Human Rights, Religions, and Education. A Theoretical Framework

Abstract

This contribution develops a theoretical framework for clarifying the relationships between human rights, religions and public education, in particular the relationship between human rights education and public religious education. It builds on the hypothesis that such clarification benefits from engagement with recent social and political theory. Drawing mainly on the positions and concepts of John Rawls and Jurgen Habermas, it advocates a pluralist reading of human rights that keeps a reasonable balance between the universal normativity of human rights and the intrinsic value of diverse religions and opposes a secularist reading of human rights that marginalizes, devalues or excludes religions. As a conclusion, the important role of religious education in human rights education and in public education as a whole is emphasized for promoting “complementary learning processes” (Habermas) of religious and nonreligious people.