, Islamic countries and Israel, and provides perspectives on the inter-civilization diplomacy of the Holy See during the current pontificate.

Competência comunicativa de futuros professores frente à diversidade religiosa na abordagem do tema origens do universo

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Diversidade religiosa e formação de professores de ciências: uma discussão em Habermas e um caso no ensino de Física

This article brings a discussion of the implications of religious diversity on science education as well as on teacher education. To orientate our discussion, we adopt as framework the ideas of German philosopher Jürgen Habermas on the political relationship that should govern relations between a naturalistic culture and different religious cultures. We also present a research with future teachers of physics, which aimed at investigating the positions taken by the future teachers towards non scientific models presented by students about the origins of the universe. We tried to identify, especially, the expectation of these future teachers would demonstrated about the contributing of the lifting of such models in class by students. We were able to find that most of them believe that the manifestation of these ideas could bring contributions to the discussion in the classroom. We also found that teaching practices based on communication, questioning and dialogue of the undergraduate course done by the prospective teachers has generated an ownership by the undergraduates of these practices and their potential application in other situations and other discussions, including inter-religious.

Religious communities and HIV prevention: An intervention study using a human rights-based approach

Religious communities have been a challenge to HIV prevention globally. Focusing on the acceptability component of the right to health, this intervention study examined how local Catholic, Evangelical and Afro-Brazilian religious communities can collaborate to foster young people`s sexual health and ensure their access to comprehensive HIV prevention in their communities in Brazil. This article describes the process of a three-stage sexual health promotion and HIV prevention initiative that used a multicultural human rights approach to intervention. Methods included 27 in-depth interviews with religious authorities on sexuality, AIDS prevention and human rights training of 18 young people as research-agents, who surveyed 177 youth on the same issues using self-administered questionnaires. The results, analysed using a rights-based perspective on health and the vulnerability framework, were discussed in daylong interfaith workshops. Emblematic of the collaborative process, workshops are the focus of the analysis. Our findings suggest that this human rights framework is effective in increasing inter-religious tolerance and in providing a collective understanding of the sexuality and prevention needs of youth from different religious communities, and also serves as a platform for the expansion of state AIDS programmes based on laical principles.

A MIGRAÇÃO INTER-RELIGIOSA PENTECOSTAL E SUAS RELAÇÕES COM A MODERNIDADE

Este trabalho faz uma leitura do fenômeno da crescente migração de membros no interior do pentecostalismo, na perspectiva da modernidade, demonstrando, através de fundamentação teórica e de pesquisa de campo, quais as relações existentes entre aquele fenômeno e as transformações sociais que caracterizam o mundo moderno. Assim, o primeiro capítulo discute as transformações que ocorrem no campo religioso com o surgimento do mundo moderno, especialmente a secularização, a partir do século XVI, na Europa, e a globalização, fenômeno mais recente, e analisa a situação específica da modernidade latino-americana e das relações próprias entre esta e a religião que nela se produz. O segundo capítulo caracteriza o pentecostalismo e analisa sua correspondência à modernidade tal como ela se manifesta na América Latina. No terceiro capítulo, são discutidas várias abordagens interpretativas do fenômeno da migração inter-religiosa ou trânsito religioso e são apresentados analiticamente os resultados da pesquisa de campo feita pelo autor entre pentecostais no município de São Bernardo do Campo, SP, demonstrando como eles evidenciam a existência de relações intrínsecas entre o fenômeno estudado e a modernidade.Dessa maneira, mostra-se como a religião, reconfigurando-se, seja por adaptação à modernidade, seja por reação a ela, coloca-se não somente como fruto, mas também como fator de modernidade.(AU)

A MIGRAÇÃO INTER-RELIGIOSA PENTECOSTAL E SUAS RELAÇÕES COM A MODERNIDADE

Este trabalho faz uma leitura do fenômeno da crescente migração de membros no interior do pentecostalismo, na perspectiva da modernidade, demonstrando, através de fundamentação teórica e de pesquisa de campo, quais as relações existentes entre aquele fenômeno e as transformações sociais que caracterizam o mundo moderno. Assim, o primeiro capítulo discute as transformações que ocorrem no campo religioso com o surgimento do mundo moderno, especialmente a secularização, a partir do século XVI, na Europa, e a globalização, fenômeno mais recente, e analisa a situação específica da modernidade latino-americana e das relações próprias entre esta e a religião que nela se produz. O segundo capítulo caracteriza o pentecostalismo e analisa sua correspondência à modernidade tal como ela se manifesta na América Latina. No terceiro capítulo, são discutidas várias abordagens interpretativas do fenômeno da migração inter-religiosa ou trânsito religioso e são apresentados analiticamente os resultados da pesquisa de campo feita pelo autor entre pentecostais no município de São Bernardo do Campo, SP, demonstrando como eles evidenciam a existência de relações intrínsecas entre o fenômeno estudado e a modernidade.Dessa maneira, mostra-se como a religião, reconfigurando-se, seja por adaptação à modernidade, seja por reação a ela, coloca-se não somente como fruto, mas também como fator de modernidade.(AU)

A MIGRAÇÃO INTER-RELIGIOSA PENTECOSTAL E SUAS RELAÇÕES COM A MODERNIDADE

Este trabalho faz uma leitura do fenômeno da crescente migração de membros no interior do pentecostalismo, na perspectiva da modernidade, demonstrando, através de fundamentação teórica e de pesquisa de campo, quais as relações existentes entre aquele fenômeno e as transformações sociais que caracterizam o mundo moderno. Assim, o primeiro capítulo discute as transformações que ocorrem no campo religioso com o surgimento do mundo moderno, especialmente a secularização, a partir do século XVI, na Europa, e a globalização, fenômeno mais recente, e analisa a situação específica da modernidade latino-americana e das relações próprias entre esta e a religião que nela se produz. O segundo capítulo caracteriza o pentecostalismo e analisa sua correspondência à modernidade tal como ela se manifesta na América Latina. No terceiro capítulo, são discutidas várias abordagens interpretativas do fenômeno da migração inter-religiosa ou trânsito religioso e são apresentados analiticamente os resultados da pesquisa de campo feita pelo autor entre pentecostais no município de São Bernardo do Campo, SP, demonstrando como eles evidenciam a existência de relações intrínsecas entre o fenômeno estudado e a modernidade.Dessa maneira, mostra-se como a religião, reconfigurando-se, seja por adaptação à modernidade, seja por reação a ela, coloca-se não somente como fruto, mas também como fator de modernidade.(AU)

American Manna: Religious Responses to the American Industrial Food System

“American Manna: Religious Responses to the American Industrial Food System” is an investigation of the religious complexity present in religious food reform movements. I conducted ethnographic fieldwork at four field sites. These field sites are a Jewish organic vegetable farm where the farmers begin their days with meditation, a Christian raw vegan diet center run by Messianic Jews, a Christian family that raises their cattle on pastures and sends them to a halal processing plant for slaughter, and a Jewish farm where Christian and Buddhist farm staff helped to implement shmita, the biblical agricultural sabbatical year.

The religious people of America do not exist in neatly bound silos, so in my research I move with the religious people to the spaces that are less clearly defined as “Christian” or “Jewish.” I study religious food reformers within the framework of what I have termed “free-range religion” because they organize in groups outside the traditional religious organizational structures. My argument regarding free-range religion has three parts. I show that (1) perceived injustices within the American industrial food system have motivated some religious people to take action; (2) that when they do, they direct their efforts against the American food industry, and tend to do so outside traditional religious institutions; and finally, (3) in creating alternatives to the American food industry, religious people engage in inter-religious and extra-religious activism.

Chapter 1 serves as the introduction, literature review, and methodology overview. Chapter 2 focuses on the food-centered Judaism at the Adamah Environmental Fellowship at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Falls Village, CT. In Chapter 3, I discuss the Hallelujah Diet as prescriptive literature and as it is put into practice at the Hallelujah Diet Retreat Center in Lake Lure, NC. Chapter 4 follows cows as they move from the grassy hills of Baldwin Family Farms in Yanceyville, NC to the meat counter at Whole Foods Markets. In Chapter 5, I consider the shmita year, the biblical agricultural sabbatical practice that was reimagined and implemented at Pearlstone Center in Baltimore, MD during 2014-2015. Chapter 6 will conclude this dissertation with a discussion of where religious food reform has been, where it is now, and a glimpse of what the future holds.