THE battle to establish religious superiority and dominance has been a cause of international conflicts (wars) that date back centuries. It continues to happen across the world with devastating human costs. Assumptions of religious superiority by individuals through narrow and selective reading of religious texts usually breed religious intolerance.
Religious intolerance often comes from a dark and dangerous place. It is usually associated with people who project themselves as deeply religious and God-fearing but believe that their born-into or chosen religion is superior to others. These religious bigots are to be found across all religions and usually comprise only a tiny percentage of people.
Their voices and actions, however, have far-reaching consequences. They are typically unapologetic about their discontent with other belief systems and speak and act carelessly. They often use their positions of power to discriminate and persecute other human beings they consider inferior.
While under apartheid, Christianity was the favoured religion in SA schools. In society, there was a fair degree of freedom for individuals in the Muslim, Hindu and other religious communities to build their places of worship and practice their religious beliefs. South Africans, in general, have shown a fair degree of respect for religious diversity in the post-apartheid era.
In crises such as natural disasters that frequently occur in different parts of the country, volunteer organisations from various religious and cultural backgrounds rally around to support devastated communities (and schools), irrespective of religion. Multi-faith gatherings are regular events in South Africa, and in recent times, in response to the Palestinian crisis, such gatherings have reminded us about our shared humanity.
There have, however, been incidents of religious intolerance in South African society and schools over the years, and these must be duly addressed in a way that does not ferment further intolerance and divisions. Sensational media reporting is not helpful; it simply adds fuel to a fire someone deliberately started. There is also the tendency to want to use the media to demand revenge and make the perpetrator bear more than the full intensity of the offence.
These retaliatory actions are short-term solutions that do not address the underlying issues that led to such thinking and action. People then take sides; the effect is a more polarised society than a unified, respectful and cohesive one. This means that, as a society, we have not done enough in places of work and schools to address the issue of religious literacy and tolerance. It also means that more intensive work must be done to clear misunderstandings and biases people harbour.
There is the misguided idea that the government alone is capable of and responsible for implementing the principles of the Constitution regarding religious tolerance. Fostering an environment of mutual respect and understanding in schools requires collaborative efforts from teachers, learners, parents, and the community. We have already seen what civil society and religious, cultural and sports organisations in South Africa can do when they act together for positive societal change.
These same ideas apply to how we address the issue of violence. The South African police do not have the resources to monitor every school in the country. Research has shown that when a whole-school approach is adopted, there is a more substantial likelihood that violence in schools can be reduced or eradicated. It requires developing a unified strategy that engages all stakeholders - learners, educators, school management teams, governing bodies, parents, and community members, who collectively assume responsibility for creating a safe school environment.
It means building strong partnerships with parents and community-led safety forums, especially when external factors might be the cause of violence. Less spoken-about violence includes verbal abuse, threats, intimidation, emotional manipulation, or social exclusion. It may be non-physical but still causes emotional, psychological, or social damage. As such, it cannot be ignored as less important.
Schools can actively integrate religious intolerance and non-violence issues in daily teaching across various subjects to encourage learners to create a positive school culture. Restorative practices and interventions must be considered to address conflicts by focusing on healing and reconciliation rather than punishment. Such proactive practices encourage accountability and may build a culture of peace within troubled schools.
The South African Schools Act and the Policy on Religion and Education are important pieces of legislation. What is clear, though, is that there is no textbook recipe to deal with religious intolerance or school violence and that waiting for the Department of Education to fix such issues will be a wait in vain. Schools do, however, need to have procedures for reporting and addressing incidents of racism, religious intolerance and violence while striving to create a vibrant, vigilant and healthy school community that promotes good values.
Ubuntu is a value system that can inspire a school’s culture and ethos. School learners (and teachers) learn religious intolerance and violent behaviour from various social spaces, including extended family, social circles and social media platforms. Just as these negative behaviours are learnt, they can also be unlearned through thoughtful interventions that do not alienate and push people to further extremes.
Gender-based violence in homes, schools and the workplace is still a significant issue that requires our constant vigilance despite ongoing awareness campaigns in South Africa. Violence against women happens across the socioeconomic spectrum (amongst the poor and rich), where dominating men (and boys) exert power over women they want to control.
Unfortunately, gender-based violence is not always reported, which means that such girls and women continue to experience violent trauma daily. When good people remain silent and fail to judge unacceptable social behaviour, society is in trouble. Breaking the silence means that mothers, fathers, mothers-in-law, fathers-in-law, sisters, brothers, friends and fellow workers must speak up and speak out.
Gender-based violence is everybody’s business! There is always the fear of reprisal that might come from acting. In such cases, to avoid personal risk, seek advice from trusted people or report such incidents anonymously to the Gender-based Violence Command Centre (Emergency number: 0800 428 428).
Power resides in everyone, and no one is permanently stuck in victimhood. Religious intolerance and violence (in schools) will continue if we become complacent and if we begin to accept it as a normal part of life. We need to act and act together.
Professor Suriamurthee Maistry
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Professor Suriamurthee Maistry is a Decolonial and Critical Curriculum Scholar in the School of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.