Ambiguity, politically: challenges for Religious Education in times of populism and political polarization. Theological and didactic perspectives

Abstract

Especially in current times of crisis and various challenges to democratic rules and processes, democracy is fundamentally dependent on public deliberation and therefore requires processes of learning and acquiring the necessary skills in dealing with political ambiguities. For the formation and cultivation of democratic consciousness, which is of great urgency in order to oppose anti-democratic attitudes and practices effectively, religious education has to take up a specific role and responsibility. From a fundamentally intersubjective orientation towards the acquisition and cultivation of tolerance of ambiguity, religious education contributes specifically in a theological sense by raising aspects of human dignity and the recognition of the other, equality regardless of gender, origin, race or religion.