Religious Education in a New Age of Globalization: The Case in Hong Kong Peter Tze Ming NG Chinese University of Hong Kong

Introduction The tra g edy of Septe mber 11, 2001 has s h aken ma ny of us in re-thinking about our fundamental beliefs and understandings of ‘Globalization’ and what Religious Educators can do in this critical time. It is indeed a significant topic of our conference to reflect on ‘RE in this new age of Globalization’ and I am here to address this topic from my Hong Kong experience. The concept of Globalization has long been used in the past few centuries yet its meanings are changing in different times and as varied as its users. It has once been used by missionaries in the seventeenth century and later in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as motto for the expansion of the Christian empire and for the evangelization of the whole world. It has also been used to signify the “compression of the world” and “the greater consciousness of the world as a whole, in terms of economy and social c u l t u r e s ” . ( Wa l t e r s , 1 9 9 5 : 1 ; R o b e r t s o n , 1 9 9 5 : 8 ) . In regard to the proper task of religious education for t o d a y, i t d e p e n d s v e r y m u c h o n h o w t h e t e r m ‘ g l o b a l i z a t i o n ’ i s conceived. If globalization was understood to be preaching the gospel to the world, the task of religious educators would simply be to train preachers of the Bible and to equip them for the work of evangelization. Ye t , i f t h e c o n c e p t o f g l o b a l i z a t i o n i s m e a n t more than the nurturing of faith and commitment, or be understood as the consciousness of the one world with many cultures and religions, then the task of religious educators may turn out to be one which aims at helping pupils to cope with life among people of different cultures and religious faiths.

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The Case of Hong Kong H o n g K o n g i s a s e c u l a r , p l u r a l i s t i c a n d o p e n s o c i e t y. S i n c e 1 8 4 2 , H o n g K o n g h a s b e c o m e a B r i t i s h c o l o n y, w i t h t h e portion of Kowloon Peninsula added to it in 1860 and the lease o f N e w Te r r i t o r i e s f o r 9 9 y e a r s i n 1 8 9 8 . Hence, the New Te r r i t o r i e s w h i c h f o r m e d m o r e t h a n 9 0 % o f t h e c o l o n i a l l a n d h a d to be returned to China in 1997. It was settled by the Sino-British Joint Declaration in 1984 that the colony of Hong Kong would be handed over to China and become a Special Administrative Region of China when the lease ended in 1997. The return of sovereignty took place on July 1, 1997. B e i n g a B r i t i s h c o l o n y , H o n g K o n g w a s o p e n t o We s t e r n c u l t u r e s a n d r e l i g i o n s i n c l u d i n g C h r i s t i a n i t y. Ye t , w i t h o v e r 90% of the Chinese population, the government of Hong Kong has learnt to respect Chinese culture and Chinese religions in t h e t e r r i t o r y. Hong Kong has a variety of religions. Besides Protestant Christianity and Roman Catholicism, there are Islam, B u d d h i s m , Ta o i s m , C o n f u c i a n i s m , H i n d u i s m , S i k h i s m , J u d a i s m a n d o t h e r f o l k r e l i g i o n s t o o . ( Hong Kong 1998, pp.312-321.) On matters of religious beliefs and practices, Hong Kong is an open and free market. Some significant features are worth noting here. In Hong Kong, there are government-subsidized schools run by the various religious traditions. These schools are closely located to one another and citizens of Hong Kong are free to choose whatever schools they like despite of their religious adherence. Also, there are individuals who claim to be Confucian, yet they m a y a p p e a r o c c a s i o n a l l y o n c e r t a i n B u d d h i s t o r Ta o i s t f e s t i v a l s . S u c h b e h a v i o r s a r e n e v e r c o n d e m n e d a s b e t r a y i n g o n e ’s r e l i g i o n . Furthermore, it is not uncommon to have several religions r e p r e s e n t e d i n t h e s a m e f a m i l y. For instance, we may have a family which consists of a father who is a Confucian, a mother who is a devout Buddhist, and the three children who may be a Roman Catholic, a Baptist and a Methodist or one who belongs to ‘Falungong’ cult. M o r e o v e r, a l l f a m i l y m e m b e r s m a y h a v e t o a t t e n d a Ta o i s t f u n e r a l s e r v i c e t o g e t h e r w h e n o n e o f t h e i r grandparents or a close relative dies. In short, people of Hong Kong have been learning how to respect and live in harmony with people of different faiths, and most of religions in Hong

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Kong have been blossoming amidst the pluralistic context in Hong Kong. It should be noted that since Britain was a Christian country and the Church of England had a significant role to play in social and political affairs in the United Kingdom, the A n g l i c a n C h u r c h i n H o n g K o n g d i d s h a r e s i mi l a r, t h o u g h l e s s e r r i g h t s i n t h e c o l o n y. C o n s e q u e n t l y, e v e n t h o u g h C h r i s t i a n i t y has never been enjoying full monopoly on the religious market of Hong Kong, Christian churches including Roman Catholics were given important privileges and much greater shares of social resources than other religions. Ye t , s i n c e 1 9 6 0 s t h e government of Hong Kong has adopted a more lenient policy towards other non-Christian religions and invited organizations of various religious traditions to join partnerships as g o v e r n m e n t ’s r e - d i s t r i b u t o r s i n t h e p r o v i s i o n o f e d u c a t i o n a n d social services in Hong Kong. Since the return of the sovereignty of Hong Kong to C h i n a , t h e ‘ O n e C o u n t r y, Tw o S y s t e m s ’ p o l i c y w a s a d o p t e d a n d Hong Kong was ruled by the new government (known as the Hong Kong SAR government), according to the Basic Law which was a mini-constitution drafted between China and the United Kingdom. There was no change of religious policy in Hong Kong, as promised by the Basic Law (Articles 32 & 141). However, as the political situation has been changed from the rule of a British colonial government which favored Christianity to the rule of Hong Kong SAR government which does not have favoritism to any religions, Christianity who has once been enjoying the princely status is now being treated fairly and equally as other religious traditions. M o r e o v e r, a l o n g s i d e w i t h i t s d e - c o l o n i a l i z a t i o n p o l i c y, t h e H o n g K o n g S A R g o v e r n m e n t h a d m a d e t h e B i r t h d a y o f B u d d h a a p u b l i c h o l i d a y, t o b e a counterbalance act as Christmas holiday and others had been given to the Christians. Hence, the religions in Hong Kong are sharing the spirit of ‘let the blossoming of the hundred flowers be’.(Ng, 1989:394-395)

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The Challenges to Religious Educators in Hong Kong As David Ng has said, globalization brings great challenges to religious educators. In Hong Kong, the greatest challenge for religious educators is how to handle religion(s) in a f a i r a n d o b j e c t i v e w a y. No matter what religion one is after or is teaching, it must not be presented as the one and only one religion, but rather as one among the many religions in the world. Globalization signifies not only the awareness of the world as o n e e n t i t y, b u t a l s o t h e c o n s c i o u s n e s s o f o n e w o r l d w i t h m a n y cultures and many religions. The existence of religious pluralism confronts one with varied truth-claims in which none of them holds a privileged status.(Ng, 1989:395-396) Regarding the teaching of religious education, there are two problems related here, namely the problems of indoctrination and of commitment. The first problem is the problem of indoctrination. It has been widely accepted that indoctrination should have no place in modern education, neither could a teacher impose any religious beliefs upon his/her pupils. How then can religious educators be saved from the charge of indoctrination? There are three elements underlying the accusation of indoctrination: a.

b. c.

That, in the process of teaching, disputatious views (including religious beliefs) are imposed upon pupils as irrefutable facts; That the pupils cannot exercise their reflective power to contemplate other possible views; and That the pupils are not free to exercise their autonomy to accept or reject what is presented to them.(Cox, 1983: 101-110; Wh ite, 1982:125-129)

In order to be indoctrination, religious themselves: i) ii)

kept safe from educators should

the charge of always remind

not to impose upon their pupils religious beliefs as though they were irrefutable facts; to be self-critical, be prepared to accept challenges and criticism from different viewpoints; and

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iii) to respect the pupils’ right to think for themselves and make up their own minds. More p o s i t i v e l y, religious educators should fully recognize education as their ‘first order activities’.(Grimmitt, 1981:49) They should ensure themselves that the subject is t a u g h t i n a n e d u c a t i o n a l l y a c c e p t e d w a y. There may still be some teachers who are convicted of their beliefs as ‘absolute truth’ and want to impose them upon the pupils. Ye t , t h e m o r e they are concerned about education, the more they would be convinced of the value of respecting the autonomy of their pupils and would keep themselves from the vices of indoctrination. The second problem is the problem of commitment. If religious educators are not allowed to impose religious beliefs upon their pupils, how then should they handle their religious commitments. Many educators today still hold the view that personal religious commitment should not be acceptable in education for it may destroy the values of being ‘objective’, ‘open’ and ‘neutral’ in the process of education. There is p r o b a b l y a d a n g e r t h e r e w h e n o n e ’s c o m m i t m e n t i s n o t h a n d l e d p r o p e r l y. I w o u l d , h o w e v e r, a rg u e t h a t p e r s o n a l c o m m i t me nt i f handled properly can rather serve as a helpful tool in religious education. F i r s t l y, i t s h o u l d b e n o t e d t h a t ‘ o p e n n e s s ’ d o e s n o t exclude commitment. A committed person can still be an ‘open-minded’ person. S e c o n d l y, s i n c e r e l i g i o u s e d u c a t i o n necessarily involves commitment, there is no point in w i t h h o l d i n g o n e ’s c o m m i t m e n t a n d p r e t e n d i n g t o b e ‘ n e u t r a l ’ . Edward Hulme was right when he argued against ‘neutrality in education’, saying: “If what is loosely called the uncommitted (i.e. open-minded) teacher is permitted a freedom to work that is denied to some of his colleagues then there is a real danger that he will be allowed to proselytize on behalf of his own scepticism, which would be no less repugnant because it is fashionable.”(Hulme, 1979:21) I n d e e d , i t i s o n l y w h e n o n e ’s p e r s o n a l c o m m i t m e n t i s declared then can one really be open for educational dialogue

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with people of different commitments. Personal commitment, if kept open, can become a helpful tool in religious education. Hulme suggests that it can serve as ‘a primary source material’ which would provide greater chances for the pupils to exercise critical assessment. Personal commitment should then be seen a s a d i a l e c t i c a l w a y, i . e . a s o n e ‘ w h i c h i s f i r m b u t p r o v i s i o n a l o r partial’.(ibid.:88) It is provisional or partial if it is subject to modification in the light of new experiences. Commitment of this kind is educationally acceptable as it is open to new challenges and criticisms from people of other commitments. For even if the religious educator has his/her own commitment and is holding certain religious truths, this would not stop him/her from allowing his/her pupils to contemplate the possibility of alternate views and to make their own personal choices. One of the fundamental concerns of contemporary education is to help pupils to develop their rational thinking and to exercise autonomous choices. If religious education is to be educationally acceptable, it should definitely share the same concern. Especially when pupils are confronted with different t r u t h - c l a i m s i n t h e s o c i e t y, i t i s e s s e n t i a l f o r p r o p e r r e l i g i o u s education to enable them to make personal judgements critically a n d r e s p o n s i b l y, a s i t i s s o d e m a n d e d i n t h e c a s e o f H o n g K o n g .

Concluding Remarks In this new age of ‘Globalization’, the term signifies the consciousness of the world as one which embraces a variety of different cultures and religions. A few centuries ago, it was this awareness of one whole world that brought forth in the countries of Europe and America the motivation for missionary m o v e m e n t s a n d t h e e x p a n s i o n o f t h e We s t . It has been a legacy o f t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s , n o t a b l y d e s c r i b e d b y t h e m o t t o : ‘ To evangelize the whole world in this generation’, Therefore, the early missionaries wanted to conquer China by the gospel of Christ and to wipe off pagan cultures by the Christian culture. There has been a notorious book published in 1922, entitled: ‘The Christian Occupation of China’ which meant to be a comprehensive survey and review of the work of missionaries in C h i n a . ( S t a f f e r M . T. , 1 9 2 2 ) Ye t t h e t i t l e w a s s o i n t r i g u i n g t h a t

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it has brought to the attention of many Chinese intellectuals and resulted in the Anti-foreign and Anti-Christian Movements in the 1920s in China. N o w, t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s h a v e l e a r n t t h e l e s s o n from their over-the-centuries’ work in China that they could no longer uphold the supremacy of Christianity over other Asian religions which were as pagan or heathen and they have to pay due respect the Chinese culture as they have respected the We s t e r n c u l t u r e s . This is indeed a very good lesson, not only for the missionaries of early days but also for our religious educators of t o d a y. The experiences of China are shared by other Third Wo r l d c o u n t r i e s a n d t h a t i s w h y t h e r e o f t e n e x i s t s t h e anti-globalization movements, or specifically anti-western movements alongside with the process of globalization in E a s t e r n o r A s i a n c o u n t r i e s e v e n t o d a y. They are reminding us of the same message that ‘Globalization’ could by no means be a tool for cultural aggression nor political imperialism. ‘Globalization’ should signify not only the awareness of the w o r l d a s o n e e n t i t y, b u t a l s o t h e c o n s c i o u s n e s s o f o n e w o r l d w i t h many cultures and many religions. Hence, religious educators today have a more urgent task, not only to lead pupils into mere understanding of their own religious faith and traditions, but also to equip them for life in a global context, learning to respect and appreciate faith of other religious traditions, in order that they may live harmoniously with peoples of various religious faith and ideologies.(Ng, 1998:183-185) Their task is, by all means, to lead pupils into a spiritual journey of life, in which the pupils are not guided to the same destination but ‘to travel with a different view’.(Peters, 1964:47)

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