Critical Religious Education, Multiculturalism and the Pursuit of Truth

Traditionally, religious education has been seen as the process through which a religious community or nation-state transmits core beliefs and values to its children. Across Europe and America, this has largely involved the transmission of Christianity-with the emergence of multicultural societies, however, religious education has been transformed into a process through which children learn about different religious traditions that coexist alongside their own. However, critics of this new liberal religious education feel such an approach leads to questions of ultimate truth at the core of religious belief being ignored in an effort to nurture values of freedom and tolerance. Critical Religious Education explores the possibility of reintroducing questions of religious truth and truthful living into a pluralistic society and classroom.