Religious education restores what is essential to your life. You need only what is essential, and you do not want to be burdened with what is nonessential. This does not mean that you are to be open to everything, but it does mean that you are willing to learn something new and have it be demonstrated to you. Much of this will have nothing to do with you personally. Section 1 Do not define it. Religious education deals with learning about Knowledge. Here learning is more important than the confirmation of old ideas. leading to the introduction of these traditions into religious education, often accompanied by an expansion of the Christian curriculum to include other world religions, e.g. However, questions have been raised as to what approach to Christianity is being made within the framework of a said religious education program. The experience of Knowledge is unlike anything else in the world. The Word and the Sound are in the world. Add one thing that does not belong, add one person who does not belong in your life, add one set of beliefs or requirements, preferences or associations which are not essential to you and to your purpose, and your way will be clouded and your understanding will be offset. Some liberal societies continue to require their schools to offer non-directive but, specifically, religious education as part of the curriculum. If you think that everything must be physical and mundane, how can you learn something mysterious and divine? The Way of Knowledge is mysterious, but it is certain. What it will give you is something you have sought in all other things—relationship, acknowledgment, power, confidence, determination and direction in life. You can only be wholehearted about something that represents your Ancient home from which you have come. However, many will not find their purpose there because their preparation has to do with the future specifically, and they must learn a new way. How can your mind learn anything when it is protecting its current information? On June 12 the National Council for the Social Studies became the first national education organization in the United States to put into its curriculum framework a set of guidelines for teaching about religion. Only what is true can accompany you up the mountain of life. Here everyone is lost until they are found. Within this greater context, the encumbrances of human pageantry, history, fantasy and idealism have no place. Education's primary purpose has ranged from instructing youth in religious doctrine, to preparing them to live in a democracy, to assimilating immigrants into mainstream society, to preparing workers for the industrialized 20th century workplace. Your inspiration must now come from Knowledge itself. It is remarkable, but it is known. Strange Americana: Does Video Footage of Bigfoot Really Exist? And they are the ones who will advance your race in its current difficulties and opportunities and in the difficulties and opportunities to come. It is here to engage you meaningfully in the moment and to prepare you for the future so that the promise of your great purpose in life may be realized and fulfilled. Different religions have different understandings of salvation and God. This new definition gives you a fresh and appropriate view of what religion is and what it must mean for you now. We do not create grand, marvelous and incomprehensible creation stories. It can teach you how to survive in the world and how to prosper in the world to a certain degree. The past has brought you to this point, to this opportunity to learn The Greater Community Way of Knowledge. What Are the Steps of Presidential Impeachment? It gives you something that the world cannot give you because its source is God. You must have a mind that is free of past referencing. So great will be the world’s emergence into the Greater Community and its impact on human awareness that the emphasis on the past, which is so pervasive in your thinking and in your current education, will become increasingly irrelevant. We do not give you a theology that is filled with speculation and self-comforting ideas. The way is mysterious because it takes you beyond your former understanding. Your task and your challenge now is to respond to this greater need within yourself and to allow it to emerge without attempting to harness it, define it or direct it. In Western and secular culture, religious education implies a type of education which is largely separate from academia, and which regards religious belief as a fundamental tenet and operating modality, as well as a prerequisite for … Religious Education is concerned with bringing the life experience of people into a sustained, critical conversation with Faith. Of course you cannot understand something great with something small. There must be a back and forth movement between … It … They must learn about Knowledge. However, many will not find their purpose there because their preparation has to do with the future specifically, and they must learn a new way. Knowledge is the living Presence within you, the greater intelligence that you possess and that bonds you to all life. What keeps humanity going are those who can respond to the present and to the future. If you think you can hold it for yourself, it will escape you. To think that religion is not concerned with Knowledge is to misinterpret and misunderstand the purpose and nature of religion. You are simply recognizing a greater purpose in everything you do, with everything you own, with every experience you have and with every person you meet. It cannot come from fantastic stories. It is new, but it is ancient. First, it seeks to communicate to persons who are not religious a basic understanding of religion. Here you must go in a direction that other people are not going. Advantages and disadvantages both become useful. Religious education will promote human values. The world can teach you the ways of the world. Here you cannot rely upon your former ideas, beliefs or associations. It is not about speculation. It is towards this that your religious education will lead you. This paper is concerned only with those programs whioh identify them­ selves as religious education programs. In reality, all religious education in the pure sense is a preparation for the future because it is preparing you to live a life that represents your true purpose and will. You cannot do this for curiosity. Why religious education has an important role to play in our society Opinion: ‘The suggestion that time might be taken from RE in order to increase the … Religious education is an attempt to build a bridge from your worldly mind to your Spiritual Mind. Then what the world has to offer becomes a means to serve a greater end and a greater purpose. It may be shocking and challenging at certain junctures, but you can embrace it wholeheartedly because it resonates with the very essence of who you are and why you are here. How do you tell them apart? You already possess this within yourself. You want your mind and your vision to be clear. Now there is a greater problem for humanity—a problem which can unite humanity in its approach, give focus and destiny to its efforts and bring about a greater union among its peoples. When the light of Knowledge is concealed, then you will stumble about in life, trying this out, trying that out, believing in whatever seems most comfortable and self-assuring in the moment, but without any real certainty of truth and without any real efficacy in your thinking and behavior. For this to be honest and sincere, you must come to Knowledge on your own. It cannot prepare you for the future. From a Greater Community perspective, this means that they must learn The Way of Knowledge. Here there is real responsibility. We do not give you pageantry. It must come from Knowledge itself—that great intelligence within you which represents your true purpose and your true will in life. Education in The Way of Knowledge deals with learning things that are essential, releasing things that are not and gaining the discernment to tell the two apart. To prevent this from happening, we give you a new beginning, a new start. It contains the real meaning of your life. It has its own direction. In recent days, several news stories have highlighted this paradox. This is where you enter into the Mystery and allow a Greater Mind to emerge within you. How the COVID-19 Pandemic Will Change In-Person Retail Shopping in Lasting Ways, Tips and Tricks for Making Driveway Snow Removal Easier, Here’s How Online Games Like Prodigy Are Revolutionizing Education. However, now there is a greater need. It is unfamiliar because it is new. Here there is no past referencing. Your only remedy, then, is to find a way to regain, to reclaim and to express this greater purpose. Secondly, it seeks to communicate to persons who are religious a basic understanding of themselves. To receive a Greater Community Spirituality, there must be this great and corresponding need within yourself. Then you will have a new experience of who you are, and you will have a greater sense of inner freedom. You cannot be wholehearted about anything else, no matter how attached you may be to it, because to be wholehearted means to embrace something totally. The Mystery has its own demonstration, the most profound of which is the experience of Knowledge itself. It is for this that your religious education will prepare you. It enables you to learn information that is useful to your purpose. If this cannot be done, then you cannot learn a Greater Community Way of Knowledge, and you cannot prepare for the Greater Community. It is not about comparing ideas. Knowledge will free you and unburden you because that is its first purpose and requirement. What importance and They must receive a new testament, and they must prepare for a new experience.”. It may refer to education provided by a church or religious organization, for instruction in doctrine and faith, or for education in various aspects of religion, but without explicitly religious or moral aims, e.g. It has its own will. If you do not have a real sense of why you are here, then you are lost to yourself. Here you will not be able to call upon the past to help you and to give you the strength, the insight and the skill to deal with the new experiences that you will be having. I once discussed operating a spiritual and academic Religious Education class with an overseas colleague. We do not give you anyone to worship. If this is your motivation, you will not be able to learn a Greater Community Way of Knowledge. This represents the greatest need for humanity at this time, a need that is barely known and that is barely recognized. Then your steps will become quicker, and your burden will become lighter. Therefore, the more worldly a religious education becomes, the less it is able to address these greater and far more important questions. Generally, religious education is education that concerns itself with ethical decision making, action, and reflection within the school’s system. Many will find their purpose in the traditions of the world, for there is much wisdom and value there. In this remarkable process, the Voice of Revelation is speaking anew. This was its purpose. on October 30, 1993 Your life now and your life to come will give you the greatest opportunities and the greatest challenges to do this. To enter into this greater panorama and this greater education, you must have an open mind, a young mind, a fresh mind. You do not need to conjure it up. You tell them apart because they are so different, and you can feel the difference. It cannot come from ideals. Disappointment in relationship now has a greater possibility. Defining Religious Education: Finally, we need to look at how a country defines the nature and purpose of religious education. These evils are projected through intolerance, enmity and selfishness both in national and international fields. You will feel that at last you are being recognized and acknowledged. Religious education exists in many different traditions. © Copyright 2021. It cannot come from supplication. We do not give you a detailed historical account of The Greater Community Way of Knowledge. You are not asked to believe something that you cannot believe or to accept something that you cannot accept. Give it the freedom to emerge within you. If you recognize your need for this, then religious education is meant for you. Religious education is, therefore, fundamentally concerned with the reclamation of Knowledge. And you are vulnerable when you approach the truth without your former ideas and conclusions. So, what is religious education? The need initiates you to become a real student and enables you to prepare and to support your preparation. To fully prepare for the Greater Community and for a new world experience, you will need something greater and wiser, more spontaneous and more complete. Religious education assists students in forming values and beliefs that are reflected in behaviors and communication. Religious education assists students in forming values and beliefs that are reflected in behaviors … You will not see your advancement except at certain points when you realize that you are at a different position on the mountain of life and that you have a different view of life around you. Man’s purpose is to build the Kingdom of God…. Here you are being simple and open, rather than complicated and devious. Religious Education interacts with and is reinforced by the religious life of the Catholic school which aims to nurture and enrich the religious and spiritual development of students through prayer, celebration of the liturgy and sacraments, faith formation and social justice activities. How can you learn if your mind is already filled with your own ideas and beliefs? The preparation must be given to you. It will force change, but only to restore you to yourself, to restore to you your essential skills, to prepare you in the world and to enable you to utilize the world for a greater education. They find the different rituals and beliefs fascinating – and so, too, the sim… The Assembly then delivers God’s Message through the Messenger, whereafter it is transcribed and made available to you and to all people. What Does George Soros' Open Society Foundations Network Fund. It cannot teach you where you have come from and where you are going. Here you will be forced to deal with the present. In essence, it will seem more an unlearning than a learning because you will be releasing so many former ideas to create an opening in your mind and a greater capacity for learning. This is where you put yourself in a position to receive so that you can learn something that you did not know before, experience something you could not experience before and see something you could not see before. If properly understood, the past will enable you to begin life anew, with an open and a free mind. Many times, religious education also prompts people to evaluate issues of truth, ethics and faith within their personal lives. Though it feels like a great and pressing need that cannot be defined or explained away, it is your calling. Your personal mind is small. And you will deceive yourself and others, at great cost both to yourself and to your relationships. Knowledge can only embrace Knowledge in the universe. This greater context is represented by the world’s emergence into the Greater Community, which will present a set of problems and opportunities that the world’s religions are not prepared to meet. It will show you the way. However, it cannot teach you your greater nature or purpose. Here there is complete honesty. Be grateful that you have been spared such distractions. And your need to associate with life that exists in the lowlands will become less and less of an encumbrance for you. You have come to participate in what is occurring at this time. For example, when approached with an ethical or moral dilemma, people with religious education can reflect on the teachings of the church to make a decision that is in line with their values and beliefs. You will lose your vision. In whatever context, format, tradition or preparation, this is its overall intent. 3. They must receive a new testament, and they must prepare for a new experience. Religious Education is concerned with the deep meaning that individuals and groups make of their experiences and how this helps them give purpose to their lives. You will not understand where you are going or what is coming for you. Religious education must be mysterious. Therefore, religious education must be focused on Knowledge because Knowledge represents your Spiritual Mind in the world and your vital link to God and to all life everywhere. Religious Education (RE) contributes dynamically to children and young people’s education in schools by provoking challenging questions about meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about God, ultimate reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human. To recognize this greater need is to honor your deeper inclinations and to reunite with yourself as you truly are and as you are truly seeking to be in life. These things will have a real foundation now and will not fail you. Here you are not being clever or cunning or manipulative. Tuesday 15 October 2013. You will feel refreshed. This is gaining a very practical freedom, a freedom that can only be gained through an education of this nature. Religious education is an attempt to build a bridge from your worldly mind to your Spiritual Mind. 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