Symposium: Religious Education and the
Liberal State
By: Asma Afsaruddin
This symposium is premised on the belief that questions
surrounding religion and education in this country can best be
answered by straightforward engagement with the views on education
espoused by our various faith communities, and that these views are
presented at their most authentic through the lens offered by the
understanding and experience of the community’s own
members. The symposium centers on the work of James Dwyer,
whose skepticism toward a reflexive embrace of parental rights has
opened up new fronts in the debate over religion and
education.
Islam, in Asma Afsaruddin’s view, has a rich educational
tradition that in many ways shares liberalism’s emphasis on
critical thinking skills. Buttressed by a sweeping historical
overview, Afsaruddin suggests that liberal values such as
tolerance, pluralism, and equality are evident in the Islamic
tradition, and provide a basis for optimism going forward. In this
sense, Afsaruddin seeks not to challenge the substance of the
educational values articulated by modern liberalism, but instead
implicitly questions the premise that such values need to be
transplanted from outside the Islamic tradition.