Theistic Dissonance Among Religious Jewish Holocaust Survivors: A Psychodynamic Perspective

Coining the term theistic dissonance to capture conflicted attitudes and feelings toward God, this article examines faith-based reactions to the Holocaust. The theological weltanschauung of religious Jewish Holocaust survivors is analyzed, with a particular focus on their attempts to reconcile the notion of a benevolent and caring God with their harrowing experience. Basic religious sources and contemporary literature are presented to elucidate the realm of resolutions of theistic dissonance. It is suggested that elements of defense mechanisms are adapted from the emotional into the cognitive realm, and are used by survivors to facilitate respective interpretations of God’s role during the Holocaust. Dissonance resolution is seen as being informed theologically and experientially for these victims who confronted stark challenges to their religious integrity.     

The case of Holocaust Education Week in Toronto

How does one explain the extraordinary success of Toronto's Holocaust Education Week (HEW), 2004, in its 23rd year? This article sketches three distinct time periods of the development of this annual event and argues that the increasingly dominant role of “survivors” and of the “second generation” in these events has played a major role in its success, as well as the involvement of women. The nature of Christian‐Jewish relations and the ways in which HEW fits into a Canadian national narrative will be discussed. The article concludes that the success of HEW can best be understood if one sees its evolving practices as a popular religious movement that bridges gaps between some, but not all, streams of Judaism, of different generations and diverse geographical and class origins.     

Reviewing the Religious Education Review

In 2012 a Review of RE in England was initiated by the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, in response to a perceived sense of crisis among the religious education (RE) community. Its recommendations, which include a new National Curriculum Framework for RE, were published in October, 2013. The fact that the proposed National Curriculum Framework for RE aspires to provide a curriculum model of excellence that all schools should follow, naturally invites careful study and scrutiny. This article considers the question whether the Review’s conclusions provides a democratically mandated, legally compliant, educationally convincing and socially appropriate future direction for RE in England. It is concluded that there are serious weaknesses in the proposals and that the Review process was a missed opportunity for the emergence and articulation of a model of religious education that is appropriate to the aims of liberal education in a democratic, increasingly diverse English society.     

Rethinking Primary Religious Education

After a brief consideration of the history of religious education in England and Wales, this paper analyses developments under three main headings: pupils, religions and methods, and suggests that changes can be seen in the light if variations revolving around these three areas. The paper then describes the design of a new RE syllabus for Anglican primary schools in Wales using a life-of-founder approach and recommends the advantages of this approach for wider use.     

宗教信仰与思想教育

据报道,某县委书记领着一位下乡干部去看当地农村的一批佛寺,这些佛寺全部修茸一新。佛寺中香火旺盛,善男信女甚     

Religion,Education, and Religious Education in Irish Schools

This essay is part of a collection of short essays solicited from authors around the globe who teach religion courses at the college level (not for professional religious training). They are published together with an introduction in Teaching Theology and Religion 18:3 (July 2015). The authors were asked to provide a brief overview of the curriculum, student learning goals, and pedagogical techniques employed in their courses.     

The Holocaust after 70 years: Holocaust survivors in the United States

Over 70 years, there have been different narratives of the Holocaust survivors coming to the United States. Survivors’ stories begin with an event of major historical significance. Difficulties in conceptualizing historical trauma, along with common distortions and myths about Holocaust survivors and their children are examined. This article proposes that it is impossible to discuss the consequences of extreme suffering without consideration of historical meaning and social context with which they are entwined. The evolution of the social representation of the Holocaust and the contradictions in clinical attributions to survivors and their children with consideration of the future is described. Attributions to survivors and their children with consideration of the future is described.     

Public Support for Religious Education in the Nineteenth-century United States

The purpose of this paper is to examine the three overlapping movements during the nineteenth century that sought to provide public support for religious education. The first movement sought to fund denominational schools directly from public revenues. These publicly supported denominational schools received funds from the state in proportion to the number of students they enrolled. The second movement tried to establish common non-denominational religious schools. These non-denominational religious public schools were supported by the Protestant majority, though opposed by Catholics and Lutherans. In the third movement, the religious public schools, attempted to create schools that were nondenominational during the class hours but were denominational outside class hours.