Religion Media Festival 2023: Dr Opinderjit Kaur Takhar on rebranding RE as religion and worldviews

Religion Media Centre Podcast

Dr Opinderjit Kaur Takhar, president of Theology and Religious Studies UK, told the Religion Media Festival 2023 of her passion to ensure that the study of religion is given a degree of seriousness in schools and is part of the national curriculum. But it was time to rebrand religious education to reflect world views and lived experiences, so “world views” was a good way forward. She said it was about moving away from the textbook and focusing on lived experience - ethical issues, morality, religion, politics, history.

Dr Takhar, who is also director of the Centre for Sikh and Panjabi Studies at Wolverhampton University, said the media representation of Sikhs in Britain was important and she condemned the recent report, Does Government Do God, by the government faith adviser, Colin Bloom, as wrong and damaging to the reputation of the Sikh community. However, she did agree with the recommendation to improve religious literacy across the board.

The festival was held at the JW3 Centre in North London, with a programme organised by the Religion Media Centre.

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