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Education and Religion
Prof. Musafir Singh Asutosh Pradhan
The relationship between education and religion is a complex one and somewhat difficult to delineate. It can be envisaged from varied angles each having its own implications, both positive and negative. One view is that religion has no place in education and should it be given a place, consequences for education itself and society at large would be dangerous and disastrous. The second view is that organised religions embody one of the noblest achievements of man and, therefore, it is imperative that they be taught as a major discipline in centres of higher learning. The third view is that religion is an indispensable aspect of human life, a great humanising and divinising force, and as such, it must be accorded a place of honour in the university curriculum not in its codified form but in its essential form. The fourth view may be that only such dimensions of religion should be made part of higher education as are consonant with and corroborated by the latest advances in modern science and are helpful in solving and resolving contemporary human problems and predicaments. We shall examine in some depth and detail each of these positions and highlight their front and flip sides. A. Religion as a baneful influence
Those who are opposed to the introduction of religion in education find innumerable faults with it. To them religion is a great obstacle to the progress of knowledge as it commits its followers to truths which are taken as apodeictic and ultimate. The religionists maintain that revealed truths of scriptures are sacrosanct and to question them or to propound any doctrine incompatible with them is sacrilegious. This defeats the very aim of education which is to encourage open mindedness and relentless pursuit of truth without pre-conceived notions. The codified religions represent an atavistic throwback, they restrain and constrain the forward movement of the human spirit. They keep the human mind bogged down in a mystique
IMG 4511 HHR-511, 2001
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Jain Education International
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| SR No. | 524606 |
| Book Title | Tulsi Prajna 2001 01 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Shanta Jain, Jagatram Bhattacharya |
| Publisher | Jain Vishva Bharati |
| Publication Year | 2001 |
| Total Pages | 146 |
| Language | Hindi |
| Classification | Magazine, India_Tulsi Prajna, & India |
| File Size | 7 MB |