Teachers can feel they are walking a tightrope trying to make RE relevant and responsive to students of all religions and none. For a teacher with a strongly-held faith, it is no straightforward matter to treat a range of antagonistic beliefs, including secular views, as though they are all equally valid.

RE syllabuses have to “reflect the fact that the religious traditions of Great Britain are in the main Christian while taking account of the teachings and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain”. They are not obliged to take account of the 61 per cent of teenagers who, according to a 1995 survey (Teenage Religion and Values, Gracewing, 1995) say they are atheist or agnostic.

Marilyn Mason of the British Humanist Association says: “There is a tendency for RE syllabuses to imply that moral values are necessarily religious, and this is both untrue and offensive to humanists.”

Anne Krisman, an RE consultant and head of RE in Little Heath School, Redbridge, says: “It is very easy for children to get the idea that only religions carry values.” Professor John Hull of Birmingham University talks about “religionism” - downgrading religions other than your own and ignoring non-religious stances.

No one wants the supermarket approach: choose what you fancy off the shelf, whether it be Buddhism for stress, Christianity for a church wedding, Judaism for its mysticism, or New Age mantras for personal development.

There is nothing to stop RE being taught more critically. Many schools, for example, celebrate Diwali, Eid and Hanukah, as well as Christmas. This could be a chance to look at these festivals historically and politically. How and why did Christianity in Europe assimilate earlier, pagan and Roman traditions? How has Diwali been affected by its transition from a majority festival in India to a minority festival in Europe? What motivated African-Americans as recently as 1966 to add a new festival, Kwanzaa, to the crowded midwinter scene?

Another important way of exploring religious and spiritual ideas is to look at dissenting ideas within religious communities. The many incarnations of Christianity across the world make it obvious there is no single “Christian view” on life, death or morality. Students could see just how different those views can be if they could listen to a member of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement as well as the local vicar.

Within ethnic and religious minorities there is dissent, too. You would never guess from the media that there are Jewish boys who go to synagogue on Saturday morning and football on Saturday afternoon, or Muslim girls who meet their friends in the pub.

For young people trying to develop their own moral code and figure out their place in the world, contact with such alternative views could be just the way to rouse interest in RE.

Julia Bard teaches part time in London

WEBSITES

www.lgcm.org.ukLesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) - an international charity working to bring gay liberation to the churches andChristianity to the gay community.

www.gn.apc.orgwafWomen Against FundamentalismsArticles, resources and an education pack from an organisation that challenges the rise of fundamentalism in all religions.

www.cant.ac.ukrenetJudaismjewish.htmlIntroducing the Jewish Faith. A perspective that recognises different views rather than conveying an orthodoxy http:members.dca.netareidkwanzaa.htmA good introduction to Kwanzaa, the African American winter festival.

http:www.humanism.org.ukguideforteachers.aspBritish Humanist Association Guide for Teachers www.secularism.org.uknsshome.htmNational Secular Society http:re-xs.ucsm.ac.ukReligious education exchange service - really does provide contending views. An excellent resource.

www.holidays.netHolidays on the net. A garish site but a useful resources for teachers and students.

www.bbc.co.ukeducationlzoneworld.shtmlA rather straight rendition of the major world religions from the BBC learning zone.

www.bbc.co.ukreligionreligions Detailed information from the BBC’s Religion amp; Ethics site