Religious Literacy in Policy and Practice

ISBN-13: 9781447316664 / Angielski / Miękka / 2016 / 296 str.

Adam Dinham

Opis

Although we often assume religion is in decline in the West, it continues to have an important yet contested role in individual lives and in society at large. And after half a century in which religion and belief were barely talked about in the public sphere, we face a pressing lack of religious literacy. Many are now ill-equipped to engage with religion and belief when they encounter them in their daily lives--in relationships, law, media, professions, business, and politics, among other venues.
This valuable book is the first to bring together theory and policy with analysis and expertise to explore what religious literacy is, why it is needed, and what might be done about it. Its contributors make the case for a public realm that is well-equipped to engage with the plurality and pervasiveness of religion and belief, whatever an individual participant's own stance. It will be of great importance to academics, policy makers, and practitioners interested in the manifold implications of the continued presence of religion and belief in the public sphere.

Spis treści

Foreword ~ Grace Davie; Section one – Theory; Religious literacy: contesting an idea and practice ~ Adam Dinham and Matthew Francis; Diminishing religious literacy: methodological assumptions and analytical frameworks for promoting the public understanding of religion ~ Diane L. Moore; Religious literacy in the context of Theology and Religious Studies ~ David Ford and Mike Higton; The irony of religious illiteracy in the USA ~ Stephen Prothero & Lauren R. Kerby; Religious literacy as lokahi: social harmony through diversity ~ Michael Barnes SJ and Jonathan D. Smith; Section two – Policy; Religious literacy and welfare ~ Adam Dinham; Religious literacy, radicalisation and extremism ~ Matthew Francis and Amanda van Eck Duymaer van Twist; Religious literacy, equalities and human rights ~ Rebecca Catto and David Perfect; Section three – Practice; Religious illiteracy in school Religious Education ~ James C. Conroy; Religious literacy in higher education ~ Stephen H. Jones; Religious literacy and social work: the view from Australia ~ Beth R. Crisp; Religious literacy and the media: the case of the BBC ~ Michael Wakelin and Nick Spencer; Religious literacy and chaplaincy ~ Jeremy Clines with Sophie Gilliat-Ray; Religious literacies: the future ~ Matthew Francis and Adam Dinham.