| dc.description.abstract | Following my two-month research as an international Ugandan
researcher in Sweden, I present an argument that the introduction
of a non-confessional Religious Education in Sweden in 1919 and
an objective and neutral education since 1962 had a key intention
of de-linking teaching of religion from religious foundation bodies,
in particular, the dominant Church of Sweden (Lutheran) and
rendering it educational instead of confessional. In this paper, I will
argue that, despite the subsequent birth of a secular Swedish society
and the onset of a multicultural society, there was - and there
continues to be a justification for the teaching of religion in schools.
In my interview with two experts on Religious Education from the
National Agency of Education, two teachers of Religious Education
and eight students, they all responded positively to the question of
the continued teaching of religion in secular Swedish society.
However, in the paper, I will argue that there was or there is an
inability of the curriculum and the teachers in some respects to do
justice to the integrity of different religions. Based on earlier
research and interviews, I’ll argue that despite the good intentions
of having a neutral and objective multi-faith Religious Education
(RE) curriculum in place, some text-books and teachers’
approaches raise questions on fairness to all religions. In particular, the interviews indicate that there are signs of “Immigrophobia”
among some students, teachers and sections of the community.
Notwithstanding, I will argue that since the findings reveal an
overwhelming support for multi-faith RE by a secular population
and being mindful of the increased multi-cultural society and signs
of Immigrophobia6
, it is imperative that a careful choice of text books, especially on religions, other than Christianity, is done and
special attention given to RE teachers to address the concept of
fairness to all religions | en_US |
