School, Religion and Intolerance: On Laic School and Religious Conflicts in Brazil

Abstract

Religion is present in urban schools in Brazil, regardless of religious education. In this chapter we discuss the Brazilian context as a case of complex relationship and conflict between the conceptions of laicity (laicite), tolerance, secularism and the presence of religion in urban schools. Firstly, we present some historical notes on the relationship between school and religion, focusing on religious education as a curriculum subject and its impact on Brazilian educational legislation. Secondly, we describe some recent events of religious intolerance that show the difficulties to get along with different religious beliefs and disbelief in the daily lives of urban schools. Thirdly, we explore how religious intolerance has strengthened and why it has grown in Brazilian schools. In the fourth part we analyze the challenges of the concept of laicity, its potentiality and its limits, followed by the presentation of a proposal for intercultural education. The defense of laicity is central in this analysis, as the starting point and focus on the intercultural dialogue as a possibility for overcoming intolerance in urban schools. In the next part, we discuss the concepts of “ethics of minima” as a basis for religious tolerance. The ethical-philosophical reflection, not only grounds our analysis on the presence of religion in Brazilian school, but also presents itself as a possible key for analysis and action against intolerance that challenges the urban schools today. In conclusion, we point out the characteristics of the religious phenomenon in urban public schools, particularly in multicultural societies as the Brazilian, highlighting the intercultural education as a possibility to understand the religiousness present in the school.