ABSTRACT
The chapter focuses on the values necessary for democracy to flourish, and how knowledge of religion can challenge and support the nurturing of such values. While the importance of education is noted, so is its failure to encourage all who have experienced it to learn how to think for themselves and mature emotionally and so become positive citizens. Specific citizenship education has often bypassed religion altogether, in particular, the debt that the modern understanding of democracy owes to Christianity has rarely been acknowledged. Religion has much to offer in thinking about citizenship because of its extremely controversial nature, strong emotional appeal, global reach and long experience of wrestling with issues of identity and diversity. Unlike the woke culture, the irrationality of which is set out in five points, religious education is ideal for promoting open-minded discussion and courteous sharing of ideas – the lifeblood of democracy as for education generally.
