Do we need more space for faith?
Marx famously said that 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. It was less about religious differences and more about domination and maintaining an unjust status quo by using religion to divide and rule and promote fear of the ‘other’ (Bigo & Guittet 2011). Since 9/11 the Muslim world has been targeted and criminalised as a result of the War on Terror. Just by virtue of being a member of that community you 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 women, people of colour and the LGBTQ community.
There is 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). Religion is 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 chose to wear the veil (Rekis, 2023).
Seen in this light, there seems to be little to commend religion and academia and liberal commentators, on the whole, 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). However 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.
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 academia (2023).
Neumann goes further. In his paper he builds 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, start 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) Northern Ireland as metaphor: Exception, suspicion and radicalization in the ‘war on terror’
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)