The Sunday Mail
Takudzwa Mazwienduna —
This is in response to the article published in The Sunday Mail Religion on December 25, 2016 entitled, “Dealing with (religious) extremism”.
The education system in Zimbabwe has been making efforts to make religious education in schools inclusive to accommodate more religions and remove traces of proselytisation the syllabus might have had.
Schools, especially public schools, are not supposed to be spaces for proselytisation by any one religion. The Zimbabwean constitution explicitly states that Zimbabwe is a secular country (section 1), based on a common humanity as in recognition of the inherent dignity and worth of all human beings (sections 3 (f), 48 and 51), inalienable human rights and freedoms (sections 3 (c) and 49) and the recognition of the equality of all human beings (sections 3 (f) and 56).
There is a constitutional guarantee of the freedom of thought and conscience (section 60). So when we promote religious proselytisation in public schools, we will be violating the above concerns raised by the constitution.
Religious education is the study of religion and is a multi-disciplinary academic field devoted to research into religious institutions, their behaviours and beliefs. Religious education is not to be confused with proselytising done in religious organisations.
The writer of the aforementioned article acknowledged the change in the education system’s approach to the issue of educating students about religion in schools.
His or her personal religious convictions however caused him or her to present the progressive transformation as a danger to the Christian faith.
The writer warned against the danger of a multi-faith religious education system leading to “extremism.”
Now the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines extremism to be the state of being extreme or radical…the absoluteness of one’s convictions.
Using religious studies in school as a tool to proselytise on one particular religion leads to extremism; not the other way round as the writer had proposed.
The totalitarian approach of making religious studies exclusive to one religion leads to extremist religious fundamentalists and defies the whole purpose for religious education.
According to Section 1.2 of the Family and Religious Studies (FRS), religious education is not for the purpose of proselytizing, but to educate.
A classroom is not a chapel but a space to acquire unlimited and uncensored information about a subject regardless of one’s religion or lack thereof. The syllabus on religious education should be neutral, unbiased and honest in its subject matter.
Learning about other religions does not make learners extremists, but open-minded and informed instead.
The fact of the “family appearing in religious studies is a novelty in Zimbabwe but consistent with modernity. This goes a long way in cultivating religious tolerance in a culturally diverse society.
The most unfounded part of the article was the core reason the writer gave on why Christianity should be exclusively promoted in the education system, to be cautious against Satanist and Atheist teachings:
“Who will be able to stop Satanism teachings and their philosophies in schools and how? Who will be able to stop extremism and Atheism in schools and how? Who will stop the recruitment of child soldiers in the name of religion and how?”
Putting those terms in the same rhetoric proves the writer does not have any idea what he or she is talking about and calling the lack of religion extreme is being extreme on his or her part. Satanism is a myth and the character of Satan exists in the Abrahamic religions and nowhere else. It is an unfounded fear not supported by evidence.
Every religion has humanistic attributes and religious studies do not teach fundamentalism as it applies a rationalist approach and so the child soldier scare is irrelevant.
Atheism is the lack of belief in a god although the term usually refers to the non-religious community.
Some religions like Buddhism, Taoism, Secular Judaism and a new trend of secular Catholicism (especially in countries like Canada) are actually atheistic religions.
The article demonises all these religions and expects the education system to be based on such unfounded prejudice.
Nevertheless, there are only four religions common in Zimbabwe that are going to be included which are Christianity, Islam, Judaism and the African Traditional Religion (FRS Section 1.3), I doubt there will be room for Satanic scares as the writer imagines.
Last but not least, child religious indoctrination should not be promoted by a secular country’s education system.
Children are too young to make decisions on where they stand in terms of religion just as they cannot make educated decisions on which political ideology or party they wish to follow.
Matters of religion should be discussed at home and at church, not in the public education system.
Rather than the divine authoritative command that characterise religious sermons, the education system should promote critical and independent thinking even on the subject of religion.
This will go a long way in promoting a progressive education system that is free of dogmatic convictions but honest and free inquiry.
Religious education is not about being religious or not, but a social recognition that religion is an academic discipline and should be treated as such.
To form, reflect and encourage religious affinity and affiliation should be left to the family and religious organisations to decide, it’s not the role of the national education system.
The classroom is a space for teachers and not preachers. It is a space where learners are met with the realities that our society is characterised by and opinions formed.
Our constitution protects every demographic in the free country and public systems should reflect this democratic triumph.
The progress going on in the education sector sure will go a long way in fostering a progressive society.
A culture of religious tolerance and inclusivity starts in the classroom and through informed perspectives and our young brothers and sisters in school will realise that we all have a common humanity — unhu/ubuntu, despite our religious backgrounds.
The writer is a Development Studies graduate from Midlands State University . He writes in his capacity as a Zimbabwean.
