Tackling sectarianism and religious intolerance
Transforming sectarianism / moving beyond sectarianism project
The Transforming Sectarianism project of the Irish School of Ecumenics (Trinity College, Dublin) is part of a longer programme of educating and acting against sectarianism that arises from the work of Dr Joseph Liechty and Dr Cecelia Clegg since1995 in Northern Ireland. Their work is included in the excellent resource called 'Moving Beyond Sectarianism'. This resource also contains material produced for adults by Craig Sands, and for young adults in the 14-18 age group in both the formal school and informal youth sectors by Yvonne Naylor. These are available from the ISE office in Belfast at 683 Antrim Road, Belfast BT15 4EG, Northern Ireland tel: +44 (0)28 9077 5010. Currently, the Transforming Sectarianism project through the work of Yvonne Naylor, is producing material for the 9-13 age group.
'Moving Beyond Sectarianism' is also downloadable from the above website. It provides a good understanding of the roots of sectarianism in an ecumenical framework within a Northern Irish context. Many of the activities and exercises which have been piloted and tested with young people and community groups in Northern Ireland can be adapted for use in Scotland. However, educators should note that this does not necessarily mean a straight transfer of material because the Northern Irish context is very different. Some of the material will not be relevant for most parts of Scotland.
The Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) see these materials as being very useful in the Local and Global Citizenship programme and the Young Adult Resource pack is particularly useful for GCSE in Social and Environmental Studies - Similarity and Diversity (Theme 2).
Ideas from this pack could be used within Scotland as part of the Education for Citizenship programme and also for PSD, Drama, History and Modern Studies.
Community Relations Council, Northern Ireland
The Community Relations Council was formed in January 1990 as an independent company and registered charity. It originated in 1986 as the result of a proposal of a research report commissioned by the NI Standing Advisory Committee on Human Rights. The Community Relations Council was set up to promote better community relations between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland and, equally, to promote recognition of cultural diversity. There is a whole section on sectarianism and anti-sectarianism.
BBC Northern Ireland Eyewitness Website on Sectarianism
This is an interesting website with lots of links to a range of issues related to sectarianism but also to other equality issues. There are interactive games for young people and also ideas for teachers to develop, particularly using the game 'Be a Reporter'. There is also a section with different voices and perspectives from the incidents surrounding Holy Cross. The Holy Cross drama, produced by BBC Northern Ireland and shown in Scotland in November 2003 ,can be used as a visual trigger for generating classroom discussions on sectarianism. Contact the CERES Resource Centre to borrow a copy of the video. CERES Resource Centre tel: 0131 651 6274 or e-mail: ceres@ed.ac.uk.
Challenging Sectarianism in the Early Years
The Media Initiative for Children is a joint effort between the Peace Initiatives Institute (Colorado, U.S.) and NIPPA - the Early Years Organization (Belfast, N.I.) to use mass media and classroom experience to teach in young children the value of respecting and including others who are different.
As a coordinated educational programme using a combination of 60-second television messages and pre-school curricula, it focuses on three types of differences:
- Physical / disability (as often used in prejudice against disabilities)
- Racial (as often used in racism)
- Cultural (as often used in sectarianism)
The video clips can be seen at the above URL.
For more information about this initiative and a comment from Jane Gracie, Early Years teacher from Midlothian, Scotland, go to the Early Years section on this website.
NIPPA, the early years organisation in Belfast, Northern Ireland, also offers a 6-hour training programme to early years workers on challenging sectarianism. Visit the NIPPA website for more information.
This is the educational section of the Anti-Defamation League, an American organisation aimed at combating anti-semitism, prejudice, bigotry and hatred. Its resources, although American in approach and content, are nonetheless very useful in supporting anti-sectarian, anti-racist or anti-bullying initiatives in British schools.
Muslim Council for Britain and also Iqra Trust
For information about Islam and British Muslims, it is valuable to visit the Muslim Council for Britain and also the Iqra Trust.
Welcome to respect. On this website you'll find everything you need to know about the UK-wide campaign to get people of all faiths and none to spend more time with each other. The idea is for us all to get to understand one another more. We've put together loads of ideas to help you come up with ways to benefit you and your community. We'd also like you to tell us about things you're doing already that create respect between people of different backgrounds.'
This is a magazine-style website aimed at young people, sponsored by the boxer, Prince Naseem Hamed. It is both highly interactive, with multiple choice formatted questions to 'Test your Tolerance' and continual directions to 'sign up' for information packs and posters. There are g rants available for up to £1,000 for 'Tolerance' related projects. Advertised scheme finished in March 2004 - it's definitely worth checking to see if it gets renewed.
The Foundation for Religious Freedom
The Foundation for Religious Freedom has created a reference book for Tolerance and Cults in the New Millennium: 'The Cult Around The Corner is dedicated to bringing tolerance, reason, understanding and open communication to an often explosive subject: the involvement of oneself, a friend or loved one in a group that might be called a 'cult' - with all the fearsome baggage that word now carries. The events of September 11, 2001, and subsequent reactions toward Muslims, Sikhs and others, brought home how small our planet has become; how actions in one part of the globe can affect everyone. Most frightening, how hate directed at a different ideology, festering to a boil, can erupt into violence that hurts us all.
This raw reality of our ever-shrinking globe makes more important than ever the message of mutual respect for the right of all to believe as they wish. Thus we offer this common sense handbook on overcoming serious religious differences between individuals and groups.'
This website carries reviews of the book and can be ordered online.
Adherents.com is a growing collection of over 41,000 adherent statistics and religious geography citations, membership/adherent statistics and congregation statistics for over 4,200 religions, churches, denominations, religious bodies, faith groups, tribes, cultures, movements, ultimate concerns etc.
Researchers and educators can use this website to answer such questions as 'How many Methodists live in Indiana?', 'What are the major religions of India?', or 'What percentage of the world is Hindu?' The website presents data from both primary research sources such as government census reports, statistical sampling surveys and organisational reporting, as well as citations from secondary literature which mention adherent statistics.
Searching for Scotland you will find it via United Kingdom - figures are mixed in with other UK figures and not that easily accessible. Data can compare the number of adherents over time but only covers the range of Christian denominations.
The website appears to have a 'Christian' bias in its statistical coverage - for example, the section on 'Some Major Contemporary Religious Bodies: Oldest to Youngest' starts with the Christian era and goes through all the variations in Christianity with passing reference to only the mainstream movements of other religions.
A particularly interesting and comprehensive section, in terms of coverage of all world religions, is the section on 'Predominant Religions'. It notes that:
Most Countries have a Single Numerically Dominant Religion. In most countries of the world, a majority of people (over 50%) are adherents of the same religion. In most nations where Christians make up the majority, the majority of the population adhere to a single religious body (such as the Greek Orthodox Church in Greece, the Catholic Church in Poland, or the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Norway).
In most of the world's countries, the predominant religion is one of the world's two largest religions, Christianity or Islam. The country lists provided for each predominant religion could easily be turned into classroom exercises to map the geographical coverage of different religions and their main denomination (especially Christianity and Islam which predominate).
Another section looks at the religious affiliation of various groups of people. This might be of more lighthearted interest, though the section on US presidents has wider interest when compared to the percentage of the population adhering to that faith in the country.
This website has a lot of potential to back up other research / project work. It does not purport to be anything other than statistical so do not expect to find any explanations of religions on this website. As with all statistics - use with care!