Evil in Religious Education lessons

New school book raises the oldest question of all

At every level in the Danish comprehensive schools (6 to 16 years old) children have lessons in Religious Education (RE) in order “to understand the importance of the religious dimension for the individual’s view of life and for his/her relationship to others… and to provide the basis for pupils to take personal choices and responsibilities in a democratic society." So says the state’s legislation. The central subjects are:

 

1. Christianity in its historical and its present context, including the biblical stories and their importance for the fundamental values of our culture group

2. Non-Christian religions and philosophies of life

 

In 7th grade (around age 13) classes work with their local pastors and in April/May of the academic year 70% of them are confirmed in the Danish Lutheran Church.
 
There is a wide range of materials available to schoolteachers and pastors alike. Among the new books for older pupils is one that tackles the subject of evil. Its author, Preben Medom Hansen, has a Masters degree in Education and has noted how many of his pupils have chosen to study Satanism as a special topic. His book encourages them to reflect on the subject in relation to the Sermon on the Mount and the Book of Job. It is difficult to translate its Danish title – the closest would be something like Bloody Hell!: Biblical Stories and Evil.

 

“What fascinates pupils,” says Preben Medom Hansen, “is the nature and origin of the violence and aggression that they see on TV, or perhaps experience as happy-slapping in the playground. And they also ask, ‘We are supposed to be good, so why does Cain murder Abel?’ Or, ‘Where was God in the Haiti earthquake?’  One of the strengths of RE is that it trains youngsters’ skills in interpretation and in facing up to existential questions. We can at least give them the tools with which to navigate in areas where there is no logical explanation – where we attribute evil to demon possession, or to psychological causes, or to the Christian idea that we are all tempted and fall.”

 

In her review of the book for the teaching profession’s magazine Folkeskolen Heidi Friborg Christophersen praises among other things its treatment of the Muhammed cartoons in a discussion of humour and evil, as well as the book’s emphasis on asking questions rather than finding answers – that is the job of the pupil, the class, and the teacher!

 

Photo shows Preben Medom Hansen

 

By: Edward Broadbridge

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