BLOG 2 Faith

The The Reith Lecture – Mistaken Identities – Creed radio show with Kwame Anthony Appiah was significant for me as it has helped me differentiate between faith and the interpretation of faith. I am now better able to compartmentalise my feelings around faith. I agree with Kwame that it is not the faith that creates conflict between groups but it is the interpretations of leaders of faith that perpetrate issues that I am sometimes struggling with as an athist/ agnsotic person. I struggle with fundamentalism and this does not only include terrorism in the name of religion as I am aware that this is a very small minority of religious fanatics but I see groups of clerics from a range of different religions asserting control over others and especially women or other minority groups such as the LGBTQ+ groups. When religion influences politics and economic decisions my experience has led me to observe this as intrusive and exclusive to other faiths in a country. I personally prefer to live in secular countries and spaces where I am only minimally affected by faith encraoching on politics. It was interesting to note that the faith blog task reading that was offered included an article by Aaron J. Hahn Tapper that was published in the journal Conflict Resolution Quaterly as it implied the potential for conflict to me. I am now defining my position more clearly around this topic and I am starting to differentiate between creating an inclusive learning environment and resolving conflict in class. While I feel perfectly able to create the former I am feeling conflict resolution will challenge me more as I am not literate in issues of faith to a level I can formulate concise aruments.

When I experience deeply religious people subscribing to rules such as dress codes and dietary requirements that put a financial burden on their belivers I question if there is enough equity for them in their relationship with their religion. I have experienced people being so close to their faith that it dominated their lives when I lived in Israel for four years. I believe though that it is possible to have a faith and be part of present cultural development a the. same time which In my mind means that nobody gets left behind in pursuing a life, career and passion as outlined in Religion in Britain: Challenges for Higher Education. To elaborate via a personal example, my grandmother was a devout Christian, and her support via her religion helped her through very difficult times, including the loss of a child. The community aspect as outlined in the article alongside her belief that her child was in a good place saw her through this difficult time. Being faithful was the right decision for her but she engaged with her religion in a way that enabled her to take part in the contemporary life of her time with no restrictions to her daily life.

When I teach students who have a deep faith I often try to keep this separate from the study topic. I compartmentalise and ensure that I see the projects and work at face value to remain impartial. At one point a student made Abayas and Niqabs which I supported without questioning the garments but I may have not asked about the source of the inspiration to the depth that I can apply when I feel more confident with a topic. I may have looked at the product and tried to make it easier for the wearer by using lighter materials if worn in a hot climate but did not address the origin of the garment and the oppressive nature of it. I wonder if the student was disappointed and wanted to elaborate more. They achieved a very good grade nevertheless as the Learning Outcomes were met. The Hahn Tapper text eluded me to further explore the teacher student/ relationship and be more curious. I have often found that I have no mandate to do this and apply a live and let live attitude rather than trying to influence or shape. Perhaps I need to not exclude curiosity and willingness to understand from the live and let live approach as I realise there is no conflict according to Freire who advocates that ‘teachers and facilitators are understood to be guiding, rather than leading’.

I further helped other students design, head coverings in sportswear and traditional dress that included head coverings with a made-to-order element to it. I am wandering a tightrope between questioning the garment and its purpose and what it means for the wearer. I am aware that there are women who are happy to cover their hair or face and that there are women who might be happy to shave their heads in favour of a wig such as is being practised in Orthodox Judaism. From a practical point of view, however, I question if a black head-to-toe garment that covers somebody’s face in hot countries is the best choice and if the woman wear this out of free choice. In this case my values of feminism clash with free choice as I believe some women need protection from being forced to subscribe to oppressive dress codes. At those points I tend to paralise and I find it harder to navigate the conflicting viewpoints. In Aaron J. Hahn Tapper’s article I have been inspired to reflect on this phenomenon and agree that a well managed positive interaction on the conflict can lead to better understanding of two different view points and create shared values. I further see Kwame’s points that there are a lot of women in leadership roles in Muslim countries but I see those women as a welcome minority and sadly not the rule of how life for women is experienced under certain religious rule. I grew up with a moderately religious Muslim Turkish man in our family and I cherish the way he used his faith as a personal decision for him while allowing freedom to all others. I liked the term ethno-religious pluralism as it allows a welcome of all religions including non religions such as atheism or agnosticism to coexist. Religion will only leads to conflict when coexistence is not practised or encouraged. I believe that development into multi-faithism universities and eduction is a worthwhile goal and this would be great to embed in university life. Tariq Modood recommends encouraging religious literacy and while I think this is an ambitious goal I believe that when students have the tools and language to express their faith but not compete they will be able to benefit from a sense of community that mutual understanding encourages. This they will be able to take forward into their grownup life and hence we as university lecturers may have the mandate to depolarise the viewpoints.

References:

Hahn Tapper, A.J. (2013) ‘A Pedagogy of Social Justice Education: Social Identity Theory, Intersectionality, and Empowerment’, Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 30(4), pp. 411–445. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21072.

Kwame Anthony Appiah, The Reith Lectures, Episode 1 Creed (2016) BBC Radio 4, 18 October. Available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b07z43ds (Accessed 29 May 2023)

Modood, T. (2015) Religion in Britain: challenges for higher education. Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.