Degeneracy and English religious education

Abstract

Nietzsche accused Socrates of being degenerate. The question is posed whether practitioners of contemporary religious education may be suffering from this condition, in particular through the modern practice of associating religion with secular philosophies or 'beliefs'. Through the examination of tolerance and 'respect for all' in the Non-Statutory National Framework for Religious Education (NSNFRE), there is an attempt to show that by ignoring important distinctions, the NSNFRE fails to recognise the character of a religious disposition versus related inclinations of respecting or withholding respect for others. The purpose of this examination is to show that religious faith is typically not a 'view' or a theory about the world and that associating religion with secular 'beliefs' may be deeply misleading. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.