Is religious education at German state schools in need of reform? Anni's view

As anybody else I went to school and received religious education for quite a while. I do not remember much of it but I remember that I never really liked it much. I went to an evangelical kindergarten and later became a proper member of the Evangelical Church. Religious education in my hometown Hamburg is Christian evangelical in denomination. I did not learn anything new about the bible or the belief in God. Therefore as we were able to choose between “religion” and “ethics” I chose “ethics”. So this is meant to be my personal religious background. I have never really considered the issue until now. If have not thought about whether or not pupils should receive religious education, and if, which topics religious classes should cover. However, it is easy to tell, that the differences of religion and culture still plays a large part in today’s major conflicts. And it is always misunderstanding and ignorance as well as the believe in just the very own way of faith, that causes hate and war. Therefore I find it necessary to consider, whether it is still appropriate to teach only the own confession in school.

First of all, the teaching of religion at German state schools is enshrined in the Basic Law. No other subject has been given this kind of status. The teaching of religion is controlled by the state but the context of the teaching is supervised by the relevant religious group. The teacher has to receive a confirmation “mission canonica” by the church. Furthermore the church insists on keeping the teaching bounded to the protestant or catholic confession and the pupils receive marks in the same way as in any other subject. At the age of 14 students have the right to stay away from the religion class but have to attend ethics or philosophy classes instead. It is not possible to attend religious classes in another confession than your own, except if you receive special permission.[1]

The Catholic Church voices the following opinion on the teaching of religion at schools:

„Für eine ganzheitliche Bildung ist der Religionsunterricht unverzichtbar. Christinnen und Christen leben aus dem Vertrauen, dass Gott sie geschaffen hat und jeden Menschen so liebt, wie er ist. Der Religionsunterricht möchte Schülerinnen und Schülern genau diesen Zuspruch vermitteln und ihr Selbstvertrauen stärken. […] Im Religionsunterricht wird die christliche Botschaft mit den Erfahrungen und Fragen der Schülerinnen und Schüler verbunden. Die Kinder und Jugendlichen erfahren den christlichen Glauben als einen Weg, ihr Leben zu gestalten und Verantwortung für sich und für andere zu übernehmen.“ [2]

On the contrary, I am of the opinion that the teaching religion can no longer be seen, only as a teaching of belief. In the western societies the number of orthodox believers is declining. Uncritical belief in the church and their teachings was a part of the last centuries, when people were looking for a simple answer to the things they did not understand in the world. Although there are still people who think that way, the development of the welfare state societies, where nearly anybody receives education, led to a much more critical view on denomination. Thus, in my view religion should not be seen solely as a faith. It is a social factor of society that has to be treated as such. It is not sufficient to tell children what the bible says or what kind of god they should believe in. People who choose to believe can visit a church where they can learn everything they want to know about their chosen religion.

In my opinion it should not be the task of school to convey the special belief of a typical religious group. Pupils have to be taught what religion means in a society, how faith can change people in a peaceful or aggressive direction. Naturally this kind of education cannot be limited to one denomination, but has to provide a wide ranging view on various kinds of beliefs, without dividing them into good or bad, just because the own land is Christian and therefore only the Christian way can be the accepted way.

The only hope in solving the conflicts between the people of different countries is knowledge about the opponent. For example, one has to know how and in whom the Arabian people belief to understand their way of thinking and how their society works. And one has to learn to respect other ways of thinking, especially concerning religion. It should be the task of school to teach the thought of other than the own religions because that knowledge is usually not found in form of a church around the corner. Accordingly, I would appreciate a reform of religious education at German state schools. Pupils should not be taught a special denomination but knowledge about the social system called “religion”. Moreover, after reforming the teaching of religion the subject should be obligation to every pupil in addition to subjects on ethics and on philosophy.

However, I think it will be problematic to reform religious education in Germany because it is an instrument of the church at last - possibly the largest instrument of influence on society church has left from their former sovereignty. Nearly every child in Germany receives lessons in Christianity and sometimes, when the social background of a child is secular, the school is the only chance for the church to get in contact with these children. I fear the church will not appreciate to lose their link to the making of the future society, where otherwise religion could play a much smaller part than it does now.

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[1] Deutsche Bischofskonferenz - 29.06.2006 - URL: /katholische_kirche/deutschland/bildung/religionsunterricht/index.html

[2]„In hoilistic education the teaching of religion is crucial. Christians live in the belief that God created them and that God loves everybody as they are. Religious education hopes to encourage this belief and strengthen the pupils self-confidence. […] In class the Christian message is combined with the experiences and questions of the pupils. The children and teenagers experience the Christian religion as a way to organize their life and to learn to take responsibility for themselves and others.”(Translation by the author)

Portal für den katholischen Religionsunterricht – 18.05.2008 – URL: www.rpp-katholisch.de