Influenta religiei in educatie-The influence of religion education

Coordonator- Iuhos Norbert

Religion is a source of norms and values, but on the other hand its rites may continue to be practiced because they retain social significance without religious meaning. There are also religious institutions and these are interrelated with secular institutions in such a way that a considerable amount of religious influence may be discovered at an institutional level in an apparently secular society. During a period of social change, accompanying changes in the role of religion in society can only be clarified taking into account all these elements, and paying particular attention to the relationship between religious and secular institutions.

In secular societies the influence of religion on education has been maintained, and in some ways increased, during the twentieth century, in a period of steady decline in popular support for the churches.

Some forms of religious behavior have become minimally practiced while others are widespread; also, measures behavior must not necessarily be taken as measures of religious believes, which are much more susceptible to sociological analysis. Similarly, the relationship between religion and education is of several kinds. First, there is the policy making relationship, involving analysis of the religious pressures behind legislative action; second, there is the existence of both religious and secular institutions; and third, there is the influence of religion in the schools themselves.

It is at the first level that religion has retained the greatest influence, though the nature of the influence has altered since the beginning of the century as a result of a shift in majority religious policy towards the diffusion throughout the state system rather than the retention of separate schools. This change is the churches adaptation to the growth of the secular system; it may be interpreted as the reaction of a long-standing institution to a newly expanding one which presents a threat to its customary functions.

In Romania, the religion of  the majority of the population is Orthodox. The other religion in our country are the following: Catholicism, Protestantism.

There is a difference in mentality between children, adolescents and young adults who go to church and those who don’t.

Up to the beginning of adolescence the majority of children believe that God upholds the moral law or ideal by rewarding good behavior. At the same time, the majority have already either rejected or begun to wonder about earlier and cruder ideas about God's punishment of wrong-doing. As a result of the development of the ability to reason critically, an increasing number of adolescents question, and in many cases abandon, these earlier ideas about God rewarding the good and punishing the bad. Some adolescents and adults, however, retain the basic belief that moral attitudes and decisions should be determined in the light of religious beliefs. The majority of adolescents and adults believe, more vaguely, that religion can and should help them to live a morally good life, though on what grounds this belief is maintained cannot be stated with any certainty. Not all who hold this view believe that religion is essential for living a morally good life.

One of the main influences in the way that church and religion are viewed in our country is school.  The education that children receive in their families and the activities at school contribute to a good or bad perspective that children get from these environments.

There are advantages and disadvantages regarding religion. The advantages are the following: knowledge of God, the Bible, Holy Trinity, Decalogue, the churches traditions, the life’s of holy people.

There are also religious groups within churches that are aimed to different age categories. For example: groups of children, adolescents, middle age people and old people. Every year, are organized regional, national and international meetings where groups meet and participate in different activities, such as: spiritual exercises, socializing games and deepen knowledge of God.

Now that we have considered the benefits of religion education, it is important to also explore the disadvantages. There are multiple reasons why religion can be a negative aspect in education. For example, there is discrimination, different ways of teaching, and lack of multicultural awareness.

One of the biggest disadvantages regarding religion in our country is the shame induced by other people who don’t go to church to the ones who do . In our country, this technique practiced by some is called “the herd effect”.

To sum up, everything in life is a choice, religious education too, some want to receive it and some don’t.