This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This web site reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
-
History of Religions
History of the 3 Monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) and of the main different Christianity confessions (Roman Catholicism, Eastern Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, Anglicanism and Protestantism)
-
Pedagogical Approaches
New pedagogical approaches to teach history of religion
-
Role of Religions in Civilization
How to didactically promote among students of different confessions, the capacity of a critical analysis and understanding of the role played by religions in the history of mankind
-
Interreligious Students’ Competences
Set of teaching contents, to be used by teachers to highlight and valorize the universal values of tolerance and universalisms that all Monotheistic religions and religious texts contain to promote and sustain mutual understanding among students
-
Managing Multi-Religious Classes
Teaching Sources to help teachers dealing with multicultural and multi-religious classes
Map
An interactive didactical map interactive didactical map giving access to sites with a religious relevance.-
Introduction
A comparative review of the liturgical celebrations, ceremonies and dietary rules existing in the different religions.
-
Celebrations
Description and comparative analysis of the celebrations of different religions and confessions
-
Ceremonies
Description and comparative analysis of the ceremonies of different religions and confessions
-
Dietary Rules
Description and comparative analysis of the dietary rules of different religions and confessions
Events
The Pathway through Religions project has been promoted trough conferences and articles.
Conferences
The Pathway through Religions project was presented in a number of events in order to report about the activities carried out and the results achieved
Press Review
The Pathway through Religions project partnership made contacts with web sites focusing on the fields of educationPartnership
-
Contractual Partners
From this section it is possible to access to a description of each contractual partner of the Pathway through Religions project.
-
Schools
From this section it is possible to access to the information about the schools involved in the Pathway through Religions Project in the European countries involved.
-
Associated Partners
As a result of the exploitation activity a number of associated partners officially joined the project in order to contribute to the improvement of the project impact on their target groups and to ensure the project sustainability by continuing using the project deliverables in the next years.
This section of the Pathway through Religions portal provides administrative information for the project contractual partners and for the European Commission and it is password protected.
Role of Religions in Civilization
Homepage > Teachers’ Guide > Role of Religions in Civilization
Set of teaching contents, to be used by teachers to highlight and valorize the universal values of tolerance and universalisms that all Monotheistic religions and religious texts contain to promote and sustain mutual understanding among students
Role of Religions in Civilization
6. Religion and Law
Religion and law are two different concepts. However, they have often had a close relationship. In ancient civilisations, such as the Babylonians and the Egyptians, there was no clear separation between notions of religion and law because they were both considered as divine wills.
The teacher can ask students if they can find common elements in religion and modern law.
For instance, religion teaches people to be good and kind to other people and to be respectful and embed obedience and obligations. We can assert that these concepts are in some ways present in the laws as well, considering that individuals must be respectful of others and must contribute to the social order. In religion, failure to meets these concepts and obligations is considered as sin – in law, this is criminal offense. Moreover, both law and religion incorporate leadership, institutions and legal ideologies to be maintained and to prevail, and are based upon texts (i.e. Bible, Quran, etc. for religion / Constitution for law). Therefore, we can assume that both religion and law are aimed at establishing a decent and respectful society and developing a human consciousness and behaviour in private and public life.
Also, religion is often perceived as a source of “civic virtue, decency and public morality, maybe even as a basis for social cohesion” (Labuschagne, “Are religion and law incompatible?). Religiously inspired people tend to be “good, virtuous, law-abiding citizens, or so they maintain” (ibid) – taking into account that acts of violence in the name of a religion are rejected by the religious sphere it is supposed to represent.
However, law and religion can greatly diverge on some points. For instance, the Bible instructs the wife to obey her husband, who is her master. However, in the universal declaration of human rights, equal rights are proclaimed for both genders. Another example is same-sex marriage: some countries have now legislated same-sex marriage, while many world religions are opposed to it.
We can then assert that even in societies where politics and law are supposed to be separate from religion, law and religion have a lot in common and can interact with each other. Nevertheless, it is essential to bear in mind that they can diverge on very important matters.
The teacher can ask students if they can find common elements in religion and modern law.
For instance, religion teaches people to be good and kind to other people and to be respectful and embed obedience and obligations. We can assert that these concepts are in some ways present in the laws as well, considering that individuals must be respectful of others and must contribute to the social order. In religion, failure to meets these concepts and obligations is considered as sin – in law, this is criminal offense. Moreover, both law and religion incorporate leadership, institutions and legal ideologies to be maintained and to prevail, and are based upon texts (i.e. Bible, Quran, etc. for religion / Constitution for law). Therefore, we can assume that both religion and law are aimed at establishing a decent and respectful society and developing a human consciousness and behaviour in private and public life.
Also, religion is often perceived as a source of “civic virtue, decency and public morality, maybe even as a basis for social cohesion” (Labuschagne, “Are religion and law incompatible?). Religiously inspired people tend to be “good, virtuous, law-abiding citizens, or so they maintain” (ibid) – taking into account that acts of violence in the name of a religion are rejected by the religious sphere it is supposed to represent.
However, law and religion can greatly diverge on some points. For instance, the Bible instructs the wife to obey her husband, who is her master. However, in the universal declaration of human rights, equal rights are proclaimed for both genders. Another example is same-sex marriage: some countries have now legislated same-sex marriage, while many world religions are opposed to it.
We can then assert that even in societies where politics and law are supposed to be separate from religion, law and religion have a lot in common and can interact with each other. Nevertheless, it is essential to bear in mind that they can diverge on very important matters.
Online Resources
- Are religion and law incompatible?This is an online article talking about the ongoing debate on the place of religion in modern, liberal democracies and whether it can be reconciled with the core values of society.
- Is there a relationship between morality, law and religion?This is an academic article written by Tataran Anca which defines the concepts of morality, law and religion and how they are linked to each other and work together.
- Law can be influenced by religionThis source is an article published in the Guardian explaining and defining the subtle relationship between law and religion.
Practical Activity
- Religious leaders for JusticeThe activity consists of preparing a group presentation about famous religious people who worked for justice.
