How can Religious Education deal with the Tension between Normativity and Moralization in Times of the Environmental Crisis? A Proposal

Abstract

Ethical learning is always a challenge in Religious Education, especially in the field of sustainability and eco-justice. Here, the tension between the normativ orientation towards autonomy and freedom in the tradition of the enlightment, on the one hand, and the danger of Moralisation as a way of overpowering the students in a destructive way is very demanding. Methodologically referring on theoretical concepts and situated in the German context where Religious education is an ordinary subject in school, this paper elaborates on this tension and develops a category which allows us to deal with it in in a critical and productive way. Keywords: Education, Religion, Ethical learning, Sustainability