Comments on: A radical response to NZ’s religious and cultural diversity

By: Religious and Cultural Diversity – Titipounamu – Study & Joy

Religious and Cultural Diversity – Titipounamu – Study & Joy — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 19:37:48 +0000

[…] Dr Christopher Longhurst about a radical response and promotion of comparative theology and intercultural theology in the curricula of all NZ schools to promote social cohesion and harmony. […]

By: Matthew Eldridge

Matthew Eldridge — Mon, 07 Sep 2020 11:50:43 +0000

In reply to Richard Duthie. Skepticism could be part of comparative theology. It could fall into that category of "non-theistic lifeways" that Longhurst mentions which could be compared with other religious and non-religious lifeways.

By: Richard Duthie

Richard Duthie — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 08:59:31 +0000

Comparative theology and intercultural theology taught as part of school curricula would not be complete without skepticism taught as well. Students are not puppets. They should not be treated as young empty vessels to just pour in theology of any form without respecting their rights to receive balance.
Science based skeptical thinking and arguments would be of great interest to students. The rich discussion that classes would contain as students learned all the viewpoints is not only valuable but moral and fair.
My expectation is that this is the future. Going beyond that into the future even further I expect that progress will really be made when religion, theology and education evolve to separate the numinous from the supernatural and celebrate the beauty of it.

Richard Duthie
(Ex-Catholic of very considered atheistic inclination)

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 04:36:21 +0000

The thing about religious instruction is that it has *nothing* to do with studies of world religions. So this response does not in any way address the actual problem, which is Protestant Christian evangelism in secular state primary schools. While Bible in Schools proponents often talk about “religious education” or “values teaching”, these are merely a smokescreen for their real purpose… our primary schools are considered “mission fields” for over-zealous church volunteers who neither respect nor care about the rights of parents and children to be free of their religious views.