Does faith receive the necessary attention this school year?

Belief and religion in general are increasingly under pressure in our secular society. Faith is a private matter, an individual matter, it is argued. I can agree with that, although I think faith also has value for society. In any case, I do think that faith deserves a place in our education.

In our basic education from primary to secondary school, we all receive subjects in which we do not specialize later, but which do give us a general education and let us taste what we might find interesting. Some find history boring, others can't get enough of it. The same applies to music, mathematics, sciences, economics... But when it comes to faith, many voices unanimously say that faith has no place in school.

Why actually? Especially in light of a basic education that should provide an overview of the world and let us taste what all exists, there would be no further argument needed to give faith a place during the school year. Even for those who primarily look at the darker sides of religion, it should be clear that it can do no harm to give children the basics of this. Atomic bombs also exist thanks to physics; no one cancels that subject because of this sub-aspect.

Faith is currently being put in a bad light because there are fanatics who misuse the name of their god for purposes that have little to do with faith. We will not eradicate this dark aspect of religion by silencing it. On the contrary, we as a society would be stronger if more people saw faith as something that can bring out the best in us.

Parents increasingly believe they can restrict their children's freedom by making choices for them. You hear that children have the freedom to choose their faith when they are old enough. But how can they choose something they don't know? Or do you want them to make choices as a teenager when they are often busy with the meaning of life based on knowledge they gather on the internet? Do you also leave your children's sexual education to today's youporn's?

Nevertheless, it is the task of education to instill values in children. Is it then so wrong to ensure they at least receive a basic understanding of faith? Perhaps the discussion should rather be about, in addition to the choice of being taught one specific religion, creating a general subject 'religion' that illuminates all world religions so that growing children can make an informed choice. A subject that tells about Christ, Yahweh, Buddha, Allah and all other gods who belong in that list.

Many people, however, complain about faith because they feel overwhelmed by people who visibly embrace their faith in their lives. To name it: Islam. People fight against this feeling because they do not know this religion. In response, one no longer even knows the faith that is traditionally strong in our culture. It is nowadays already news when two mothers state that it is a pity that even confirmands no longer attend confirmation catechesis to learn more about their faith which they visibly, for various reasons, seem to choose.

For all these reasons, it is more necessary than ever that faith deserves a place in our schools. It is therefore my sincere prayer that faith will never be removed from the learning objectives.