By Laila Azzeh, Jordan Times.

AMMAN – Clerics, intellectuals and researchers convened yesterday to discuss different approaches to teaching religion in schools and universities in the region, stressing the importance of inter-religious education to promote tolerance and understanding.

Held under the patronage of HRH Prince Hassan, the symposium, “An Introduction to Religious Education and Cultural Studies in West Asia and North Africa”, was organised by the Royal Institute for Interfaith Studies (RIIFS) in cooperation with the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Father George Massouh, director of the Centre of Christian-Muslim Studies at the University of Balamand in Lebanon, noted that there is a difference between religious instruction and religious education, stressing that the latter has to do more with teaching varied aspects of religions: their beliefs, rituals and rites.

“The role of religion teachers is not to turn the classroom into collective worship, but introduce the beliefs of various religions to be discussed in academic ways, drawing conclusions on similarities between religions,” Massouh underlined.

“This way, students’ minds will be protected so that they no longer act like sponges that absorb whatever comes their way,” he indicated.

Massouh said the practice of separating schoolchildren during religion classes based on their religion – employed in Lebanon and other Arab countries – is against the principles of religious education and promotes division and intolerance.

“What harm would it do if Muslims and Christians in our schools learn together that God is one and that all prophets came to call upon people to worship him in different ways and according to the cultural environment they live in?” he asked.

Abdullah Kilani, a Sharia professor at the University of Jordan, indicated that religions in general have a positive impact on communities and help promote psychological well-being among people by answering their questions about death and adversity.

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Note by the editor: I would not have used the word ‘enforces’. Surely ‘promotes’ would have been a better choice of expression. Anyway, I can confirm that in Jordan’s schools the children are separated during religion classes. One can choose Christian or Islamic religious education. Not much different from Europe, where one had to choose between the Protestant and Catholic religious education. (It may be different now-a-days. I am talking of the time I went to school in Switzerland).