ABSTRACT
The 1988 Education Reform Act which was discussed earlier laid down that all agreed syllabuses for RE must ‘reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain’. As the Act did not specify which these other religious traditions might be, early observers were concerned that this absence of guidance might lead to an acrimonious battle between the different religious leaders. In the event nothing like this happened: over the years, five religions, in addition to Christianity, emerged by general consent: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism.
