The upper Council of churches Schiefermair on the teaching of ethics: „don’t Expect a fight to the pupils“

Evangelical Church welcomes new regulation

Vienna (OTS) – The Protestant upper Church Council Karl Schiefermair
no competition looks in from the Federal government, presented „ethics education“ in the situation of the already existing religious education. „I don’t expect a fight to the pupils,“ said the in the in the Protestant Church for questions concerning the education of competent higher Council of churches, in an interview with the Evangelical press service. Schiefermair welcomes the introduction of ethics as a compulsory subject for students who opt-out from religious education, for a General compulsory subject of ethics, he sees no need. „Young people fail in terms of ethics nothing, if you go in the Protestant religious education,“ the higher Church Council, who was himself for many years in religious education and as a specialist inspector.

Too little trained personnel

Critical Schiefermair evaluated the beginning of the gradual introduction for pupils in the upper school starting in the fall of 2020: „It is not possible on real teaching level in the shortest time possible people for such an important subject.“ Currently there are still too few qualified teachers. Recurring criticism that religion teachers of ethics should inform the higher Church Council shall not apply: „I know of no Situation in which you would ban Religion teachers – because they are – after appropriate training and ethical lessons to offer. That would be a blatant discrimination.“

„‚The‘ ethics does not exist“

The essential difference from Religion and ethics classes Schiefermair seen in the emphasis on the normative nature of Religion: „for Us, it is not clear that Christianity is more than just a Creator of the culture in which we live, but also lived want to be, today and now, and we are Convinced that this is the right way.“ At the same time, the teaching of ethics is not free of normativity, whose primary pillar is formed here but the human rights. Unhappy Schiefermair with the name of „ethics teaching“, as he suggest that there is a specific code of ethics that would be taught. „‚The‘ ethics, there is not. There are different ethics, like there are different religions.“ Schiefermair would have preferred the name „ethics and religion“, since even the religions are to be taken in the view.

Even if Schiefermair expected in the future, not the struggle for students between ethics and religion teachers, he sees mainly in the Vocational Middle and Higher schools (BMHS) the organizational challenge: „If the teaching of ethics receives a more favorable hours position than the teaching of religion, then you can understand the students that attend this class and not the peripheral religious education. It may be that this eliminated an hour in the vocational schools and colleges for us.“

epdÖ
Dr. Thomas Dasek
0699 18877 047
epd@evang.at
http://www.evang.at