Domestication of knowledge, self-enlightenment of society. About religious education

Jakob Deibl, Ass. Prof. at the Faculty of Catholic Theology of the University of Vienna, Scientific Manager of the Research Center Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society, University of Vienna

Religious education is subject to a variety of expectations. On the one hand, it has the task of imparting knowledge about religions: education as a means of combating the breakdown of tradition, the loss of cultural memory and ignorance of other religions. On the other hand, there is the often-unspoken expectation of civil society that religious education should "tame" knowledge as it is passed on in faith communities: religious education as a means against fundamentalism, radicalism and conservatism. The lecture argues that this expectation must be integrated into a larger project that takes religions seriously and challenges them as allies in a society's quest for self-enlightenment (Klaus Heinrich).