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Education and Religion inTimes of Secularization:Problems and Possibilitieswithin the German SituationHenning Schluss aa Humboldt University Berlin , Berlin, GermanyPublished online: 21 Feb 2009.

To cite this article: Henning Schluss (2009) Education and Religion in Times ofSecularization: Problems and Possibilities within the German Situation , ReligiousEducation: The official journal of the Religious Education Association, 104:1, 64-83,DOI: 10.1080/00344080802615507

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EDUCATION AND RELIGION IN TIMES OFSECULARIZATION: PROBLEMS AND POSSIBILITIES

WITHIN THE GERMAN SITUATION1

Henning SchlussHumboldt University Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Abstract

In the current climate of increasing alienation from religion, tra-ditional concepts no longer suffice to explain the relation betweeneducation and religion. Thus, Religious Education needs to take onthe task of reconceiving of this relation. This article looks specifi-cally at Religious Education in Germany. The term religious literacy,which is understood here as religious competency, is of particularimportance. Competency in religion, just as in other subjects ofstudy, is determined by one’s knowledge and experience. This arti-cle begins by explicating the necessity of Religious Education usingan example. The final two sections look at the notion of religiouscompetency by examining the meaning of religious knowledge andreligious experience.

The title “Education and Religion” suggests that there is a relationof some kind between education and religion. However, the questionas to whether or not there is a necessary relation between educationand religion is currently a topic of enormous debate in Germany.This inquiry asks: Is Religious Education necessarily a part of generaleducation?

In order to begin to answer this question, and to explain thecurrent discourse in Germany on Religious Education, I refer to ascene from the successful German documentary film Last to Knowby Marc Bauder and Dorte Franke.2 This film can be considered adocumentary version of the Oscar-winning film The Lives of Others.The documentary Last to Know is about the lives of three victims, who

1This paper was delivered at the 8th International Student Week in Ilmenau(ISWI) 2007 at Ilmenau University of Technology, June 4, 2007. Special thanks toAndrea English for her support in Translation from the German.

2This film premiered at the Berlinale, an international film festival in Berlin,Germany. The original German title is Jeder schweigt von etwas anderem, whichliterally means: “Everybody is silent, just about different things.” This movie wasrecently released on DVD (see www.bauderfilm.de).Religious Education Copyright C© The Religious Education AssociationVol. 104 No. 1 Jnauary–February ISSN: 0034–4087 print

DOI: 10.1080/00344080802615507

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HENNING SCHLUSS 65

were taken prisoner by the GDR-Regime of East Germany and werethen later redeemed from prison by the West German government.The film illustrates how the victims’ families failed to communicateabout the victims’ tragic experiences.

The story of one of these victims is particularly relevant for mydiscussion, because it shows that it is not possible to understand as-pects of this documentary, or more specifically, aspects of the recentGerman history it illustrates, without religious knowledge. The vic-tim’s name is Matthias Storck and he was studying theology whenhe was arrested, and is active today as a priest in Westphalia. In thedocumentary, Storck reminisces about his experience in prison asfollows:

Every time I hang my robe here I read that it holds a lot of experiences, morethan other clothes of this kind. Because my father’s name is stitched intoit. It contains conciliation, father–son, everything merges into those initials.And this wonderful story, in the prison in Kissingstrasse. I was brought intoa small room, there were two minders and the interrogator sat at the deskwhich stood there like a “T.” There were two chairs facing each other atthe long side of the “T.” I sat down on one of those chairs and then thedoor opened and my father came in. It was the first time for months thatI met someone who was not my minder. Anyway, when the conversationwas coming to its end and I asked for the Lord’s Supper my father tookone slice of cake and spoke the introducing words for the Lord’s Supper:“This is my body which is given for you.” Then he took the cup of coffeeand said: “my blood, shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.” I thoughtI would collapse, it was such an impressive moment. Well, then we spokethe Lord’s Prayer and the minders didn’t know what to do, they sat thereand didn’t know whether they also had to clasp their hands or what to do.They were completely helpless in that situation. The interrogator shut upas an act of courtesy and probably because he understood that he couldnot do anything about it. Then my father left and I was brought to mycell. Well, I lived off this story for a long time without feeling hungry orthirsty.3

The question remains: How can this account provide insight intodiscussion about the need for Religious Education? In order to answerthis question, it is necessary to differentiate between knowledge andexperience, a difference repeatedly discussed in religious pedagogyand educational policy. Although it is not disputed that schools arerequired to impart knowledge to pupils, there remains an open debateas to whether that is all that schools are required to do.

3Scene. Min: 00:32:26–00:35:15, also see Storck (1997).

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66 EDUCATION AND RELIGION IN TIMES OF SECULARIZATION

ON THE MEANING OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE CONTEXTOF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

If educators can agree that imparting knowledge is somehow partof the educational duty, then I contend that part of the knowledgethat needs to be imparted is religious knowledge. Again, looking atStorck’s account, it can be argued that it cannot be adequately under-stood without religious knowledge. For example, if the viewer doesnot know what the Lord’s Supper is, and thereby does not know thatit is not a normal meal, but a ritual act not celebrated with coffee andcake, rather with bread and wine, then the viewer lacks the fundamen-tal knowledge to grasp this situation. In other words, the differencebetween the original and the copy is only visible when one knowsboth. The knowledge of the original, that is, knowledge of the storyof The Lord’s Supper, is what makes Storck’s account so meaningful.The situation is similar to the game of “find the differences” in twopictures: If you do not see the first picture, you have no reference tofind any differences in the second picture as seen in Figure 1.

In order to understand the scene of Storck in the prison, it isinsufficient to simply have knowledge of a fictional prison scene fromtelevision, or of a real prison from one’s own experience, or even ofthe criminal justice system. Generally, it can be argued that a lackof knowledge in one area cannot be compensated by knowledge inanother area. This idea is in line with Wilhelm von Humboldt’s notionof education, which he described as “the highest and most harmoniousdevelopment of one’s powers to a complete and consistent whole”(Humboldt 1792, 106). To this I would like to add that “a completeand consistent whole” must include religion.

On the Danger of Education without Religion

Michael Meyer-Blanck (2003) agrees with Humboldt’s educa-tional notion and adds that “education without religion is incompleteand religion without education is dangerous” (280). This statementhints at the fact that enlightened religions are less likely to developfundamentalist positions than religions that avoid education. Addition-ally, the inverse of Meyer-Blanck’s statement is also true: “Religionwithout education is incomplete and education without religion isdangerous.” But why is a lack of Religious Education dangerous?

Some may argue that Religious Education is only a privilege for thewealthy. They may argue further that Humboldt’s (1792) educational

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FIGURE 1.

ideal of “the highest and most harmonious development of one’s pow-ers” (106) at most guides secondary or university educational insti-tutions, which in Germany are often even named Humboldt HighSchool or Humboldt University. However, they could add, this notionof education has no effect on the everyday life of the average Germanyouth, especially those who grow up in urban areas of Berlin and at-tend schools in impoverished neighborhoods, such as Neukolln in theformer West, or Lichtenberg in the former East.

However, a closer look at life in urban areas of Berlin, or inany metropolis for that matter, shows that youth in these areas needReligious Education in order to manage and even survive everyday life.

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68 EDUCATION AND RELIGION IN TIMES OF SECULARIZATION

In some cases, a lack of Religious Education can be life threateningfor these youth. Even tabloids in Germany raise this issue, when forexample, headlines in the newspaper read, “Ban on headscarves?,”“Murder for Honour,” “Fundamentalism,” “Martyrs.” Clearly, I donot wish to suggest that German tabloids provide evidence for theneed for Religious Education. The obvious objection to such a claimwould be: These headlines have nothing to do with religion. But thereis a point to be made here and that is: For one to know when the mediamakes statements that do not have to do with religion, one must knowwhich statements do have to do with religion. In other words, anyclaims that can be made about what religion is or is not, or about thedifference between religion and fundamentalism, presupposes thatthe person making the claim has some form of religious knowledge.For this reason, there is a need for enlightened Religious Educationto determine which statements and actions can and cannot be justifiedon religious grounds.

Every religion needs to be self-reflexive about what notion ofreligion it supports. This applies not only to Christianity and its needfor reflection on its errors during the Crusades, but also to Islam. Evenchurches plead for Islamic Religious Education in public schools, inorder to dissuade youth from associating Islam with fundamentalistbehavior. A large part of fundamentalism is caused by the lack ofknowledge about religion.

However, it is noteworthy that religions are more likely to supporteducation toward anti-fundamentalism than education toward generalreligious critique. In this manner, religions are often willing to provideintroductory forms of Religious Education that point out the violentmisuse of religion prevalent in fundamentalist concepts. For example,there is a widespread consensus among Muslim scholars that the Koranbans suicide and such scholars support criticism of those who view theKoran as supporting suicide as a way to paradise.

Although it is certainly important for every religion to criticizefundamentalist viewpoints within their own religion, Religious Edu-cation in schools must go beyond education in religion by educatingabout religion. Education in religion would mean that students weretaught to uncritically accept all aspects of a religion and limit critiqueto fundamentalist interpretations of religious subject matter. Educa-tion about religion does not side with a particular religion; rather, ithas the ability to promote a critical perspective or attitude toward allreligious subject matter, including, but not limited to, fundamentalistconcepts. On this account, questions about the origin of the Bible are

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deemed just as valid and permissible as questions about the origin ofthe Koran. All responses, fundamentalist or otherwise, to these typesof critical questions need to be addressed by Religious Education.This is true not only because fundamentalist and non-fundamentalistviewpoints are represented in everyday life outside of school, but alsobecause these viewpoints need to be critically reflected on and broughtinto the pluralistic dialogue about education.

Practicing Communication between Different Religions

The need to practice dialogue between different religions is just asimportant as the need for critical dialogue with one particular religion.German school students learn to communicate about problems ofmathematics or geography, but religious problems are either onlydiscussed within the context of other subjects, or they are not discussedat all. This is partly due to the fact that in Germany, the curriculum,as well as the organization of Religious Education is addressed locallyby the federal states. Thus, Religious Education becomes accessibleto some in certain regions of Germany, but not to others. The latter istrue of the urban area of Berlin called Neukolln.

Therefore, it is of particular importance that Religious Educationdoes not lead to excluding others who do not participate in the samereligion as oneself. Up until now it has been left to those religiousgroups that offer Religious Education to decide whether or not theywill inform pupils about other religions. Even when religious groupsdo provide information about other religions, they rarely support co-operation with members of these other religious groups. Yet, this typeof cooperation is exactly what is needed for the successful coexistencewithin a multi-religious society.

The aim of communication and cooperation among different reli-gions and philosophies cannot be to ensure a harmonious unificationof all religions. Rather, the aim of such cooperation must be under-stood as promoting awareness of and reflection on the similarities anddifferences of the various religions and philosophies. A notion of Re-ligious Education that highlights common unifying factors betweenreligions while attempting to cover up religious differences is just asproblematic as a notion of tolerance that equates tolerance with in-difference toward others’ beliefs. Religious Education neither meanspromoting the attitude of “I don’t care what you believe,” nor does itmean promoting the idea that we all believe the same thing. Rather,

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70 EDUCATION AND RELIGION IN TIMES OF SECULARIZATION

Religious Education consists in recognizing and respecting similaritiesand differences between different religions (cf. Dressler 2006).

Once again it is necessary to refer to Wilhelm von Humboldt’sconcept of education. His idea of education was a response to theneed for understanding and supporting differences in society. In hisaccount pure unity in the world was not attainable because there areso many different perspectives in the world that need to be accountedfor. Therefore, education needed to provide every individual with thepossibility to learn how to deal with and bring together all the differ-ent, and even contradictory, aspects of one’s life, including life in thehome, in school, at work, or in confirmation class. In the same way,Religious Education can and must teach students how to handle re-ligious differences. Such religious differences not only arise betweenreligions, but also within a single religion or philosophy. Discussingsuch differences within a religion, confession, or philosophy is of par-ticular importance for the development of an individual’s religiousidentity: it promotes a heterogeneous experience of religion and pro-vides the individual with the opportunity to position him- or herselfwithin these differences.

Religious Knowledge and the Task of Schools

Although German society appears to be multi-religious, a grow-ing number of Germans—and the majority of people in the formerEast Germany—are not members of a religious group, and are notreligiously active in any manner. Most people born in East Germanydid not even need to resign from a church themselves because theirparents or grandparents had already done so. Religion as an elementof the human being is no longer part of these families (cf. Pollack 1993,1994, 1996). Insofar, neither the families nor the parishes have theability to support the Religious Education and socialization of the nextgeneration: in the family, the parents lack any religious knowledge toimpart; and in the parishes, religious leaders can hardly reach existingmembers, let alone attempt to reach non-members (cf. Rinn 2006).

Yet, looking again at the documentary mentioned earlier, it re-mains arguable that in order to interpret and understand Storck’saccount in the film, and thus to understand a central situation in Ger-man history, the interpreter must have religious knowledge, regardlessof whether he or she considers him- or herself religious.

One could argue, however, that this example is limited, becauseit only speaks to a particular audience of individuals who watch

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HENNING SCHLUSS 71

FIGURE 2. Renault Commercial

documentary films, namely, those of the educated milieu with a lib-eral education which included religion. However, the example fromthis documentary is certainly not the only example of this kind. Thereare many examples from popular culture that demonstrate the needfor religious knowledge and education. One example is from an adcampaign by Renault that ran in the 1990s on German television andin print4 (Figure 2).

The picture plays on images of the Garden of Eden. At the endof the commercial, a nude man and a nude woman with a snakeappeared and the deep voice of a man with a French accent men-tioned something about paradise. Without an understanding of theGarden of Eden, and the function of the snake therein, the viewerwould not be able to adequately understand the implications of thisadvertisement.

Recourse to religious competencies is not only necessary to un-derstand advertisements or small independent films, but also to graspnuanced meaning in international blockbusters. Certainly, the Matrixtrilogy has been used numerous times in the teaching materials ofreligious instruction as an example of a film with religious content.Beyond this, many horror films require a certain level of religiousknowledge in order to be understood. For what reason, the viewermight ask, do the demons in these films become weak when they seea cross, or get splashed with holy water?

4The pictures were provided by Andreas Mertin.

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72 EDUCATION AND RELIGION IN TIMES OF SECULARIZATION

FIGURE 3. From Dusk till Dawn, Robert Rodriguez (D.), 1996

It is precisely the general loss of religiousness in society that makessuch images of religious subject matter that much more apparent. Ifwe can agree that schools need to provide each individual with ageneral education so that they can become responsible members ofour society, schools cannot go without Religious Education in timeswhen more and more people live without a religion.

Thus far, all the examples provided only refer to particular situa-tions in which religious knowledge is necessary for a complete under-standing of a specific situation. I acknowledge that these examples donot suffice for supporting the idea that religion is necessary in orderto understand and interpret all aspects of the world. One could arguewith Schleiermacher, that religion is a particular realm of life, separate

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HENNING SCHLUSS 73

from others, with particular forms of education that make it accessibleto individuals.5

However, it was not my intention to discuss this aspect of religiouslife; rather, I have sought to demonstrate that religious knowledge isconnected to all aspects of human life. This type of religious knowledgemust be provided by schools, because other social institutions can nolonger fulfill this task. Schools must ensure that every individual isgiven a basis of religious knowledge in order that he or she can fullyparticipate in all aspects of society.

Religious Education and Identity

If religious educators take seriously the idea that schools havethe task of providing Religious Education for all individuals, thenthey must also take seriously the idea that it is the responsibility ofeach individual to develop their religious identity, just as they developother aspects of their identity. Schleiermacher’s aforementioned be-liefs about religion do demonstrate that even in his time, religion wasseen to be something very personal. In modern democratic society, incontrast to pre-modern feudalistic societies, a child’s future professionor social class is not determined by birth. This feature of modern soci-ety must also apply to the religious identity of the child. Interestingly,the Protestant Church of Germany agrees with this idea explicitly.6

In the time of Lessing, it was a revolutionary idea to think thatone could make choices on his or her own about his or her religion.In Lessing’s work, “Nathan the Wise,” the sultan approached Nathanwith something that was given to only a few people, namely the chanceto decide about his and her own religion: “A man like you will hardlystay where the accident of birth threw him. Or, if he does, he staysfor reasons, choosing what’s better with insight” (Lessing 1778/1979,81).7 If we apply this statement to modern democratic society, it canbe understood to apply universally to every individual. Thus, religiouseducators must understand that the religious identity of a child is

5On this point see, for example, Schleiermacher’s third speech on religion in“Uber die Bildung zur Religion” (1799/1983), or paragraphs 3 and 4 of Schleierma-cher’s “Glaubenslehre” (1830/1960).

6In their writings on “Identity and Understanding,” the Protestant Church ofGermany advocated such an understanding of identity (see EKD 1994).

7This remark by the sultan in the story is meant to deceive Nathan by sealing hisfate; however, it is not my intention to discuss this nuanced meaning here, but ratherto highlight the insight of the statement and show how it applies in contemporarysociety.

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to be determined just as his or her profession: it should neither bedetermined by his or her teacher, nor determined by his or her parents;rather, it can be determined only by the individual.

ON THE MEANING OF EXPERIENCE FOR RELIGIOUSEDUCATION

In the current German climate, it is difficult to pursue a notion ofthe religious identity of the learner as something that is open and intransformation. In Germany at present, religious instruction is dividedaccording to religious denomination. However, educators have thetask of developing forms of instruction that support the individuals’ability to consider the world from various perspectives, and this istrue for religious instruction as well. Religious instruction must beopen such that students can learn to consider various religions fromvarying perspectives.8 But what would such an open form of religiousinstruction entail?

Generally speaking, there are two opposing positions when itcomes to the question of what religious instruction involves: eitherit refers to education in religion, that is, a form of instruction thatitself is religious in nature; or, it refers to education about religion,that is, a form of instruction that provides information about religionswithout advocating one in particular.

The difference between these two positions can be clarified bylooking first at two other school subjects. Advocates of the first po-sition understand religious instruction just as one might understandlanguage instruction. A language is not learned simply by understand-ing grammar or the history of the language, but in its use. For this rea-son, in language classes, teachers require students to practice reading,writing, and speaking the language. Advocates of the second positionargue that religious instruction is more akin to how sex education istaught in schools. Here, sexuality and the body are examined in aneducational manner, but the practice of using the body in a sexual wayis of course not part of instruction and learning.

The question remains: Should Religious Education in schools beunderstood in the way we understand language, as something thatshould be practiced, or in the way we understand sex education, assomething that should be informed about independent of practice?

8On this point see also Schluß and Gotz-Guerlin (2006).

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TABLE 1. Berlin Model of Religions Literacy

Religious competenceReligious competence of

interpretationReligious competence of

participationReference religionOther religionsExtra-religious areas

Experiences are not the Aim of School Instruction

There are many ways to approach the topic of the aim of schoolsin general. However, when we ask about the aim of instruction, theanswer usually involves reference to gaining competencies and skills.In contemporary society, in which there are so many possible aimsand outcomes of learning, it does make sense to define certain neces-sary skills and competencies. The Program for International StudentAssessment (PISA) has described what it means to be competent incertain school subjects such as language or maths (cf. OECD 2001). Icontend that it is also possible and necessary to describe what is meantby religious competency.

In a research project funded by the German Research Society(DFG), we came together to describe and empirically survey religiouscompetencies. Two basic principles of this study are described inTable 1.9

The level of religious competence was determined in three areas:competence in the reference religion or denomination of the school,competence in other religions, and competence in assessing religiousaspects of extra-religious subject matter.10 Religious competence inthese three areas requires two interrelated forms of competence: com-petence of interpretation and competence of participation.

Competence of interpretation refers to the ability to adequatelyinterpret an object set within a religious context. The individual inter-preter is thereby not only able to differentiate religious subject matterfrom subject matter related to other contexts of human practice, such

9Cf. Benner and colleagues (2007) and Nikolova and colleagues (2007).10Instead of using the term “own religion” we use the term “reference religion,”

because one cannot assume that the reference religion of the school is always thesame as the student’s own religion. It is noteworthy that, since 1974, students whoattend a Protestant Religious Education class do not have to be members of thatreligion according to a decision made by the Protestant Church council on ReligiousEducation (EKD 1994, 66).

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TABLE 2. Berlin Model of Religions Literacy

Religious competence ofinterpretation Religious competence of participation

Experiences with religiousphenomena

Experiences in participation

Knowledge in Religious EducationReflection on and forming a position on

Hermeneutic skills opportunities of religious participation

as political or economic contexts, but is also able to find connectionsbetween these various contexts. Competence of participation refersto the ability to have experiences with religious subject matter and toexpand on these experiences using knowledge gained in school. Addi-tionally, competence of participation implies the ability to understandand reflectively form an opinion about these experiences. Beyond this,participation also means that one is able to contribute to public dis-course on religious issues and religious experiences with regard to thereference religion, other religions, or extra-religious areas of society.

This two-pronged definition of religious competence seeks to pre-vent simplified understandings of religious competence. A simpli-fied notion measures religious competence according to the extent towhich the student has adopted the reference religion as one’s own.On this account, religious instruction is simply a form of evangelizingadolescents.11

Both types of competencies are interrelated as shown in Table 2.This interrelation can be described according to the model of ahermeneutic circle.

Accordingly, one’s interpretation of religious phenomena informshis or her ability to participate in experiences of a religious nature.In an equal manner, one’s participation in and experience with re-ligion informs his or her ability to perceive and interpret religiousphenomena.

The term “competence” not only refers to having knowledge, butalso to skills. Of course, to have skills in any given field implies that onealso has acquired knowledge in that field. In addition to this, to have

11In 1971, the Protestant Church in Germany clearly stated that denominationalReligious Education is to be performed according to Article 4 of the basic law ofthe German Constitution, which constitutes freedom of religion. It has to ensurethat every individual maintains the right to exercise this basic law. Accordingly, theyshould be able to freely and independently choose their religious orientation (EKD1994, 11 et seq.).

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skill implies the ability to apply knowledge. Skill implies the ability toapply a method of interpretation, to problem-solve when encounteringan unknown or unexpected situation, and to discover new problemsand formulate potential solutions. To acquire such skill not only pre-supposes a certain amount of knowledge, it also pre-supposes a certainlevel of experience with the subject matter; in our case, with religioussubject matter.

A complete notion of religious competence must include the ideaof having knowledge and skill not only in the reference religion, butalso in other denominations and religions. Certainly for an individualto gain an understanding of other religions they may need to workinitially from the perspective of the reference religion. To be com-petent in religion requires that the students learn to change theirperspective from one religion or denomination to another and to re-flect on their point of reference (cf. e.g., Nipkow 2005, 267–268).For this reason, it is essential that forms of religious instruction thatare based in a particular reference religion discuss sources, refer-ences, and rituals from other denominations and religions, and offercontact and communication with members of these other religiousgroups.

However, religious competence does not just mean the ability todiscuss other religions besides one’s own. It also refers to a certaintype of competence in understanding religious aspects of those areasof culture and society that are not otherwise deemed religious. Be-cause society is made of various realms of action that interconnectand influence one another, it is not possible to entirely separate theserealms into categories and assume areas such as economics, politics,or art operate independent of one another. Each realm of societyinfluences the others, and thus religious aspects can be found to in-fluence the many realms of secular society. These religious aspectscan be found in everyday situations, in public discourse, in symbols,signs, or texts, just as I illustrated earlier. It is the task of ReligiousEducation to point out, discuss, and reflect on underlying religiouscontent that permeates society. When students are capable of inter-preting, discussing, and taking a position on such religious content,they have acquired religious competence in the extra-religious areas ofsociety.12

12The concept of competence for Religious Education does not consider allaspects of religion, but only that which can be measured and assessed according tothe concept.

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78 EDUCATION AND RELIGION IN TIMES OF SECULARIZATION

Experience as the Pre-Requisite for School Instruction

The idea of experience as a pre-requisite for school instructioncan be more clearly explained with recourse to the earlier comparisonbetween religious instruction and sex education. Instruction in sexu-ality pre-supposes that the learner knows her or his own body and hashad certain experiences living as a physical being. Instruction expandson the knowledge that each learner has of his or her own body, in or-der that the learner can understand other experiences with the bodythat they have not necessarily had. For example, the learner needsto be able to understand what it means to become pregnant, withouthaving to become pregnant herself. In this example, it is not the goalof instruction that the students have the experiences about which theyare learning. In Religious Education, the same is true. All religiousexperiences cannot be had and tested. However, school instructionin religion must be able to expand on the learner’s experiences sothat he or she is able to think reflectively about religious subjectmatter.

The efficacy of religious instruction lies in its ability to expand onthe learner’s experiences of social interaction with others, in particularwith those different than themselves. For example, if a Christian stu-dent in a Religious Education class is required by his teacher to speakwith a Muslim classmate about religious life in the Diaspora, he needsmore than simply dates and facts about the history of Islam in order totruly understand the other student. For the student to understand thesituation of his Muslim classmate, religious instruction must draw onhis feeling of empathy for the situation of minorities, for foreignness,for difference, or for what it means to feel at home with religion. Onthe other hand, in order to understand each other, they must also beclear about their own positions and beliefs. Thus, religious instructionmust encourage students to develop, reflect on, and articulate theirown opinions about religious topics.

Religious competence cannot be gained without certain types ofreligious experiences, just as foreign language competence cannot begained without ever having the experience of speaking that language.However, whereas religious instruction that merely informs individ-uals about religions is insufficient, religious instruction that attemptsto convert individuals into a particular faith goes too far. In contrastto these two positions, religious competence means having the abilityto reflect on religious experiences in order to be able to responsiblyexercise the legal right to freedom of religion.

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HENNING SCHLUSS 79

Experience with Religion, or the Lack Thereof

The notion that experience with religion is lacking in Germanyhardly needs justification. Although it is true that most Germans inthe West still consider themselves members of a church, this is nottrue of Germans from former East Germany. There are also other re-gional differences in piety between North and South and betweenthose who live in the city and those in the country. Even at de-nominational schools, which are open to all students, it is not onlynon-religious students who go to school without having said graceafter breakfast or without having visited children’s service on Sun-days (cf. Domsgen 2005). However, in the region of Saxony, an areathat is relatively pious compared to other parts of the former EastGermany, only 20 percent of all pupils attend religion class and 50percent of all students who attend protestant religious instructioncome from non-denominational homes (compare Nipkow 2000, 284).For supporters of religious instruction, these numbers mark a suc-cess and show that religious instruction can be taken seriously evenin areas of the country that are not considered to have a religiouspopulation. Despite this, it remains difficult for religious instructionin schools to expand on the religious experiences of the learners whenthe learners do not come from a religious background. For this rea-son, it is of the utmost importance that Religious Education pro-vide opportunities for learners to grow and learn through religiousexperiences.

On the Task of Providing Educational Opportunitiesfor Religious Growth

If reflection on religious experiences is to be part of ReligiousEducation, then adolescents have to be given the opportunity to havesuch experiences that they can think about and understand. For exam-ple, Religious Education classes could include visiting a synagogue, amosque, or a Buddhist temple, taking part in a prayer, reading a psalm,or visiting a mission (cf. Dressler 2003). The meaning of experienceas I refer to it here has both an active and a passive side. John Deweyexplains this notion of experience as follows: “On the active hand,experience is trying [. . . ]. On the passive, it is undergoing” (Dewey1916/1985, 146).

There are many experiences that can be considered religious ex-periences. However, in the context of general Religious Education,

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80 EDUCATION AND RELIGION IN TIMES OF SECULARIZATION

the goal of creating opportunities for religious experiences is not toconvert the youth to a particular religion. For students to have ed-ucational religious experiences means that they come into contactwith and explore religious topics, subject matter, and practices thatare not necessarily part of their everyday life. In this way, religiousexperiences involve things that the student is as yet unfamiliar with,so that the student can experience Difference and Otherness. Suchencounters with unfamiliarity and difference can serve to initiate thestudent to question his or her own previous understanding of theworld around him or her and become open to ideas and new waysof interacting with others. For example, Religious Education classescould include a small project, in which students are given the op-portunity to do charity work in the community. This type of projectcan be educational, because it can help students understand the valueof life and the meaning of helping others. In the classroom context,religious instruction can include working with the Bible and otherreligious literature to help students understand religious subject mat-ter and have access to new realms of experience that move beyondmodern everyday life. In this way, learners experience the contin-gency of life in such a way that can have meaning for them in otheraspects of their life.13 Each of the experiences provided by ReligiousEducation can impact a child’s life for the rest of his or her life, be-cause they can bring a new dimension to the way he or she views theworld.

At this point, challengers of this position could ask, if religion isalready part of many aspects of society, then why do we need Reli-gious Education? The problem with this challenge is that the variousrealms of life cannot be experienced in a religious way, if the individ-ual does not have a basis in religious experience. In other words, ifyoung persons do not know how to recognize religious aspects of theireveryday life experiences, they cannot learn how to interpret theseexperiences from a religious standpoint. Because modern society isincreasingly secular, most pupils will not have had religious experi-ences, such as Sunday school, confirmation, or a Bar Mitzvah, outsideof school when they enter the classroom. Religious Education can andmust provide individuals with a basis in religious experience withoutinducting them into a particular religion. To do this, educators must

13At this point I would like to thank Hans Hermann Wilke and Marcus Gotz-Guerlin for a wonderful discussion about the term “experience” over a hot chocolate.

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HENNING SCHLUSS 81

create learning opportunities through “pedagogically created oppor-tunities for experience.”14

It is necessary to address two potential misunderstandings thatcould arise about the notion of Religious Education advocated here.First, the idea of “creating opportunities for experience” does notmean that having religious experiences is the goals of Religious Ed-ucation. Religious experiences are instead to be conceived of as thematerial and means by which learners gain access to religious concepts.Accordingly, religious experiences that are situated in the context ofinstruction are pre-requisites for the learner to understand religionand its role in society; however, they are not something that can betested in the way learning mathematics can be tested. It would beincomprehensible for religious instructors to say to students, “your ex-perience was right and yours was wrong.” The learner’s experiences inReligious Education are subjective. Each learner may have a differentexperience during his or her visit to a Synagogue and may thereforederive different meanings of this experience for his or her life. Itis thus not the responsibility of the educator to prescribe how thelearner experiences religion. Rather, it is the educator’s responsibilityto provide the student with the opportunity to experience somethingto which he or she may not have otherwise had access. Whether ornot the student decides to fully utilize this opportunity, and in whatway, is entirely up to her or him.

Another misunderstanding would be to interpret “pedagogicallycreated opportunities for experience” in such a way that would re-quire religious educators to simulate religiousness in order to give thestudents access to religious beliefs. The term “pedagogically created”does not refer to artificially creating religiousness; rather, it refersto the creation of educational opportunities for contact with livedreligiousness. Teachers cannot, nor should they try to, represent allthe different forms of belief—today pietistic, tomorrow educationalsceptic, the next day meditative. Rather, to create opportunities forreligious experiences means to give students contact with authenticpractices and beliefs of the various faiths. This could mean, for ex-ample, that children who normally would not attend a St. Martin’sprocession would be required to attend as part of a school project.In this manner, Religious Education and religious educators will have

14By using the term “pedagogically created opportunities for experience” I amborrowing and advancing from the German concept “padagogisch arrangierte Er-fahrungen” developed by Dietrich Benner (2004; see also Bellmann 2006).

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to confront the fact that communication and experiences with otherfaiths can and probably will initiate debate among students aboutthe different religions. Such debate and discussion enriches ReligiousEducation and instruction and adds to the students’ experiences. Re-ligious educators have the responsibility to respect their students aspeople and show this next generation—like Hannah Arendt once putit—a piece of the world and a piece of faith.

Religious competence and Religious Education involve more thanknowledge about religions. Looking back at the documentary withwhich I began this inquiry, we can see that Storck’s account is emo-tionally touching and gripping. Someone who cannot understand thisscene and therefore does not sense its emotional quality lacks a certainpart of education. Although it is true that educators cannot producethis emotional feeling, neither in themselves, nor in others, they can,however, open up doors to new experiences, which create the foun-dation for sympathy and empathy. These doors can and should beopened as a vital part of school education.

Henning Schluss teaches in the philosophy of education section ofthe Department of Education at Humboldt University Berlin. E-mail:henning.schluss@rz.hu-berlin.de

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