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Compulsory Courses On Religion And Marxism

20.09.2014 13:13

Last week, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled, again, that the compulsory religious classes in the Turkish education system violate certain basic articles on human rights that Turkey has subscribed to as a member of the Council of Europe. The court reminded the Turkish state of its "obligation.

Last week, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled, again, that the compulsory religious classes in the Turkish education system violate certain basic articles on human rights that Turkey has subscribed to as a member of the Council of Europe. The court reminded the Turkish state of its "obligation to be neutral and impartial" regarding religious issues and concluded that, even after some recent changes to the curriculum, religious education in Turkey is still predominantly focused on Sunni Islam.

The case was filed by 14 Turkish citizens who are adherents of the Alevi faith and who, according to the ECtHR, legitimately, are concerned that the one-sided character of the approach adopted in religious classes is likely to cause their children to face a conflict of allegiance between the school and the values they learn at home. Therefore, the court called on Turkey to introduce, without delay, "a system whereby pupils could be exempted from religion and ethics classes without their parents having to disclose their own religious or philosophical convictions." Christian and Jewish pupils already have that right.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was quick to react and made a striking comparison: "Even an atheist should have religious knowledge," he said. "Just like I should know about Marxism even though I am not a Marxist." It was a catchy one-liner that, however, misses the point made by the ECtHR. The court is not against courses on religion but has come to the conclusion the current ones are biased towards the Sunni interpretation of Islam and only deal with other explanations, let alone other faiths, in an incomplete and superficial way.
Let me introduce my personal experiences with compulsory religious classes and the right to be exempted in order to come up with a solution for this problem. My parents were Protestants, a current within Christianity that has been involved in a centuries-long fight with that other dominant Christian movement, the Catholic Church. When I grew up in the 1960s and '70s in the Netherlands, the antagonism between the two old adversaries had softened considerably. Still, as a Protestant boy attending a Catholic high school, I was entitled to walk out of my class when my fellow students were taught about religion with a slight emphasis on Catholicism. Because my parents wanted me to do so, I did. Again, it was not a big thing at the time because the dividing lines between Protestants and Catholics had been blurred. But me leaving classes once every week did emphasize the fact I was different and I vividly remember my unease as a boy with that forced separation from my classmates.
It is for this reason I do not believe in the condition set by the ECtHR that being exempted as an Alevi, Christian or Jewish pupil from compulsory religious classes should not be linked to the different religious convictions or their parents. It will. Everybody will know the only reason these students will walk out is because their parents are not Sunnis. It will set them apart, one way or the other.
Besides, Davutoğlu had a point when he stated that everybody should learn about the basics of religion in general. Whether one becomes a pious Muslim, Christian or Jew should be a free choice for each individual, but religion is too important to leave it to the believers.
That is why, according to me, every student in high school, in Turkey and elsewhere, should follow mandatory classes that give objective information about all faiths. In the case of Turkey, a majority Muslim country, a certain emphasis on Islam is normal and nobody would have a problem with that.
As long as the Turkish state is not willing to offer such balanced classes, Alevi students should have the right not to attend. But my preferred option would be the introduction of a non-biased curriculum that gives all students the information necessary to understand what faith and religion are all about so they can make a reasoned choice afterwards. In that respect, Davutoğlu is right, an additional mandatory class on philosophy, including Marxism, would help as well.

JOOST LAGENDIJK (Cihan/Today's Zaman)



 
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