Eliminating Religious Extremism Should Begin with Textbooks

According to a report by People’s Daily Online on November 10, a study recently released by the U.S. government found that in Pakistani textbooks, minority religious groups are often described as inferior or second-class citizens, enjoying only the limited rights granted by Pakistani Muslims. In Pakistani schools, most teachers regard non-Muslims as “enemies of Islam.” The study concludes that teaching discrimination in Pakistani schools may contribute to the growth of religious extremist forces in the country, negatively affecting national and regional stability. In a certain sense, textbooks are the “specimens” of a nation’s culture and the “templates” for shaping the mentality and thinking of its people. Because textbooks are aimed at growing adolescents, they have a very important influence on the formation of young people’s worldview, values, and outlook on life. If some extremist ideas and concepts are absorbed by adolescents through textbooks, they can easily be distorted and exploited, producing harmful social consequences. Pakistan’s current education syllabus was formulated in the 1980s by the military government of Zia-ul-Haq. [1]1 Zia-ul-Haq (1924–1988) was the sixth President of Pakistan, who came to power in a 1977 military coup and ruled until his death; his regime pursued an Islamization policy that reshaped the country’s legal and educational systems. Under the guidance of this syllabus, schools—places meant to impart knowledge and cultivate virtue—were turned into centers for the development of fundamentalist elements. This situation helps explain why war is often supported, tolerated, or forgiven there.

据人民网11月10日消息，美国政府近期公布的一项研究结果显示，在巴基斯坦的教科书里，少数宗教群体常常被描述成劣质或是二等公民，只享有巴基斯坦穆斯林给予的少数权利。在巴基斯坦的学校中，大多数教师都将非穆斯林视为“伊斯兰的敌人”。该研究报告认为，巴基斯坦学校存在的教学歧视可能导致宗教极端主义势力在该国增长，对国家和地区稳定形成消极影响。从一定意义上来说，教科书就是一个国家文化的“标本”，是塑造一国民众心态与思维的“模板”。因为教科书面对的是正在成长的青少年，对于青少年世界观、价值观和人生观的建立具有十分重要的影响。如果一些偏激的思想观念通过教科书被青少年所接受，就极易被扭曲利用，对社会产生恶果。巴基斯坦现有的教育大纲是上世纪80年代由齐亚•哈克军政府制定的。在这一教育大纲的指导下，使学校这一传道授业的场所变成了原教旨主义分子发展的中心。这一状况有助于解释为什么在那里战争常常得到支持、容忍或是原谅。

In fact, as recently as the end of October, two terrorist bombings were carried out in the city of Atyrau in western Kazakhstan by an Islamic extremist group called “Soldiers of the Caliphate.” [2]2 “Soldiers of the Caliphate” (Jund al-Khilafa) is an Islamist militant group active in Central Asia, linked to the Islamic According to reports, the main members of this organization are all hiding in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with the aim of waging jihad within Kazakhstan and participating in some international terrorist activities. Although school education is not omnipotent, under conditions of incomplete and asymmetric information, school education can still form deep-rooted influences. Therefore, to eliminate the roots of extremist ideologies and organizations, military strikes alone are insufficient; the soil in which they exist and develop must also be removed. This soil consists of textbooks and school education whose core is prejudice and intolerance. Does this mean that textbooks should contain no religious content at all? In fact, this is an important factor that often sparks debate and troubles the compilation of textbooks in many countries. For example, in 2009, the Texas State Board of Education in the United States hired experts to review the state’s public school history syllabus. Conservative experts argued that the syllabus should emphasize the role of the Bible and Christian faith in American history, while liberal experts hoped to make as few changes as possible to the existing syllabus.

事实上，就在10月底，哈萨克斯坦西部的阿特劳市发生了两起由名为“哈里发战士”的伊斯兰极端组织所制造的恐怖爆炸案件。据报道，该组织主要成员全部藏匿于阿富汗与巴基斯坦的交界地区，其目的是在哈萨克斯坦境内发动圣战，并参与一些国际恐怖主义活动。 虽然说学校教育不是万能的，但在信息不完全、不对称的情况下，学校教育又会形成一些根 深蒂固的影响。因此要消除极端主义思想和组织的根基，仅凭军事打击是不够的，还要消除其存在和发展的土壤。这一土壤就是以偏见和不容忍为内核的教科书和学校教育。那么，这是不是意味着在教科书中一点也不应该涉及宗教内容呢？事实上，这也是一个常常引发争论并困扰许多国家教科书编写的重要因素。例如，在2009年，美国德克萨斯州教育委员会聘请了一些专家对该州公立学校的历史教学大纲进行了评审，保守派专家主张教学大纲应强调圣经和基督教信仰在美国历史中的作用，自由派专家则希望尽可能少地对现有教学大纲进行修改。

The author believes that textbooks should actively embody and reflect religious culture, religious ethics, religious history, and religious art. On the one hand, it is difficult for textbooks to avoid religious content. Whether in the East or the West, regardless of the form of religion in a given country, religious factors always permeate its language and writing, history and geography, ethics and morality, and art and customs. On the other hand, while schools and textbooks bear the responsibility of imparting knowledge, they also serve important functions such as guiding thought, shaping morality, and renewing concepts. Religious factors should become an important component of school education and textbooks.

笔者认为，教科书应该积极主动地体现和反映宗教文化、宗教伦理、宗教历史及宗教艺术。一方面，教科书是难以避开宗教内容的。无论在东方还是西方，无论该国有何种宗教形态，宗教因素总会渗透在该国的语言文字、历史地理、伦理道德、艺术风俗之中。另一方面，学校和教科书在承担传授知识这一责任的同时，还兼有思想引导、道德塑造、观念更新等重要功能。宗教因素应该成为学校教育和教科书中的重要内容之一。

Thus, it is clear that we should not simply reject religious content in textbooks; rather, we should introduce general religious knowledge objectively and rationally in textbooks, opposing both the vilification, distortion, and attack of other religions and the one-sided promotion of only one type of religion or sect. As for the method by which religious content enters textbooks, it can be presented through objective descriptions of historical evolutionary facts, through comparisons that introduce their respective similarities and differences, or through art courses that reflect their unique value. In fact, religion can be exploited by extremist organizations in biased textbooks, but it can also serve world harmony in calm and rational textbooks. For example, secondary schools (including vocational schools) in Germany offer courses on religious ethics and morality, introducing students to ethical and moral ideas worth learning from various religions, playing an important role in helping students understand the meaning of life and providing behavioral norms.

由此可见，我们不是简单地要在教科书中拒绝宗教内容，而是应该在教科书中客观、理性地介绍宗教常识，既反对对其他宗教的丑化、歪曲和攻击，也反对只突出宣传某一类型的宗教或教派。就宗教内容进入教科书的方式而言，既可以通过历史演变事实来进行客观描述，也可以通过比较来介绍各自异同，还可以通过艺术课程来体现其独特价值。事实上，宗教既可能在偏激的教科书中为极端组织所利用，也能够在平和理性的教科书中服务于世界和谐。例如，德国的中学（包括中专）中都设有宗教伦理道德课，为学生介绍各种宗教中值得借鉴的伦理道德思想，在为学生解答生命意义和提供行为规范上发挥重要作用。

In summary, culture is enduring; conflicts of national or racial interest are only temporary. One should not, for the sake of temporary interests, create generations of bigoted and extremist people. Because what is sown is hatred, only revenge can be reaped; what is sown is goodwill, only understanding can be harvested. Those bigoted and extremist people will ultimately destroy the culture on which they depend.

总之，文化是长久的，国家或种族的利益冲突只是暂时的，不应为了暂时的利益造就一代代偏执极端的人。因为种下的是仇恨就只能收获报复，种下的是善意才能收获理解，那些偏执极端的人最终会将自己所依存的文化毁灭。