KEY POINTS:
Brian Rudman's flight of fancy "Suffer Little Children", concerning religious teaching (or not) in schools, suggests he does not understand either religious studies or teaching methods in primary school.
He assumes that religions consist only of theological doctrines. A religion is not just a set of beliefs. It is lived by people and is intertwined with the culture of the person who practises it.
Even the adherents of a religion seldom study the beliefs of their faith in any systematic way. Rather, the beliefs are expressed in the life of an individual or a faith community through the phenomena of religion such as festivals, places of worship, scriptures and other sacred writings, pilgrimage and rites of passage - birth, initiation, marriage and death.
The expression "teaching about religions" can be misleading. It is more helpful to speak about children "learning about religions", and this can start in their first year at school.
It will, of course, be incidental at this stage, and will arise from the children's own background and experience. It may be sparked off by a child's response to a story or by a contribution to "news time".
Among the experiences which young children want to share with their teacher may be Easter eggs and Christmas presents and perhaps a family christening or wedding.
In a multi-faith class - in these days in the majority of schools - the things the children want to share with their teacher will come from more than one religion.
Religious studies, like every other area of the curriculum, has to be structured so that students' understanding is gradually built up. There is plenty of experience in this area in countries which have included religious studies in their schools.
In Britain religious education included religions in school syllabuses from the 1970s, and the Ministry of Education requires schools to include the study of the faith traditions represented in the country.
My personal experience of teaching religious studies at tertiary level in Britain and helping teachers in initial and in-service training to teach the subject in primary and secondary schools, convinced me that the fears sometimes expressed are unfounded.
Where it was properly taught, students took to it with enthusiasm. It also laid a foundation for understanding the faiths of others, without which it is impossible to make sense of many situations in the world.
For example, many in the Western world could not understand why Muslims were so offended by the Danish cartoons of Muhammad. They assumed that they were on the same level as graffiti on the walls of mosques.
Instead, the representation of any living being, and particularly of Muhammad, is one of the most profound commands of Islam, linked with the central belief that God alone is to be worshipped.
Rudman comments that it is the parents who need inter-faith dialogue. He is right.
There is an increasing interest among adults in learning about world religions.
For instance, there are study groups, there are Inter-faith Councils in the main cities and conferences on the subject are well attended. The people who are involved in those situations are likely to support the inclusion of religious studies in schools.
* Jean Holm was formerly head of religious studies at Homerton College, Cambridge University, and has written extensively on the subject.
