Do we need more space for faith?
Religion is complicated. Not always easy to start a conversation about. Even when people share the same doctrine they may interpret and practice this in very different ways often influenced by other intersections: gender, class, race, sexuality, dis/able, age. It is for this reason that this blog is focused on religion as an institution and faith as a worldview, rather than ‘in the classroom’.
Marx famously said religion was the opium of the people, a means of social control. An institution used by the ruling classes to oppress and subjugate the proletariat, offering a hope of happiness in the next life that they were really entitled to in this, cited in Bocock & Thompson (1985). Religion has been weaponised to impose social control over entire communities. In Northern Ireland where I grew up a ‘religious’ war raged for 30 years; less about religious differences, more about domination and maintaining an unjust status quo. Using religion to divide and rule, promoting fear of the ‘other’ (Bigo & Guittet 2011). Since 9/11 the Muslim world has been targeted and criminalised; the War on Terror. Muslims are more likely to be subjected to surveillance and suspicion (Bigo & Guittet 2011). Meanwhile the ultra-right, often citing crimes against Christian beliefs are eroding many of the human rights worked hard for and won for marginalised communities.
Ample evidence to support the existence of the more sinister aspects of how religion is politicized by the dominant institutions that hold power (Rekis, 2023). Racialised to discredit other interpretations of similar creeds. Black led Christianity in the US is deemed less relevant. Misogyny and racism are employed to simplify the discourse associated with Muslim women who wear the veil (Rekis, 2023).
Religion is problematical and academia and liberal commentators embrace secularism and the promotion of scientific ideas, said to be underpinned by objective reason and rationality, to discuss metaphysics and philosophical debate (Rekis 2023). Given the state of the world, this approach may need a rethink. Climate change denial, state sanctioned genocide, extreme inequality in allocation and access to resources does not scream reason and rationality.
From an intersectionality perspective people have less space to present their religious identities. For many years it was not an aspect of my ‘self’ that I chose to share. Partly because I no longer practice but largely because religion can make people feel uncomfortable. Rekis’s paper calls for opportunities for people from different religious groups to feel safe to talk about and share how their religious ‘self’ informs their world view. This space is currently not available in mainstream academia (2023).
Neumann goes further. In his paper he suggests building on 3 key pedagogies, briefly outlined below and promotes the idea of ‘faith as a critical pedagogy’ (2011). A discourse to get people to consider what they share rather than what separates them and encourage them to work together for social justice. He approaches his concept from 3 different directions. Caputo’s proposition that reason and belief, contrary to popular thinking are not that far apart, Tillich’s articulation of faith as being the ‘quality of having ultimate concern’ and Freire’s early religious faith and connections to liberation theology (2011, p. 603)
We need a paradigm shift. We need faith in social justice, a dialogue on what philosophies underpin the belief systems of all of humanity, not just the patriarchy….’ to collide marginalized conceptualizations of faith with a new analysis of critical pedagogy….’ (Neumann, 2011, P. 602). Faith as a critical pedagogy could provide a framework that embraces people’s religious identities or philosophical positions, their lived experience, not the dogma and exclusive practices promoted by religious institutions. We need different world views to form and provide different economic and political models. Solidarity not divide and rule.
Bigo, D. & Guittet, E. P. (2011) available at: Northern Ireland as metaphor: Exception, suspicion and radicalization in the ‘war on terror’ (accessed 5/5/25)
Bocock, R. & Thompson, K. (1985) (ed) Religion and Ideology. Manchester University Press.
CRITICAL PEDAGOGY AND FAITH – Neumann – Wiley Online Library (accessed 25/03/25)
Rekis (2023) Religious Identity and Epistemic Injustice: An Intersectional Account (accessed 20/5/25)
Hi Frances,
Another fantastic piece of writting!
I will certanly read some of the texts you referenced as well. The way you wrote regarding intersectionality, faith, self and the discomfort caused in openly revealing this part of the self really resonated with me.
Neumann’s idea of ‘faith as a critical pedagogy’ (2011) is a good way of bringing the points you made to a satidfactory conclusion.
I agree with you, more communication and dialogue is needed to bring forward unity.
Solidarity not divide and rule.
Hi Emilia
once again you are very generous with your comments. Religion is an area that I feel really needs some honest discussion. I stopped believing in the church at 14 years (although my mother had different ideas) but it was the dogma and preaching that turned me off, not the moral and compassion based theology. Another problem when religion is not discussed is complete ignorance of other faiths which feeds fear. Hopefully I managed to convey in my blog that I would welcome more opportunities to discuss what people believe in.
Hi Frances,
I really appreciate you discussed this topic with a broader critique of how religion has been politicised and racialised.,” religious conflict” is often about control, marginalisation, and systemic inequality.
I’ve been thinking about a lot since reading Rekis (2023) too. Especially that idea of epistemic injustice, how not all ways of knowing are treated equally. I keep circling back to this when reflecting on my students who observe Ramadan, for example, don’t feel able to mention it unless explicitly invited. It’s not hostility, it’s that the space hasn’t been made.
Your reflection reminds me that if we’re truly interested in social justice, then we can’t treat religion, or any belief system as an awkward side note. It needs to be part of the conversation. Thank you again for such a rich and honest piece.
Hi Rebekah
thanks so much for your feedback. Its very valuable. Its hard to know if you are making any sense in the blogs, given the number of things that you could say and limited word count. I am heartened by your comments on not viewing faith as an important aspect of a whole belief system and one that we may know little about. I love your call to move into into the conversation and not have it as an awkward side note. Brilliant.
Hi Frances,
It was lovely to meet you this week and to briefly discuss some shared ideas and our blogs. Thank you for sending me your link and for your thoughts here. It is so helpful to read as I had not reconciled how to place my personal experiences and perspective on religion within the framework of the discussions to-date. Your call for ‘a paradigm shift… faith in social justice, a dialogue on what philosophies underpin the belief systems of all of humanity, not just the patriarchy’ captures it perfectly for me.
I have found it very difficult to disentangle religion from patriarchy even while understanding that this is just another form of bias on my part.
I need to read and explore more to understand your proposal for ‘Faith as a critical pedagogy’. One of my blog group shared Kwame Anthony Appiah’s Ted talk: ‘Is religion good or bad? (This is a trick question)’, which may have been in the readings. I found it really helpful in wrangling with this particular aspect.
All the best for your research and your intervention!
Grace
Hi Grace
lovely to meet you too and thanks for the tutorial on using the library resources more effectively. Great. Thanks also for your comments. Being from Ireland, we both know how problematic organised religion can be especially when co-opted by the state to oppress citizens. Different situations on different sides of the border but its left a long legacy. I kind of surprised myself advocating for Faith as a critical pedagogy and I certainly need to do more research myself. I just put it out there. I need to articulate more, for myself, what this ‘faith’ looks like. I really believe that we have to do things very differently. The neo-liberal model and everything it stands for is not working. We need people with faith in humanity, a belief that we are part of the eco-system, not overloads of it, to help to change value systems. Ask the questions what do we value in life? Education is crucial in this shift. Thank you for the Ted talk recommendation.
I agree that religion is a complex and sensitive topic, and your post approaches it with a thoughtful, personal lens. You highlight how certain Christian, and secular worldviews contribute to a ‘fear of the other’, deepening divisions between cultures and communities. This account effectively shows how such narratives can fuel inequality and erode human rights.
Although the classroom isn’t the main focus of your post, I was drawn to Neumann’s (2011) argument and wanted to share a few reflections. He argues that teaching is never neutral, positioning education as political and encourages students to critique systems of oppression embedded in education. Furthermore, to foster empowerment through dialogue, where students co-create knowledge rather than receive it passively. Neumann draws on Freire’s (1970) concept of ‘consciousness-raising’, urging educators to help students recognise injustice, understand their own positionality, and navigate power structures critically.
Thank you for including this reference, it prompted me to reflect further. I agree that a paradigm shift in education is needed, and I hope this addition contributes to our shared thinking on how we might better equip students to reflect, question, and act differently.
Hi Mikolai
thanks for the comments. Religion is definitely a very thorny subject and one that for many years I viewed as a problem contributing to inequality rather than any means to a solution. I still am deeply suspicious of organised religion, the concept of blind faith and people reading from scripture. That said. A paradigm shift is needed. We are on the road to hell, metaphorically speaking and traditionally many indigenous peoples have lived in harmony with nature, cultivating their own value systems that are far removed from what we are encouraged to value in the west. I liked Neumann’s paper. How people think affects how they act and maybe current pedagogy is not critical enough. What are students being trained to do? What faith do they need that things can be done better? I don’t know nearly enough about the subject myself but we need a rethink and input from people who do not get a chance to share their worldview.