宗教與教育的關係

Religion and Its Implications for Education

歐陽教(Oscar Jiaw Ouyang)

《教育研究集刊》 34期 (1992/06) Pp. 33-42

https://doi.org/10.6910/BER.199206_(34).0002

並列摘要

This paper, originally texts both in Chinese and Japanese, as a keynote speech, was presented at the 18th Sino-Japanese Teachers Symposium in Tokyo in May 1992. The purpose of this paper is tried to interprete the positive and negative meanings of religious beliefs and their applicability and practicability in education. There are roughly five sections in this paper. First, inquiring into religion in life. This paper tries to define clearly the concept of religion and religious faith in general; moreover, it also clarifies the positive and negative functions of a religious faith or belief in a personal or socio-cultural life. Secondly, investigating the relations between religion and reason as well as education. This paper critically expounds the relation, to paraphrase Locke's argument, between faith and reason, namely, faith according to reason, faith contrary to reason, and faith above reason. Furthermore, a favourable belief, it is argued, in a sound religion should be reasonable and practicable in daily life, otherwise, it is unreasonable and impracticable, therefore, miseducative. Thirdly, probing into ideological critique of religious education. Roughly speaking, there are four kinds of ideologies concerning religious schooling, i.e. fundamentalism, liberalism, liberationism and nihilism. Religious fundamentalists definitely affirm the absolute necessity and positive function of religious education as a course in schools; conversely, religious nihilists absolutely deny and reject any positive meaning of RE in schools; and the in-betweens, religious liberalists and liberationists, advocate a positive and a negative value-neutrality of RE In schools, respectively. Finally, pro pounding a cosmic harmony between the Heaven (the nature and supernature) and the Man. In concluding remarks, this paper strongly maintains that love and peace rather than hate and war among all peoples and nations should be the mundane ideal and actions for believers and non-believers. It is I think a faithful and meaningful common worship for any religions and secular schooling, especially for a universalizable religious education, if any.