Publication details
Religious Memory and Transmission of Knowledge on Religions through Education. The Case of Education System in the Czech Republic
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2016 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Pantheon |
| Citation | |
| Keywords | Czech Republic, Czech society, Education Act, education, Law on Churches, memory, public sphere, religion, religious memory, secularization, theory of religious economy |
| Description | The paper deals with the ways of re-producing religious memory through the education system in the Czech Republic. The paper summarizes the concept of religious memory as defined by D. Hervieu-Léger. The paper defines two distinctive yet interconnected aspects of religious memory: religious knowledge and knowledge on religions. Religious knowledge is a set of information as seen through the perspective of a specific religious tradition, knowledge on religions encompasses all information on the topic of religions. Religious memory is re-produced by various agents - the system of education represents one of these channels through which it is reproduced. The paper takes into account two aspects of the process of reproducing religious memory through education: normative and practical. The paper examines two legal norms regulating the access of religious organizations to the school system: the Education Act and the Law on Churches. The laws set equal requirements for all churches. In reality, not all churches which are interested in obtaining the special rights, including the access to the school system, can meet the strict requirements. The legal requirements disadvantage alternative religions and minor religious groups. Applying the economic approach, the paper ascertains that the competition of churches at religious marketplace is not entirely free. The legal practice allows the Czech state to keep its control over the process of maintaining religious memory through the state school system. It is a good example of state control over the authorized memory that allows keeping the sense of historical continuity within the society. The image of the modern Czech society as secularized, irreligious or even atheist can be too simplistic since religion and the state interfere vividly within the public sphere of the Czech society. |