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TRADITION AND TRANSFORMATION:
A CONTEXTUAL PEDAGOGY
FOR
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
by
Philip G . H ill
A thesis submitted in conformity w ith the requirem ents

for the degree o f Doctor o f Education
Graduate Department o f Education
University o f Toronto
© Copyright by Philip G. H ill (1995)
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N am e
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SUBJECT TERM
ahffclsiUM-I
SUBJECT c o o e
Subject Categories
T N I HUM ANITIES A N D SOCIAL SCIENCES

ONUftUMCmONS JU® IK ART5 h g id a lo g y . ,0 5 2 5 PHILOSOPHY, REUGtON AND _______________________ .05 79
Architecture .......................0729 R epin g — ,0 5 3 5 THEOLOGY M e dieval — 0581
A rt H istory ...................0377 Rdinirwir
nviyiwita „—• ,0 5 2 7 Philosophy-----------------------------0422 M o dem ___ — ____0582
Gnemo . . . .................................. 0900 Soencvs__ -0 7 1 4 Religion B lack__________________ 03 28
p g ty f ............. _ ................. 0378 Secondary. -0 5 3 3 A fric a n _________________ 0331
G eneral — _______0318
H n s A rti .................... 0357 Saaal Sciences -0 5 3 4 A sia A ustralia and Oceania 0332
B ibtool Studies__________ .0321
Information Science.................... 0723 -0 3 4 0 G o n a ia n -------------------------0334
, ___________________ -0 5 2 9 C lerg y....------------------------- 03 19
Journefam „ ........................0391 European-------------------- 03 35
tjb ra n Science ________ —0399 Teacher Training____________ 0530 E fistaryof------------------------- 0320
Philosophy o f-------------------- 0322 Latin A m erican------------------ 03 36
MotsGammunicalians ...— — 0708 Technology...— _____________ 0710 M iddU Eastern------------------ 0333
Theology-------------------------------0469
M usic......................- ................. 0413 Tests andM easixem ents______ 0288 United States____________ 03 37
Sgeedi Communication------------0459 Vocational_________________ 0747 social sciences H istory o f Sciance___________ 05 85
American Studies____________0322 la w .. ................. 0398
(ANGUAGLIITERATURE AND Anth ropology Political Science
education UNGUSTKS Archoecxou .- ____________ 0324 G eneral— ---------------------- 06 15
O w d ....................... - ............0515 Lanauaas InSemotionaf Law and
Cultural — ___________ 03 26
Adm inistration..............— -.0 5 1 4 c S S n d ________________ 0679 Relations______________ 06 16
Physical-------------------------- .0 3 2 7
Aduk and Continuing — .......... 0516 0289 Business Administration Public A dm inistration_____ 0 6 1 7
A g ria jJ u ro fr. ..... 0517 UMfM CS , Recreation ______________ 0814
0290 G eneral ___ 0310
S t — ...................- ------- 0273 0291 Accounting __________ 0 272 Social W o rk ---------------------------0 4 52
Bifaguol and M ulticultural......... 0282
B anking--------------------------- 07 70
Busmsns.......................... 0688 0401 M anagem ent_______ -.0 4 5 4 G eneral ........ 0626
Community C oteae ............. ...0 2 7 5 0294 Crim inology and Penology -.0 6 2 7
Curriculum and Instruction-------- 0727 M m fceting..-----------------------0338
atrm ~ .0 2 9 5 C anadian Studies___________ 0 3 85 Demogra phy____________ 09 38
h f y Childhood..........................0518 .0 2 9 7 Economics Ethnic and fcodal Studies__ 0631
S 'e n ta n - ................ 0524 .0 2 9 8 G eneral________________ 0501 Individual and Family
» 02 77 S tudies--------------------------06 28
.'. moos ond C oum stng--------0519 .0 3 1 6 A gricultural_____________ 0503
0591 Commerce-Business_______05 05 Industrial and Labor
. , 0680 Relations______________ 0629
A s ia n __________________ 0305 Finance -— — _________ 0506
l> - « r ___ 0745 Canadian (English)_______ 0352 H istory-----------------------------05 09 P uhfcandS ocial WeSare .-.0 6 3 0
t J « y c l ------------------------------0520 Ganoctan (French)-------------0355 la b o r__________________05 10 S odal Structure and
Horn* Economics___________ 0278 E nglish____________ — 05 93 Developmen t___________ 07 00
Theory----------------------------- 0511
Industrial — ______________ 0521 G erm anic_______________0311 Folklore __________________ 0358 Theory and M ethods______ 03 4 4
la n a g s a iilU n t n -----------0279 Transp o rta tio n ______________ 0 7 0 9
ta lin A m ric a n . :_____0312 G eography---------------------------- 0366
Mcd iem o tici ____________0280 titJ J i. _ Urban and Regional Planning __09 99
iw p v cosu m » 0315 Gerontology_______________ 0351
M u sic............................... 0522 ............ 03 13 History W omen's S tories __ 0453
Philosopliy a t .......... - .................09 9 8 1 - Slavicand fa s t European.__0314 G eneral ____ 0578
r G 3 T . ' . .................................. 0523
*HE SCIENCES A N D ENG INEERING

nOtOGKAi SCIENCES G eodesy______________ 0370 Speech Pathology________ 0460 Engineering
Agricultore G eology______________ 0372 Toxicology............................ 0383 G eneral............................... 0 5 3 7
G eneral................................ 0473 Geophysics..................... 0373 Home Economics - ................ 0386 A erospace. .................... 05 38
Agronomy ...........0285 H ydrology............................ — 0388 A gricultural..-------------------- 05 39
Anim al Culture and M neralagy—................. - ........... 0411 PHYSICAL SCIENCES Automotiv e ......................-0 5 4 0
N u tritio n ............................0475 Poledbotony — ...................0345 Biom edical........................... 0541
Anim al Pothoiog)r..............,.0 4 7 6 Pure Sciences
Paleoecoloc, ............ - ......... 0426 Chemistry C h m ico l ........................... 0542
rood Sennet and Paleontolog y ................... 0418 G v il ..........................05 43
Technology........----------- 0359 Pnlcnm olr a y ............................... 0985 G eneral................................ 0485 ' Electronics and E lectrical 0544
Forestry ana W ilc flile ........... 0478 M yno lo gy..........................—— 0427 A gricultural........................... 0749
A n a lytica l............................. 0486 Heat and Thermodynamics ...0 3 4 8
Plant C ulture.........................0479 Physical G eography .........0368 H ydraulic............................. 05 45
Plant Pathology.................... 0400 Physical O ceanography............. 0415 Biochemistry ......................04 87
In d u stria l......................... — .0 5 4 6
\m t Physiology ..................0817 Inorganic------------- -0 4 8 8
M a rin e ................................. 05 4 7
rw e M o n o g m e n l------.....0 7 7 7 HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL N uclear ---------------------0735
M atariab Science ..... 07 94
• od Technology................ 0746 O rganic............... 04 90
SCIENCES Mechanic a l .................01548
I / Pharmaceutic a l .......... 0491 M etoBurgy........................... 07 43
Environmental Sciences.......... -.0 7 6 8 .......................... 0494
.no rol.............................. 0306 »l -hi fx-itn
f ------ M in in g ................................. 0551
neann c ti .......................... 0495
A natom y.............................. 0287 N uclea r---------------------------05 52
G eneral................................. 0566 .....................0754
Biostotistics........................... 0308 P ackaging........................... 0549
Audiolagy_______ 03 00 Mathem atics — _______ 0405
Botany...................................0309 Chem otherapy..................... 0992 Petroleum .............................0765
C e l ....................................0379 Physics
D entistry................................ 0567 Sanitary and M u n icip a l 0554
Ecology................................ 0329 G eneral.................. 0605
Eduaolion.............................. 0350 System Science..................... 0790
Entomology........................... 0353 Acoustics.............................. 0986
Hospital Management...........0769 Astronomy and G eotechnology ................... 0428
G eneticsT ............................ 0369 Ite ra tio n s Research................. 0796
Human Development ............0758 Astrophysics ......... 0606
lim nology............................. 0793 Immunology...........................0982 Plastics Technology....................0795
M ie r o H tiy ........................0410 Atmospheric Science.............0608
Medicine and S urgery 0564 Textile Technology...................... 0994
M o le a .,r _ ................ 0307 A to m ic ................. 0748
Mental Health ..... 03 47 Electronics and E lectricity 0607
Neuroscience........................0317 PSYCHOLOGY
N ursing................................. 0569 Elementary Particles and
Oceanography..................... 0416 N utritio n......................... 0570 G e n e ra l......................................0621
P hysiology-................. - ......0433 High Energy.......................0798
Obstetrics and Gynecology -0 3 8 0 Fluid and Plasma .....- .........0759 Behavioral.................................. 0384
R a & rfo F .............................. 0821 uccupotionui n to a n c C linical - .....................................0622
Veterinary Scirmce................0778 M olecular............................. 0609
Therapy.............................. 0354 N uclear ............ — .0 6 1 0 Developmen ta l............................06 20
Z o o lo g y............................... 0472 Exper im e ntal.............................. 0623
O phthalm ology..................... 0381 O p tic s ............... 0752
Biophysics Polh o lo g y..............................0571 Ind ustria l.....................................0624
M in e r a l - ................... 0786 R adiation.................. 0756
Pharmacology ............. 0419 Solid S tate............................ 0611 Personality .................................. 0625
M edical................................ 0760 P hysiological.............................. 09 89
.0 5 7 2 Statistics ..„ ............................ 0463
,0 3 8 2 Psychobiology............................03 49
EARTH SCIENCES .0 5 7 3 A pplied Sciences Psychometric s .................... 0632
Biogeochemistry..........................0425 A pplied M echanics.................... 0346 S o d o l................... ......................0451
Geochemi s try ............................. 0996 Radiology.............................. 05 74
Recrea tion ......... 0575 Computer Science.......................09 84
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To be
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Theses:
Doctoral
Doctoral
July 89
Hill, Philip G. (Doctor of Education, Graduate Department of
Education, University of Toionto! , Tradition and
Transformation: A Contextual Pedagogy fo r Religious
Education, 19 05.
ABSTRA CT
The purpose of this thesis is to present a contextual
pedagogv for high school religious education. The aim of
this pedagogy is to help students from the broad middle
class to understand more fully the social, political, and
economic factors which define their reality and to seek a
qualitative transformation of their lives which will improve
their own general well-being as well as the well-being of
the less-fortunate.
It is argued in this thesis that, there exists in
Canadian society distinct social classes. Religion serves
partly to reinforce prevailing socio-political and economic
conditions. While schools often support a status quo
hegemony, the praxis nature of a contextual approach to
religious education encourages students to reflect
critically on and transform social structures and agencies
that create an unequal access to well-being.
ii
a c k n o w led g em en ts
I would like to thank my thesis supervisor Clive Beck
for his encouragement, guidance, and valuable insights. I
would also like to express my gratitude to Malcolm Levin and
Edmund Sullivan for responding thoroughly* critically, and
diligently to rough drafts of my thesis. A special
acknowledgement is owing to my father whose humility,
gentleness, and authentic love of iearn *nS have inspired me
tremendous! r over the years;. Above all* 1 wish to express
sincere thanks to Rosa Maria Cepeda, the guiding light in my
life, for her constant support and e nc °ura8 ement during the
composition of this thesis; onl y she k nows the depth of ray
appreciation.
i ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract ii
Acknowledgements iii
Introduction 1
1. A Social Context for the Fortunate Class 6
2. The Am biguity of Religiousness 26
3. Contextual Reli gio us Education: 55
An Historical Overview
4. A Contextual Pedagogy for Religious Ed ucation 82
5. A Contextual Pedagogy for Religious Education: 135
Practical Imp lications
Conclusion 167
Endnotes 173
Bibliography 199
iv
INTRODUCTION
Social conditions in Canada have deteriorated over the
past two decades.^ One child in four is now g r o wi ng up in
pov e r t y . “ Inequality has increased and society is becoming
more pol ar iz ed between the rich and the poor. The median
wealth of the highest income group in Canada is over 200
times that of the lowest income group.-* Poverty has
increased significantly amo ng women. Between 1971 and 1986,
the number of working women living below the poverty line
increased five times more than raen.^ Dependency on social
a ss is ta nc e has reached record proportions. Signs of hunger
and h o me le ss ne ss are visible on urban street corners at
rates u nc om mo n in Canada since the Great Depression. In
1987, Canada 's homeless po pu l a t i o n was approximately one
mil li on ,^ including app ro xi ma te ly 84,000 people living in
Toronto who depend ed on food b a n k s .^ Poverty is threatening
more and more families as they are forced to live unhealthy
and h u m il ia ti ng lives.
This scenario is not restricted to people born into
co nditions of poverty. Working families are experiencing
increasing pressures and anxiety as they struggle to
ma in ta in a decent standard of living in the new global
economy. Parents are often too busy to pay their children
the att en ti on they need. So me of these children move to the
streets to find att en ti on and acceptance by others,
frequ en tl y falling prey to dr ug and alcohol abuse, violence,
pro stitution, a n d organized crime.
Of central interest to me as a religious educator
teaching in a suburban area of Me tro pol ita n Toronto are the
ways in which the middle class can help to ameliorate the
above conditions. Hunger, depression, and alienation seem
far removed from the comfortable and satisfying lives of
suburban area students, but fifty-three percent of us
belonging to the so-called middle class are being stret che d
ever more tensely between the very rich and the very poor in
society.^ As we increasingly bea r the brunt of the tax
burden in the country, some of us may come to experience the
pangs of hunger commonly felt by the poor. Canada is a
country of abundant wealth and resources. Yet, at the same
time, it has the second poorest children in the
industrialized world.® The persistence of poverty in this
country is, I believe, morally reprehensible as well as
economically indefensible.
This thesis is an educational response to the alarmin g
growth of poverty in Canada. In it I wit 1 present a
contextual pedagogy for high school religious educ ati on
which is directe d toward the br o a d middle class or what I
call the fortunate class. The fortunate class represents
those people who are neither poor nor rich, are employ ed
most or all of the time, and earn enough to provide for some
luxuries as well as the necessities of life. That is, we may
say that the fortunate class represents those people who
appear relati vel y comfortable and content in lifje.^
3
The purpose of this thesis is to present a pedagogy to
he lp learners f ro m the fortunate class to understand more
fully the social, political, and economic factors which
de fine their reality and to seek a qualitative
transformation of their lives which will improve their own
general we ll-being as well as the we ll-being of the less-
fortunate. I will argue that any significant social change
in Canada must at least in part be initiated by the
for tunate class and c a r ri ed through in solidarity with the
less-fortunate.Unlike in other parts of the world where
the less-fortunate alone are creating a stronger voice and
seeking social change, in Canada it is in large part the
actions of the for tu na te class in solida ri ty w i t h the less-
fo rtunate which will create change. The two groups must come
together and c h a ll en ge the lifestyles of the wealthy
(including the mi ddle class) and call for a redistribution
of wealth and resources.
My particular di scourse will be ai m ed at ach ieving what
I refer to as eq u i t a b l e a c c e s s i b i l i t y to well-being through
significant social change. The term ’well-being' implies
much more than econom ic security and comfort. It means a
diff er en t way of living, a different prioritization of
values, an d a greater appreciation of life itself, rather
t han what material wealth ma y have to offer us. It means
cha n g in g the way we relate to each other, how we use finite
resources, and how we may live a c c o rd in g to needs rather
than wants.
4
Paulo Fîre reminds us that a pedagogy of this sort
faces immense challenges. He argues that members of the
fortunate class frequently resist personal transformation
and social change which may require that they give up the
privileges they have e n j oy ed for many y e a r s . 11 Similarly,
John Kenneth Galbraith raises two important issues in
relation to transformative action by the fortunate class.
The first issue is one of sh ort -te rm gratification. Members
of the fortunate class resist contempl at in g a n d responding
to their own long-term well-being. Rather, they prefer
plannin g short-term actions which lead to comfort and
contentment. Their th in k i n g is that long-term results may
never arrive. An d if they do, "the benefits in the longer
run may well be for o th ers to enjoy. In any case, the quiet
theology of laissez faire holds that all will wo rk out for
the best in the e n d . " 1^ a second issue cit ed by Gal braith is
one of self-affirmation. Members of the fortunate class
usually believe that their particular lifestyles and good
fortune have been well ea rned - a product of personal
virtue, intelligence and effort. The u n f or tu na te result is
that "there is no e q u i ta bl e justification for any action
that impairs it (good fortune) - that subtracts from what is
e n j oy ed or might be e n j o y e d . " 1^ It is to ch allenges such as
these that this thesis is addressed.
In Chapter One I will present a brief overvi ew of
social st ratification in Canada. I will posit that a broad
fo r t u n a t e class does exist in this country. I will then
consider the insights of particular social theorists and
argue that the most efficacious way to improve the w e l l
being of the less-fortunate is through the actions of the
fortunate. In Chapter Two I will discuss the am biguity of
religiousness an d show how religious behaviour has changed
sign ifi ca ntl y through time. I will consider how religion can
both aliena te an d liberate people. In Chapter Thre e I will
review the historical development of religious e d u c a t i o n and
show how its aims have been influenced by both critical
pedagogy a n d liberation theology. In Chapter Four I will
develop an d explicate four co mpo nen ts of a contextual
pedagogy for religious educ at ion for students b e l o n g i ng to
the fortunate class. In Chapter Five I will apply the
contextual pedagogy to a grade eleven 'Christian Social
Justice' program.
CHAPTER ONE
A SOCIAL C ON TE XT FOR THE FORT UNA TE CLASS
Inthis chapter I will discuss some of the factors
whi c h constitute a social context for the fortunate class.
To do so, I will begin by explicating what is meant by the
term poverty. I will then explore the issue of social
classes and discuss how it relates to the Canadian social
context. This will be followed by an analysis of one
specific social class - the fortunate class - and the role
it can play in cr eat ing significant social change.
Pove rty
In this thesis, poverty will be c o ns i d e r e d in relative
terms. That is to say, even though poverty throughout Latin
Amer ica or Africa, for example, is mo re severe than in
Canada, this does not mea n that poverty in Canada should be
ignored, denied, or acc ep te d as insignificant. Poverty is
d et e r mi ne d by time an d place. People Jive in poverty when
their states of we ll - b e i n g are si gn if ic an tl y lower than
those of the ma j o r i t y of the community. Galbraith claims
that "people are poverty-str ick en when their income, even if
ad eq ua te for survival, falls ma rke dly bel ow that of the
community."* Similarly, the Economic Council of Canada
regards poverty as "insufficient access to certain goods,
services, and con di ti on s of life whi ch are available to
7
everyone else and have come to be accepted as basic to a
decent, m i n i m u m standard of living."^
The importance of c o n si de ri ng poverty from a relative
point of view was identified by Richard East er li n in his
1974 stud y of the relat io ns hi p between economic gr owth and
q ua l it y of life. He found that people's sense of contentment
de pe n d ed not on their a b s ol ut e but on their re la t i ve level
of affluence. His survey res ul ts from nineteen c o u nt ri es at
various economic levels showed that the p ro por ti on of the
po pulation that is sat is fi ed w it h its situation does not
increase with the country's wealth, but depends on the
individual's position on the national income scale. He
a rg ue d that equalization of incomes at a reasonable level of
aff lu en ce would help create a more w id es pr ea d sense of
tran qu il it y and s a ti sf ac ti on .^
Members of the l e ss -f or tu na te class, or what Galbraith
calls the "functional u n d e r c l a s s " , ^ experience p ov er ty on a
dail y basis. They include (1) the working poor - employed
individuals working at very low rates of pay, (2) the urban
welfare poor - the elderly, the sick, the disabled, and
single m o t he rs - who depend on social assistance, (3) the
rural poor - farm families living in poverty, and (4)
minority groups who, according to Alfred Marshall, are
"o v e rw or ke d and undertaught, weary and careworn, without
quiet and without leisure."^
8
Social Classes
Clear social class divis ion s are difficult to identify
in pos t-industrial societies. No longer is it the ca s e that
social di vi s io ns can be d i s t i n gu is he d solely on the basis of
those with pro per ty and those without, or between capital
and labour, or even betwe en social planners a nd those
co ntrolled by them. The social and political context is
difficult to decipher. Daniel Bell points out that there is
a decisive shift in the nature of work in North Ame rican
society, a shift of emphasi s from the role of the
traditional blue-collar worker in the labour force to the
professional a n d technical oc cu pa ti on category as the most
influential one in society.**Similarly, Alain Tourain e
envisages a n ew structure of classes where the old conflict
between capita l and labour is replaced by new types of
domination a nd social conflicts - between those who control
(as oppose d to own) the institutions of eco nomic and
political de cis ion -ma kin g a nd those w ho have been re duc ed to
a condition of "dependent particip ati on. "^
A c c or di ng to Gregory Baum, members of the less-
fortunate class in North Am eri ca are part of a social
structure which represents a "complex inte rm es hi ng of
technocratic de pe rs on ali zat ion and immobility, economic
do mination and exploitation, racial ex cl us io n and
inferiorization, a nd other forms including the su bj uga tio n
of women."® Amidst this intermeshing of factors social class
distinctions c an be identified.
To claim that Ca nada is a classless society, a claim
commonly made until twenty years ago,^ we would have to
assume, according to John Porter, that all Canadians are
"relatively equal in their possessions, in the amount of
money they earn, and in the op portunities which they and
their children have to get on in the world.However,
ac cording to the National Council of Welfare, between 1984
and 1988 low a n d medium- in co me families paid 44 percent and
17 percent more respectively in taxes, but high-income tax
payers enjoyed a 6 percent decline.^ A recently
implemented "regressive" tax system in Canada shifts the tax
bu rden from corporations, owned by the elite, to low and
m id dl e income families. In 1987, corporations paid only 16.4
percent of the national tax revenue.^ Statistics Ca nada
claims that in 1987 93,400 co rp orations with piofits of
almost $27 bi ll i o n paid no taxes.^ Statistics support
Dennis Forcese when he states that "class distinctions exist
in Canada desp it e assertions of classlessness, equality, and
national unit y and pride. People's lives are governed by
social differences."^ As Porter so eloquently stated,
"class becomes real as people ex pe r i e n c e i t . " ^
10
The Fo rtunate Glass
As industrialization g r e w so did the n ee d for employees
w it h technical skills and professional training. Today, the
for tunate class includes scientists, journalists, lawyers,
social workers, educators, medical doctors, academics, and
others wh o work primarily in the public sector.
This group of professionals is less interested in
p os s e s s i ng excessive amou nts of property a n d m o r e interested
in owning access to knowledge.*® Wi th increased
s oph ist ica tio n in technology, members of the for tunate class
are in greater demand to preserve productive efficiency A
m od e r n economy cannot function e f fi cie ntl y without the
particular expertise o f f e r e d by this group of workers. David
Bazel on argues that these "working i n t e l l e c t u a l s " d e s i r e a
p ri vi le ge d standard of living whic h may include the
o w n e rs hi p of some property for personal s e c u r i t y or "general
eco no m ic sweetening"*® but they are g e n e ra ll y job holders.
T he y are part of what Galbraith calls the "culture of
contentment" and gain status and income through ed ucation
and professional expertise. Their power to seek social
change lies in their educational qualifications, not in the
o w n e rs hi p of property. The fortunate cl a s s may be broadly
defined through income, but it is not occupa tio nal ly or
so c i a l l y homogeneous. As Gal braith explains, the fortunate
class, or what he refers to as the technocratic class,
includes
11
p e o p l e who manage or o t he rwi se staff the mi dd le and

u p p e r reaches of the g r e a t financial and industrial
firms, independent business -men and -women and those
in lesser employments wh o s e compensation is more or
less guaranteed. Also the large population - lawyers,
doctors, engineers, scientists, accountants and many
others, not excluding journalists a n d professors - who
make up the modern professional class. Included also
are a certain, if diminishing, number who w e r e once
ca l l e d proletarians - those with diverse skills whose
w a g e s are now, w i t h s om e frequency, supplemented by
those of a diligent wife. They, like others in families
w i t h dual paychecks, f i n d life reasonably secure. 9
Similar to the traditional work in g class, members of
the fortunate class earn their living by w o r ki ng for wages
(fixed salaries rather than houriy payments) but unlike the
working class, they are not a group of a l i en at ed labourers,
at least in the Marxian sense of the word. To some
considerable extent they control their wor ki ng environment
and the quality of what they produce. Eve n so, the
relationship today b et we en the fortunate and the less-
fortunate is real. For Bazelon, the fortunate class has
be co me the "cream of the p r o l e t a r i a t . " ^ a relationship has
developed between the two classes such that it's often
difficult to di fferentiate between them. Th is point is
p o s i t e d b y Frankel who states,
The 'middle class' consists of strata based m ai nl y on

cr it e r i a of occupation, income and w a y of life. The
occ up ations are m a i n l y non-manual, but their income,
w a y of life and v o t i n g behaviour are spread over a very
b r o a d band indeed. At the lower end they ove rl ap the
u p p e r working-class, at the top they reach into the
ru ling class. The b u l k of the middle strata are nearer
the w o r ki ng class on the more objective criteria,
ne ar er the ruling class in subjective behaviour.
12
Ac c o r d i n g to Barbara Hargrove, one unique feature of
the f or tun at e class is its "a bi li ty to manipulate and change
systems in order to acc om pl is h more social and economic
good."^ They favour a societ y where each person will
receive a fare share of the av a i l a b l e goods and services. We
m ay ass um e that what Har grove me ans by the term 'good* is an
improved state of general well-being for the fo r t u n a t e and
less-for tun ate alike. Ke ep in g this in mind, I will argue
that to ac hie ve a greater sense of well-being, members of
the fortu nat e class will ha ve to reduce their levels of
con su mp ti on and place less e mp ha si s on the a c c u m u l a t i o n of
material wealth. Of course, this do es not apply to the less-
fortunate class. Its me mbe rs desperately need greater
material we al t h and improved pat terns of consumption. What
we are a i mi ng for, in part, is a m o r e equitable di st rib uti on
of goods and services. This issue of eq u i t i b i l i t y is
r ein for ced by Alan Brown, who states,
If ... a system allows some to en joy luxuries, s ay an

auto mat ic dishwasher, but does so at the cost of
d en y i n g others basic goods, say, an adequate diet, then
that sys te m is to be c o n d e m n e d if an alte rna tiv e is
po ssi ble which provides e v er yo ne with basic good*; -
even if this denies luxuries to s o m e .^3
I will arg ue that it is the fortunate class that has
the greatest potential to create social change a n d achieve
an e q u i ta bl e dis tribution of goods and services, or what I
call an equitable accessibility to well-being. Wh at I mean
by this is not simply the d e v e l o p m e n t of a bigger soci al pie
13
in the de sp era te hope that the less-fortunate will then
receive a bigger slice of it and a ch ie ve a greater sense of
material well-being. History has shown many times that
greater wealth in one class (or nation) is always at the
expense of anot her class (or nation). In fact, with rates of
unemployment and cases of welfare today close to those
during the De pre ss i on years of the thirties, we can see
clearly that a greater accumulation of wealth in a society
as a whole, as is the case today in comparison to, say,
forty years ago, does not nec essarily mean that everyone
will receive a bigger slice of it. As Paul Vachtel states,
There are m o r e cars and television sets in the ghetto

today than there once were in comfortable middle-class
neighbourhoods. Yet anger, misery, a n d despair are
rampant. The pie has grown, but it hasn't really he lped
much. So long as those at the bo t t o m are accorded
ma rk ed ly less than the rest of us - both in respect and
in their s h a r e of the goods, w e all are taught to
clamor for - they will feel poor. Growth is no
substitute for greater equality. *
My particular discourse is aimed at achieving an equitable
accessi bil it y to we ll- be in g for everyone, the less-fortunate
and fortunate alike.
Ag ents of Social Ch a n g e
From the middle of the ninete en th century until the
middle of the tw e n t i et h century it was believed that the
wo r ki ng class, or what Marx re f e r r e d to as the
' p r o l et ar i a t1, w o u l d pl ay a decisive role in social change.
Marx believed that it was the wor ke rs in the mines, mills
14
and factories who w o u l d lead the struggle fo r hi gher wages,
shorter working hours, improved working conditions, and so
on. This was defin it el y the pattern in most parts of the
industrializing wo r l d du ring the nineteenth century. One may
argue that in m a n y instances it was the in telligensia who
led the revolts, but w e must keep in m in d that the sweat and
bl oo d usually came from the workers. Marx ar gue d that
through conflict agai nst the State the prol eta ria t would
eventu all y become su ff iciently class-c on sc iou s and
revolutionary to organize workers' co unc ils and seize the
mean s of production and distribution and State power.
However, as Erik Dammann clearly suggests, "despite all
attemp ts to make cl assical revolutionary s tr at eg y fit our
present situation, it seems clear that it is inapplicable in
a s o c ie ty of abundance.
Marx may have been justified in t a l ki ng of working
class revolutions a c e n t u r y ago but the situation today is
quite different. Even t ho ug h we can still hear the language
and ideas of Marx bei ng used,^6 I believe that social change
in a post-industrial era is initiated and carried through
more effectively by what Paulo Freire calls an "Easter
experience" whereby members of the fort una te class die a
life of ov er co ns um pti on and powerlessness and are reborn
wi th interests and li festyles which will improve the w el l
bei n g of the fortunate and less-fortunate alike. As Freire
explains, an Easter exp er ie nc e means fr e e i n g oneself from
soc iety's mythological context:
15
that they die as elitists so as to be res ur re ct ed on

the side of the oppressed, that they be born ag a in with
the beings who were not all ow ed to be. Such a process
implies a renunciation of myths that are dear to them:
the m y t h of superiority, of the purity of s o u l , of
their virtues, their wisdom, the myth that they save
the poor, the myth of the neutrality of the church, of
theclogy, education, science, technology, the myt h of
their own impartiality. F r o m these grow other myths: of
the inferiority of other people, of their spiritual and
physic al impurity, a n d of the absolute ignorance of the
o p p r e s s e d . 27
Perhaps a more suitable expres sio n w o u l d be a "resurrection
of being." This would highlight the fact that a
tr ans for mat ive act of renewal, of co ming back to life, means
being born again, not only materially, but also spiritually
and affectively. In addition, a resurrection of being
suggests not only personal transformation, but also communal
tra ns fo rm at io n wit h the less-fortunate. It wou ld involve
what Er i k Dammann calls a process of "counteraction," that
is, a realistic strategy to "replace competition for
economic ga in with active w or k for equality, fellowship and
c oo pe rat ion ... not merely passive antimaterialism, but
an tim at er ia li sm combined wit h active so li da ri ty !" 2 ® And it
is m o t i v a t i n g to know that there exists a significant number
of pe opl e belon gin g to the fort una te class who are fully
co mm it te d to such tr ans for mat ive action. In fact, in the
U nit ed States alone there are approximately six million
people an d over five thousand groups who are protesting, in
one wa y or another, against the consumer role soc ie ty tries
to force on them .2 ^ Galbraith states,
16
As to political attitude, there is a minority, not
small in number, who do look b e y o n d personal
contentment to a concern for those who do not share in
the comp ara tiv e well-being. Or th ey see the mo re
distant dangers that will result from a short-run
pr eoccupation wit h individual comfort. Idealism and
foresight are not dead; on the contrary, their
expression is the most rep utable form of social
discourse. While self-interest ... does frequently
operate under a formal cover of social concern, m u c h
social conc ern is genuinely and generously m o t i v a t e d . 30
Murray Bookchin points out that such a re volution
attracts "all those who feel the burdens of exploitation,
poverty, racism, imperialism, and, yes, those wh o s e lives
are frustrated by consumerism, suburbia, the mass media, the
family, school, the supermarket and the prevailing systems
of repressed sex uality."3 * Acco rdi ng to Mary Jo Leddy, the
initial stages of revolutionary ac t i o n and social change
will occur when "the middle class people begin to identify
the contradictions in their e xp er ie nc e and to un der sta nd
that the cause of those co ntr adi cti ons places them in
solidarity wit h the discontent of the po o r . " 3^ Thus, I posit
as conditions of life worsen for the fortunate class they
will initiate social change in an attempt to improve their
general well-being. To gather grea te r support and to develop
a stronger voice they will fi nd it necessary to join in
solidarity wi t h the less-fortunate.
My particular discourse is influenced somewhat by
Anto nio Gra msci's concept of "national-popular." Gramsci
argues again st the tra ditional Mar xist-Leninist
und erstanding that the state alone is the instrument of the
ruling class and the force for the repression of one class
17
b y another. While M a r x an d Lenin posited forcefully that the
de st ru ct io n of the state was a prerequisite for the
co ns tr uc ti on of socialism, Gramsci argues that a
revo lut ion ary mo vem ent will fail mis er ab ly if it confines
itself to specific class interests; it must take into
account the demands of people who do not have a purely class
char act er - people in movements concerned about peace,
nucl ear arms, environment, women's issues, and so on. What
is needed, if advanc es toward socialism are to be made, is a
uni fic ati on of a va r i e t y of social forces into a broad
democratic alliance expres si ng a national-popular collective
will. As Gramsci states,
The proletariat can become the leading and the dominant

class to the extent that it succeeds in creating a
sy stem of alliances whic h allow it to mobilise the
ma jo r it y of the population against capitalism and the
bourgeois state.
Gramsci's n a ti on al- po pul ar position is incorporated into
the insights of G re go ry Baum, who states,
Middle-class people who join in s ol id ar it y with the

groups at the base an d in the m a r g i n are motivated by a
similar co mb ination of collective self-interest and
moral commit men t to justice. Since in the long run
society will be de st ab il iz ed and d i s t or te d if it
represses the dema nd s for justice on the part of the
exploited, the collect ive self-int ere st of middle-class
Canadians, ev en when they are in privileged positions,
calls for so li d a r it y with the gr oup s at the base and in
the margin.
In a similar fashion, Mu rr ay Bookchin states.
18
It is true that a social revolution cannot be achieved
w it hou t the active or passive support of the workers,
it is no less true that it cannot be ach ie ve d without
the active or passive support of farmers, technicians,
a n d professionals. Abo ve all, a social revolu tio n
cannot be achieved wit ho ut the support of the youth,
from which the ruling class recruits its arm ed
f o r c e s . 35
Transformative action of the sort being proposed
does not deny the important role the less-fortunate can play
in social change. Their presence is es sential if success is
to be achieved. The greater the number, the stronger the
voice! But what needs to be emphas ize d her e is that, as
Si dne y Lens states, "the working class will not play the
leading role in transforming s o c i e t y " 3** but a significant
supp or tin g role nevertheless.
The idea that eff ec tiv e social change m u s t be initiated
through the actions of the fortunate class is not new.
Social theorists such as Jose Revueltas3 ^ and Alain
T o u r a i n e 3® have d oc um en te d how student revolutionary
mo ve me nt s in France, Mexico, an d the United States, in 1968,
were initiated by this particu lar class. They show how the
fortunate class joined in solidarity with the less-fortunate
and fought for a greater sense of justice. Michael
Ha rri ngt on points out that if the for tunate class avoided
so lid ari ty with the less-fortunate, or wha t he calls the
"other America," they w o u l d only create living conditions of
greater misery for all and a "political an d social
at mos phe re in which the needs of the majority can be
overlooked. " 3 ^
19
Wh a t we have e st a bl is he d so far is the idea that it is
the fortunate class who will play a leading role in
rev o l u ti on a r y movements today. This leads us to the
question, "W h y w ou ld the fortunate class want to create
social change, and perhaps jeopardize what they have already
a t ta in ed in life, when they are already relatively
comfort ab le a n d reasonably content?"
W hy Se ek Social Change?
I be lie ve that for me mbe rs of the fortunate class to
want to create social change, they must be convinced that by
co nt in ui n g al ong their present path they will event ua ll y
lose more than if they we r e to adopt a different
lifestyle.The first re action of the fortuante class to
such a pr op os iti on is total denial. It denies that problems
exist a n d it continues living as if there were no problems.
The issue of denial is an important one and it deserves
further attention. It is a primary obstacle to overcome if
membe rs of the fortunate class are to pursue social change.
People living in re la ti ve comfort often deny that
problems exist in their lives. We would rather continue
living in our small worlds of a f f l u e n c e and believe that all
is well than trouble o u r se lv es with disturbing thoughts
w hi ch might require changes in the wa y we live. If problems
surfa ce in the family or at work we believe they can be
sol ve d quickly and painlessly. Our arrogance and naivete
20
lead uc to believe that if a problem arises (alcoholism,
family violence, a nd so on) it can be s o lved without
changing our lifestyle. Sandra Postel provides us with a
comparison b etween the denial of an alcoholic a nd the denial
of someone who m a i n t a i n s that an environmental crisis does
not exist. She states,
This kind of denial can be as dangerous to society and

the natural e n v i r onment as an alcoholic's denial is to
his or her own h e a l t h and family. Be c a u s e they fail to
see their a d d i c t i o n as the principle threat to their
well-being, a l c o h o l i c s often end up dest r o y i n g their
lives ... In a s imilar way, by pursuing life-styles and
economic goals that ravage the environment, we
sacrifice lo n g - t e r m health a nd well- b e i n g for immediate
gratification - a trade-off that c a n n o t yie l d a happy
ending. '
So long as denial prevails, we will r e sist "standing back"
from life, so to say, to evaluate it c r i t i c a l l y and perhaps
pursue other more rewarding lifestyles. With denial our
interests lie in matters which span short periods of time
a n d provide us w i t h immediate gratification.
In addition to avoid i n g co n s i d e r a t i o n of long-term
results, denial also encourages what Robert Bellah et al
call "ontological individualism."^ so l o n g as problems are
denied there isn't a need to join in c o m m u n i t y w i t h others
and work toward common a nd long-term goals. Rather, we
believe that the individual comes first a n d everything else
second. D omination a n d exploitation flourish as people use
each other a nd the en v i r o n m e n t short-sightedly for personal
gain.
21
We can see that the pr o c e s s of denial is a major
obstacle for the fortunate class to overcome before the
majority of its members can be convinced that social change
is essential if a more suitable way of life is to be
achieved. For the moment, let us assume that the fortunate
class has liberated itself from the shackles of denial. We
are n ow in the position to address the question raised
above. That is, "Why would the fortunate class want to
initiate change when they are already living a life of
relat i v e comfort and conten t m e n t ? " To answer this question,
w e m u s t be g i n by first c o n s i d e r i n g what we m e a n by 'comfort
and contentment.1
I m e n t i o n e d earlier that the fortunate class represents
those p e ople who are neither poor nor rich, who have a low
infant m o r t a l i t y rate, a n i g h life expectancy rate, who are
e m p l o y e d most or all of the time, that is, those people who
are relatively comfortable and content in life. A point of
c l a r i f i c a t i o n is called for here. It is m y op i n i o n that most
members of the fortunate class do live in relative comfort.
We live in private housing, we attend qua l i t y schools, we
own cars, televisions, a nd computers, we have access to
h e a l t h y diets, we travel to e x o t i c places, a n d so on.
Even so, I believe that in a great many cases the
comforts and opportunities of the fortunate class do not
br i n g w i t h them contentment, in the true sense of the word,
or w hat I refer to as well-being. People often fall into the
consumer trap of consistently wanting more. As Wachtel
22
states, " Enough is always just over t he horizon, and like
the horizon it recedes as we approach it."*'* The frantic
pursuit of more cars, computers, and trips to the South
takes control of o ur lives - o f t e n l eading to long hours of
work, unnecessary stress, ill health, depression, violence
in the family, and divorce. Loneliness and feelings of
emptiness and m e a n i nglessness are common-place in the lives
of many of the fortunate class. Attempts to escape such
feelings are of t e n made through alc o h o l and drug abuse.
Treating well-being from a purely consumerist and economic
perspective b y no means guarantees contentment. There exists
a logical and destructive consequence to a life d r iven by
the am b i t i o n s for greater material wealth. As Alan Du r n i n g
states, "If h u m a n desires are in fact infinitely expandable,
consumption is ultimately incapable of pr o v i d i n g
fulfilment."** The more we have, the m o r e we want - a n d we
will do almost anything to achieve it. Wants turn into needs
while each luxury becomes a necessity.
An a l t e r n a t i v e understanding of well - b e i n g is one which
downplays the importance of m a t e r i a l w e a l t h a nd co n s u m p t i o n
and emphasizes values such as health, self-respect, respect
for others a n d the environment, a sense of mea n i n g in life,
and so on. It is u p o n this u n d e r s t a n d i n g of w e l l - b e i n g that
I will base m y reasons why the f o r t u n a t e class will w a n t to
seek social change.
First of all, let's ask, "Whose w e l l - b e i n g ? " Through a
change in lifestyle, are we attempting to achieve an
23
improved state of v eil-being for ourselves, our families,
the local bioregion, the nation, or the planet as a whole?
If the intent is purely egoistic then, I w o u l d argue, w e are
no better off t h a n those driven purely by material needs. If
the interests are p u rely altruistic then, I would argue, our
intentions differ significantly from those of a consumer ist
but the results m a y be equally harmful to the individual. It
is often the case that w h e n people live in purely unselfish
ways they are ta k e n a d v antage of by o t hers to such a degree
that they are sometimes rcbbed of their personal
possessions, sense of self-respect a n d respect for others. I
agree with Clive Beck that "we should seek both our own
well-being a n d the well-being of others. We should resist
pr e s s u r e s to go to one of the extremes to live only for
ou r s e l v e s or only for others.Adding to this, I would
posit that it is eq u a l l y important to seek a sense of
e cological well-being. This suggests that care, compassion,
and justice be e x t e n d e d b e y o n d the hum a n ar e n a to the seas,
mountains, and forests and all the c r e atures that inhabit
them. As Gregory Smith claims,
No longer c an we a f f o r d to b elieve that the pursuit of

self-interest, or even the apparent interest of human
society, inevi t a b l y contributes to the common good.
That 'good' must b e served w i t h a consciousness of
social and environmental costs, a n d w i t h accompanying
self-restraint.
Thus, m y response to the issue of why the
f o r tunate class w o u l d want to initiate social change is
q u i t e simple; it is in the best interest of everyone, the
24
fortunate a n d the l e s s - f ortunate alike, to do so. If social
change is not sought then our w e ll-being will lie e xposed
and vulne r a b l e to de s t r u c t i v e forces. Alan Brown states,
everyone has a direct interest in ever y o n e

enjoying the bas i c goods ... Thinkers, from Christ
to Marx, have a r g u e d that the rich as well as the
poor suffer from inequality. The central idea for
us is that so c i e t i e s c h a racterized by inequalities
... a re u n r e a s o n a b l e because the acti v i t i e s a n d
social relations therein are d e s t r u c t i v e of the
good life for everyone concerned. '
It is worth noting the results of a gallup poll comm i s s i o n e d
by the Future in Our Hands movement in 1975. To the question
w h e t h e r people w o u l d p r e f e r a simple and peaceful life with
limited income to a high income and a career with
corresponding stress, seventy-five per cent r e s ponded that
they would prefer the f o r mer.^®
It is clearly obvious, for example, that if w e continue
to live lifestyles whi c h contribute to the e x p l o i t a t i o n of
our natural resources, w h i c h deplete our soils, contaminate
our air and water, de s t r o y our forests, a n d contribute to
global warming a n d the d e p l e t i o n of the oz o n e layer, not
o n l y will our lifestyles deteriorate c o n s i d e r a b l y but our
very existence as a hum a n species m a y be threatened. Burning
states,
Mass poverty and the wasteful c o n s u m p t i o n of the

affluent a nd s h o r t - t e r m goals a n d o b j e c t i v e s are the
root of e n vironmental de g r a d a t i o n ... The neglect of
these concerns can only accelerate the environmental
perils which threa t e n all life on e a r t h . ^
25
The time is long o v e r d u e for us to learn that o u r current
lifestyles will h a r m the earth to such an extent that we and
our children may also be harmed. Any sense of individual
opportunity, security, and freedom we may exper i e n c e today
will quickly come to an end if we continue c o n t ributing to
the environmental crisis.
In summary, I have shown in this ch a p t e r that the
f o r tunate class can and must play a signif i c a n t role in
social change. Such c h ange will lead towards a better state
of w e l l - b e i n g for the f o rtunate and less-fortunate alike. In
the following chapter I will provide a cle a r understanding
of the mea n i n g of the term religiousness. I will argue that
religiousness is a product of prevailing socio-political and
econo m i c conditions. A so c i e t y that favours the rich and
su p e r - r i c h over the less-fortunate incorporates expressions
of r e l igiousness that differ considerably to societies that
seek the well-being of the majority. To this issue we now
turn.
C H A P T E R TWO
THE A M B IGUITY O F R E L IGIOUSNESS
My intent in this chapter is to explore the m e a n i n g of
religiousness by considering the different ways p e o p l e have
related to the mysteries of the u n i v e r s e throughout history.
I will begin with an analysis of the historical development
of religion. This will be followed by a discussion of
today's expressions of religiousness a n d I will s h o w how its
ambiguous n a ture can be b o t h a l i e n a t i n g and liberating.
Astrop h y s i c i s t s working on NASA's Cosmic Background
Explorer (COBE) satellite released recently a photograph of
the universe showing "ripples of wis p y matter left over from
the ’Big Bang' that created the universe."^ Claimed as the
most momentous discovery in the history of modern physics
and perhaps in the history of science, this sa t e l l i t e
p hotograph portrays the u n i v e r s e as a "mottled b l u e Easter
egg with an orange band from end to end."^ If one is
religious, claims a s t r o p hysicist George Smoot, this
photograph is like looking at God.^ What we are w i t n e s s i n g
today is a possible re-appropriation of 'God', although
under a radically different interpretation.
According to Reginald Bibby, the traditional Judeo-
Christian belief that God^ is an anthropomorphic figure
beyond life who created the universe, who overlooks all
forms of life, a nd who will be there at the end of time, is
largely d e a d in Canada.^ Even though there exists a c erta in
26
27
degree of truth to what Bibby says, I believe that there
still exists a significant number of people in the country
who at least "half-believe" in this form of God. Even so,
his insights remind us that science, consumerism,
secularism, materialism, a nd other p r e v a i l i n g ideologies are
currently challenging people with differing worldviews and
understandings of God.
If by the term 'religious' Sigmund Freud meant
believing in and c o mmitting oneself to an anthropomorphic
God then he was correct to a d e gree w h e n he predicted that
people wo u l d eventually abandon religion in favour of
rationality, " l e a v i n g heaven to the angels and sparrows."6
It comes as no surprise to hear Peter Berger declare that
people today are turning away from beliefs in the
supernatural for answers to universal questions.
Whatever the sit u a t i o n may have been in the past, today

the s u p e r n a t u r a l as a meaningful reality is absent or
remote from the horizons of e v e r y d a y life of large
numbers, v e r y proba b l y the majority, of people in
m o dern s o c i e t i e s who seem to m a n a g e to get along
without it q u i t e well.
Some important questions must be addressed, however,
before we c an a c cept a picture of the universe p ainted by
scientists, philosophers, and sociologists. For example,
does religi o u s n e s s imply necessarily a belief in and
commitment to a supernatural, providential order? Can a
person be spiritual without being religious? Is there a
transcendental q uality to religiousness? To address these
28
q u e s t i o n s we will c o n s i d e r some of the forms religiousness
has taken throughout history.
C o m m o n Senses of R e l i g i o u s n e s s
Clive Beck ident i f i e s two meanings of the word
'religious.' On the one hand, there is relig i o n in the
" b road sense" of the w o r d whi c h embraces "a set of ideas a nd
p r a ctices tied to a co m p r e h e n s i v e worldview and conception
of what is ultimately important in life."® On the other
hand, there is religion in the "popular sense" of the w o r d
which includes some or all of the f o l lowing features;
" belief in the supernatural (or the magical), belief in
providence, tradition, community, ritual, interest in
profound experiences, an ethical system, a worldview, a
preoccupation with the 'large questions' of life."^ Even
t h ough not all features a re essential, he says, a belief in
the supernatural and providential order is especially
important.
In my opinion, however, the claim that there exist two
senses of religion is o p e n to c r i ticism on at least two
fronts. First, it cre a t e s an unnecessary and possibly
h a r m f u l polarization b e t w e e n two groups of people, one group
b e l i e v i n g in a supernatural a nd providential order while the
o th e r does not. I am not convinced that p e ople can be so
easily classified as 'either-or' and I believe that an
o v e r s i m p l i f i e d c a t e g o r i z a t i o n can lead to d i s c r i m i n a t i o n a nd
29
stereotyping. Members of o n e group m ay regard themselves as
superior to m embers of t he other group and unnecessary
c o n f l i c t s c o u l d result.
Secondly, often terms such as 'God,' 'divine,'
'supernatural,' a nd 'transcendent' are used wi t h o u t a clear
understanding of how they differ in meaning. For example,
does B e c k m e a n by the term 'God' what John Robinson means by
'worldly h oliness'^® or is h e referring rather to what Paul
T illich calls 'the infinite a n d exhaustible d e p t h a nd ground
of being'
I w i l l attempt to show that there exists o n l y one sense
of religiousness, one which has to do with a belief in and
commitment to the powerful and mysterious forces in nature
called the numinous. In m a n y ways, this particular position
will a v o i d the unnecessary a n d sometimes confusing dichotomy
u n d e r l y i n g Beck's account of religion.
Assumptions
My argument that to be religious implies b e l ieving in
a nd committing oneself to the numinous is grounded in two
assumptions. First, it is a s s u m e d that w e all car r y with us
a history which may influence our present and future
actions. Moving from childhood to adulthood, we have been
a n d c o n t i n u e to be m o u l d e d b y family, friends, school, work,
society, and nature. We become more interwoven amidst the
cultural forces that have s h a p e d a nd that conti n u e to shape
30
us. While the past is al r e a d y with us, the future, as
Michael Grimmitt states, is f inding form and shaping our
present.
We wou l d all be hard put to b e able to separate the

person w e are a n d the values, beliefs a nd perspectives
that are ours now, f r o m the influence of our personal
nurturing experiences w i t h i n our families and f r o m the
co n t i n u u m of experiences w h i c h has s t r etched f r o m our
birth to our p r e s e n t . 12
Secondly, it is as s u m e d that religion is a human
construct, and nothing but a human construct, whi c h offers
believers feelings of security and control in life. There
exists a dialectic b etween humans and religion, that is,
religion is a product of human action yet people are
affected s t r o n g l y by that which they have produced. Religion
here is not u n d e r s t o o d as a d i v i n e l y revea l e d gift, nor is
it regarded as an absolute which exists objectively and
external to the believer. Gods a re p r o d u c e d relative to time
and place. D i f ferent historical epochs and socio- p o l i t i c a l
realities incorporate forms of i n s e c u r i t y in life w h i c h call
for differing expressions of religion. This a s s u m p t i o n that
religion is a social construct is r e inforced by Bib b y in his
studies of religious behaviour in Canada.
The findings are in a n d the m e s s a g e is clear. Religion,

Canadian-style, is m i r r o r i n g culture. A s p e c i a l i z e d
society is met w i t h s p e c i a l i z e d religion ... C u l t u r e
leads; relig i o n f o l l o w s . 1**
31
Fonts of the N u m i n o u s
In 1917, Rudolf Otto analyzed the various expressions
of religious experience, or what he called experiences of
the n u m i n o u s . ^ The term 'numinous' with i t ’s Latin origin
'numen' or 'god' was suitable for Otto because he regarded
all religious e x p e r iences as being induced by the revelation
of an aspect of divine power. The numinous presents itself
as something "wholly other" and is regar d e d as something
b a s i c a l l y and tot a l l y different.
Even though the numinous may be understood to
incorporate divine characteristics, Otto declares that it
cannot be defined in a definitive way. Along with divine
qualities, the numinous also incites a feeling which "grips
or stirs the human mind with this and that determinate
a ff e c t i v e state. The numinous is not so m u c h a cognitive
m a tter as it is an a w a k e n i n g of feelings in the heart. It is
t hrough a sense of the numinous that we experience awe,
overpoweringness, and e n ergy in life. As an example of the
numinous, Otto cites the case of Max Eyth, the bridge-
builder, who built a m i g h t y bridge of the "most profound a n d
thorough labour of the intellect ... (and) a marvel of human
achievement."^ Unfortunately, shortly after the structure
was erected it was destroyed by a raging cyclone. Otto
quotes Eyth aft e r he v i s i t e d the scene of the tragedy.
32
W h e n we got to the e n d of the bridge, the r e was breath
of wind; high above, the sky showed blue-green, and
w i t h an eerie brightness. B e hind us, like a great open
grave, lay the Ennobucht. The Lord of life and death
h o v e r e d over the w a t e r s in silent majesty. We felt this
presence, as one feels one's own hand. A n d the old m a n
a n d I knelt down b e f o r e the open grave a n d betore
U im 17
The numinous powers to which Eyth made reference are not
e x p r e ssions of an a n t h r o p o m o r p h i c God, even though he used
terms such as "Lord" and " H i m " . He d i d not kneel before a
God but in the presence of an over w h e l m i n g force. As Otto
suggests,
O ne does kneel b e f o r e the wholly u n c o m p r e h e n d e d

Mystery, revealed yet unrevealed, a n d one's soul is
s ti l l e d by feeling the way of its working, and therein
its justification.
In more recent years, Robert Bellah made a cl a i m that
r eligio u s n e s s has p a s s e d through four stages of development:
primitive, archaic, historic, a nd modern.Even though I
will make reference to Bellah's stages as a way to explore
the forms religious co n s c i o u s n e s s has taken through history,
I wish to avoid some of the common pitfa l l s of a
developmentalist approach to religion that are easily
identified in Bellah's work. For example, he argues that
later stages of religiousness are more sophisticated and
superior to the former ones. He uses expressions like
"increasing differentiation and complexity"*® and "regress
to less developed s t a g e s ” to imply that somehow the former
s t ages are of lesser value and import than t he latter ones.
I r e g a r d each particular stage as a d i f f e r i n g expression of
religiousness. I wish to avo i d implying that any o ne stage
33
is better than another. Each expression incorporates both
positive a nd negative qualities and no one expr e s s i o n is
n ecessarily superior to another, simply different. In
addition, developmentalists tend to regard stages as static
and somewhat independent in nature. I will argue that the
process of religious development is dynamic and
interdependent. The later stages are dependent on the former
ones. No one stage could possi b l y exist without the fullest
development of the ones which came before it.
I will build on the insights of Otto, Bellah, and
others and trace the historical development of, belief in,
and commitment to the numinous. The point here is not to
conduct an exhaustive historical analysis of religiousness
but to s h o w that even though the ways in which people have
dealt with the insecurities in life have changed through
time a nd place, their depen d e n c e on the numinous has
remained consistent through history. Emile Durkheim reminds
us that if one wishes to u n derstand the complexities of
religious behaviour, one must begin with it's historical
roots.
It is necessary to commence by going back to its most

p r i mitive a nd simple form, to try to account for the
charac t e r i s t i c s by which it was m a r k e d at that time,
and then to show how it developed a n d became
c o m p l i c a t e d little by little. 0
To this issue we now turn our attention.
34
Pr i m i t i v e R e l i g i o u s n e s s
During an early p h a s e of human civilization, members in
many primitive c o m m u n i t i e s thought of the numinous in terms
of spirits, luck, magic, a nd omens and saw it as roaming
about the world a f f e c t i n g everyone. People tried to live in
ha r m o n y with the numinous, always trying to keep it happy.
An an g r y spirit could c r eate sickness, injury, or death in
the family. Happy sp i r i t s would provide people with
protection, security, and prosperity. It is not clear when
such animistic bel i e f s a nd behaviour appeared but some
sociologists and anthropologists have claimed that it
reaches back almost twenty thousand years. This animistic
outlook reflects the earliest form of religious
c o n s c i o u s n e s s .21
*1
Members of p r i m i t i v e societies, or w h a t M u rray Bookchin
calls "organic" or "preliterate" societies, lived their
lives from day to day.^2 Rather than r eflecting on the
p ossibilities of a b e t t e r future they c o n c e n t r a t e d all their
efforts on trying to live in harmony w i t h the thousands of
numi n o u s forces about them on a daily basis. There was no
w e l l - s t r u c t u r e d social hierarchy. Dec i s i o n s w e r e made by the
majority of members of the group or clan. All basic tasks
from hunting a nd planting to food preparation were
accomplished cooperatively - adults and children, the
35
eld e r l y a nd the young, males a nd females, all c o n t ributing
equ a l l y to the w e ll-being of the community. As Ria n e Eisler
reminds us, primitive societies, or what she refers to as
"par tnership" societies, base their social relations on the
principle of linking (mutual aid) rather than ranking
( d o m i n a t i o n ) .^3 The result is a greater sense of communal
interd e p e n d e n c e and cooperation.
Religiousness developed during this stage incorporated
a strong sense of interdependence between so c i e t y and
nature. People worked with natural forces rather than
a gainst them. They r e s pected a n d valued the richness of the
soil, the powers of the sun, a n d the importance of trees and
animals. They c o n ducted c e remonies to please the s pirits and
to ask for fertile crops. They d e v eloped personal
relati o n s h i p s with the spirits of the wind and rain. Nature
was an intricate a nd influencial part of society. As
B o o k c h i n explains,
N a t u r e as life eats at eve r y repast, succurs e v e r y new

birth, grows with every child, aids every hand that
throws a spear or plucks a plant, warms itself at the
h e arth in the d ancing shadows, ... just as the rustle
of leaves and grasses is part of the air itself - not
m e r e l y a sound borne on the wind ... nature is not
m e r e l y a habitat; it is a participant that ad v i s e s the
co m m u n i t y with its omens, secures it with its
camouflage, leaves it telltale messages in b r o k e n twigs
a n d footprints, whisp e r s warnings to it in the wind's
voice, nourishes it w i t h a largesse of plants a n d
animals.
Many of the feat u r e s fou n d commonly in primitive
religiousness can be identified in Colin Turnball's
anthropological three-year study of the BaMbuti (Pygmie)
36
community of the Ituri Forest in the Congo. ^ T h e BaMbuti
community consists of approx i m a t e l y twenty-five huts. There
are no chiefs or councils, only one or two men or wom e n more
prominent than others to settle disputes. There are no
judges a nd no courts. Members of the community b elieve that
it is the forest alone that would act as the final
authority. Any matters that c a nnot be settled in a
cooperative m a nner within the c o m m u n i t y are dealt with by
the forces of the forest. As Turnball explains,
The forest, the great provider, is the one s t a n d a r d by

which all deeds and thoughts are judged, it is the
chief, the lawgiver, the leader, a n d the final
a r b i t r a t o r .26
It is worth noting that, unlike in other societies in more
recent eras, in primitive s o c i e t i e s women were not
d i s c r i m i n a t e d against in a ny manner. Wom e n and m en alike h a d
important a nd w e l l - r e c o g n i z e d roles to play. In the BaMbuti
community, Turnball reminds us, a man was not ashamed "to
pick m u s hrooms and nuts if he finds them, or to wash a nd
clean a baby"^ even though such responsibilities would
n ormally be those of a female. Likewise, a wo m a n felt free
to take part in discussions with men, if she felt she had
something relevant to say.
Members of this tribe have a very close a nd personal
relationship with the forest. They believe that the forest
envelops many spirits, g o o d and bad, which can affect them
in different ways. The forest acts as a source for food,
37
water, light, darkness, health, sickness, a nd death.
Turnball recalls h o w Moke, an elder, re l a t e d to the forest.
The forest is a father a nd m o ther to us ... and like a

father or m o t h e r it gives us e v e r y t h i n g we need - food,
clothing, shelter, w a rmth ... a n d affection. Normally
everything goes well, because the forest is good to its
children, but w h e n things go w r o n g there must be a
reason.28
One feature unique to the BaMbuti community is its
belief in"molimo", or the animal of the forest. Illness, a
b a d hunt, or death are val i d reasons to call upon the powers
of molimo for guidance and protection. In fact, m o limo is
n o t h i n g more than a long wind-pipe instrument which is used
to generate noises and, in turn, invites the great animal of
the forest to sing and provide protection. As people sit
a r o u n d a fire, o ne p e r s o n would venture into the darkness of
the forest and be g i n playing the instrument. The others
a r o u n d the fire w o u l d believe that what they are hearing are
the be a u t i f u l songs of the forest. As Turnball explains,
It was as t h ough the songs w h i c h lured the 'animal' to

the fireside also invoked some other kind of presence
... Then there was always that point when the 'animal'
left the camp a n d retu r n e d to the forest, taking the
presence w i t h it. I could feel it departing as the
mellow, wistful v o i c e of the m i l i m o got farther and
farther a w a y . 2 ^
We will see shortly that even though animistic beliefs
a re rooted deeply in history, they can also be found
commonly in more contemporary forms of religious
consciousness.
38
A r c h a i c Religiousness
A c c ording to Mich a e l Barnes, as far back as ten
t h o usand years ago agriculture was i n t r o d u c e d into primitive
communities. Hunting a n d h e r d i n g w e r e s u p p l e m e n t e d with the
c u l t i v a t i n g of soil and the growing of grains. People began
developing bone- and stone - w o r k i n g techniques. Copper
metallurgy, weaving, a n d engraving w e r e intro d u c e d into the
c om m u n i t y market-place. Trade increased a n d e ventually small
v i l lages turned into towns and social classes took root. Not
only were there hunters but one c ould als o find landowners,
the military, merchants, a n d peasants.
Along with new social structures c ame a new wa y of
looking at the world and a modification of the numinous.
During archaic times the numinous was understood in a way
which reflected the prevailing social structure. People
b e l i e v e d in a hierarchy of spirits. Some spirits h a d greater
p ower than others and they became k n o w n as gods. Eventually,
some gods were i d entified as being m o r e powerful than other
gods. For example, during e arly G r e e k c i v i l i z a t i o n Zeus was
the most powerful and h i g h l y r e spected god. Under this god
of the sky were his children - Aphrodite, Helios, Hermes,
and Athena. Below these less powerful gods lay the giants
and monsters. Below these extraordinary beings one could
f ind spirits and humans. As Barnes states,
39
W h e n a hierarchy of clas s e s arises in society, a
h i e r a r c h y of powers ar i s e s among the spirits. When
c u l t u r e s perceive a larger w orld of m a n i f o l d a n d
c h a n g i n g complexities, the lives of the gods inhabit
l a r g e r spaces and b e c o m e complex stories of various
plans, victories, a n d defeats. ®
Thus, we can see the b i r t h of polytheistic animism. People
believed that both spirits and gods roamed about their
world. To ensure health, happiness, security, and prosperity
people wors h i p p e d and som e t i m e s offered s acrifices to the
p o w erful spirits an d gods.
A clear example of archaic religiousness is portrayed
by F a r l e y Mowat in his study of the Ihalmiut Eskimo of the
Canadian barrens.^ Ihalmiut Eskimos believe that their
world is controlled by spir i t s and gods so numerous and
varied that all could not be identified and described. They
live in what Mowat calls a "hierarchy of the Barrens
d e m i w o r l d " 33 where the ruler of all is Kaila, the god of
w e a t h e r an d the sky.
K a i l a is essential power. He is the w i n d over the

plains; he is the sk y an d the flickering lights of the
sky. Kaila is the p o w e r in running water and in the
m o t i o n of falling snow. H e is nothing - he is all
t h i n g s .33
K a i l a has power o ver m a n y lesser gods such as Hekenjuk,
the s u n god, and Taktik, the god of the moon. Below these
gods lay the m a n y spirits which live amidst the people of
the I h a lmiut Eskimo community. For example, there is Paija,
an evi l spirit with a si n g l e leg and clot h e d in flowing
b l a c k hair. She "stalks a b r o a d in the winter nights, and her
single t rack is s o metimes f o u n d in the new snow, a n immense,
twisted impression of a h u m a n f o o t . " 3^ It is believed that
40
to see Paija means to die wit h the sight of her f r o z e n in
your mind. T h e r e a lso exists in the w o r l d of the Ihalmiut
Eskimos a devil with a "huge a n d hairless b elly w h i c h drags
on the ground. The tips of this devil's fingers a r e armed
wit h wicked knives which grow fro m the flesh. It is
be l i e v e d that he lives in the h i l l s a n d waits for v i c t i m s to
pass by so he can tear their f lesh with such ex q u i s i t e
deliberation that the victim m a y live for m a n y hours. It is
also believed that there exist friendly spirits, such as
Tornrait, w h o are chief aides of hunters in their struggles
with the elements and the u n f r i e n d l y spirits. During their
h u n t i n g expeditions, Ihalmiut E s k i m o s carry w i t h t h e m charms
or "things of the earth" - beaks of birds, d ried skin of
small mamma l s , teeth and ears o f wo l v e s and foxes, and fish
scales - which they believe represent the goo d spirits
needed for a successful hunt.
Historic Religiousness
Du r i n g the first ha!f of the first m i l l e n i u m B.C.E. a
change began in certain parts of the w o r l d in the w a y people
saw themselves in relation to the universe. S o c ieties
c o n tinued to d e v e l o p and small towns became h i g h l y complex
civilizations. People b e g a n to 'stand back' fro m r e a l i t y and
search for a single Power or B eing that encompassed all
else. Comprehensive and dogmatic theologies developed and
people hoped for a perfect other-worldly existence. As a
41
result, people began seeing the world in a dualistic way.
The world of the here-and-now was in fact one of two
o p p o s i n g worlds, that is, the earthly a n d the other-worldly
o r the supernatural.
Michael Barnes identifies four characteristics common
to the historic stage of religiousness. These include the
be lief that "(1) there is an ultimate unity to all things,
(2) the source of the unity lies beyond the complexities,
changes, and limits of this world, (3) this transcendent
'beyond' is a realm of total perfection, and (4) such
perfe c t i o n must be a n A b s olute."^6
Thus, the numinous adopted a new appearance which
represented a universally unifying, transcendent, and
perfect Absolute. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam this
'Absolute' is c a l l e d Yahweh, God, and Allah, respectively.
Theism has often viewed the Absolute as omnipotent,
omniscient, p e r f e c t l y good, a n t h r opomorphic in some aspects,
a n d totally perfect.
A c o n t e m p o r a r y example of historic religiousness is the
Voladores of Papantla, Veracruz, Mexico. ^ Papantla is
l oc a t e d in the tropical region near the Gulf of Mexico. Its
inhabitants a re of two origins - M e s t i z o and Totonaca. The
Mestizo are a product of cross-breeding between the
indigenous Mexican culture and the Spaniards. The Totonaca
is an indigenous gr o u p which lives amidst the Mestizos in
the same town but avoids socializing with others who they
be l i e v e could weaken the bonding of their close-knit
42
community. The y s peak their own dialect a n d dress the same
w a y their ancestors d i d t h ousands of y e a r s ago.
In Taj in, an archaeological zone in the Papantla
region, we ca n fin d on an y g iven day amidst the ancient
pyramids five voladores p e r f o r m i n g "la d a n z a de El Volador"
or the dance of the flyer. This ceremony is p e r f o r m e d around
a thirty metre pole. On top of the pole stands a Totonaca
flute-player. Immediately below him and hanging by their
feet ar e four other Totonacas. The dance b e g i n s as the four
d a n c e r s begin rotating simultaneously about the pole, slowly
descending toward the ground. The fifth member plays his
flute, offering thanks to their powerful God. The four
dancers represent the four possible pl a c e s of the sun -
north, south, east, and west. It is believed that by the
time the dancers r each the gr o u n d the Go d of life will have
heard their ceremonial song and blessed them with an
abundance of food, good health, and p r o t e c t i o n fro m natural
catastrophes.
M o d e r n Religiousness
The numinous is b e i n g m o d i f i e d t o d a y in a c c o r d a n c e with
the social, political, and economic structures of modern
society. People o f t e n no longer talk a b o u t spirits, gods, or
God. They are searching in new directions in order to
understand an d deal with the c o m p l exities and insecurities
43
in life. What w e are w i t n e s s i n g is the development of a new
f o r m of r e l igious consciousness.
Modern religiousness has a b a ndoned some important
f eatures c o m m o n l y found during earlier times. For example,
today we are witnessing a collapse of the dualism between
ea r t h l y a n d o t her-worldly existence. Many people no longer
b elieve that salvation can only be achieved after death.
Barnes reminds us that p e ople commonly reject teachings
which state that the "earth is a fallen and corrupt place,
i nfected by sin a nd death, d o omed to pass away at the
apocalyptic e nd of the w o r l d . P e o p l e are capable, within
limits, of continual self-t r a n s f o r m a t i o n and contribution to
a p rocess of remaking the world. The traditional
understanding of heaven and hell has been replaced with a
v i e w that salvation can be a c h i e v e d here and now.
By e l i m i n a t i n g the great gulf bet w e e n heaven a nd earth,
more and more people have also begun abandoning their
tr a d i tional ties with the teachings and practices of
organized religion. This is clearly the case in Canada. In
1946, f or example, s i x t y - s e v e n percent of Canadians attended
c h urch services regularly, wh i l e in 1986 only thirty-five
percent did the same.^ While sixty-five percent of the
population receives a great deal of enjoyment from family
life, only sixteen percent of C a n adians receive the same
degree of contentment through church/synagogue a c t ivities.^®
People within a n d b e y o n d the Catholic tradition (the one I
am particularly concerned with) have re-e v a l u a t e d church
44
teachings in relation to their present life experiences. For
example, only twenty-two percent of Canadians today view
premarital sex relations as morally wrong.^ N i nety-one
percent of Canadians believe that birth-control information
should be available to teenagers.^ ^nd approximately nine
in ten Canadians maintain that a pregnant woman should have
the option of a legal abortion in situations involving her
own health, a serious birth defect, and r a p e .
Even though, to a significant degree, people have
abandoned the dual nature of heaven a nd earth and some of
the traditional teachings and practices of organized
religion, this does not suggest that religion, broadly
speaking, has also been denied validity. In fact, as Bibby
states,
Canadians continue to have a very strong interest in

what m a n y refer to as the 'ultimate questions' - issues
pertaining to the m eaning a nd future of our
e x i s t e n c e .^
Eighty-two percent of Canadians, for example, freq u e n t l y
think about why there is s u f fering in the world. While
approximately eleven percent of Canadians identify
themselves as either atheist or agnostic, seventy percent of
the population believes in the divinity of Jesus.^ More
than half of the Ca nadian p o pulation believes that there
must be something b e y o n d d e a t h . ^ And almost one p e rson in
two claims to have experienced the presence of God or some
other Supreme Being. ^ More than a third of the p o p u l a t i o n
believes in the powers of astrology while six in ten
45
Ca n adians believe in extra-sensory percept i o n . ^ ® Twenty-two
p er c e n t of C a n adians believe that it is possible to
c o m m u n i c a t e with the d e a d whi l e over half of the population
c l a i m they have ex p e r i e n c e d mental telepathy.
What these statistics show is that while Canadians may
have abandoned some of the teachings, beliefs, a n d practices
associated with formal religion, they have not given up
traditional religiousness entirely. What is happening,
a c c o r d i n g to Bibby, is that people are se l e c t i n g beliefs and
practices from a "plurality of choices"®® that support and
possibily enhance their personal lifestyles. People are
pi c k i n g a nd choosing between astrology, psychic phenomena,
bio-rhythms, dem o n possessions, c o m m u n i c a t i o n w i t h the dead,
along with bits and pieces of more formal teachings,
beliefs, and practices, as a way to deal with life's
p r e s s i n g issues and concerns. Religion h as become a consumer
item to be consumed by its believers. It has been "broken
into pieces and o f f e r e d to religious consumers in piecemeal
form.
The current fragmentation of religion in Canada is a
product of present social a n d cultural conditions. Canada is
a consumer society much like its neighbour immediately to
the south. North Am e r i c a n s live in a society where every
lu xu ry quickly bec o m e s a necessity. Wa n t s are soon converted
into needs. The average American, for example, consumes
ap p r o x i m a t e l y sixty times as many resources as the average
citizen in I n d i a . I n 1990, the average meat consumption
46
per p e rson per year in the U n ited States w a s 112 kilograms,
compa r e d to 40 kilograms in M e xico a nd 2 kilograms in
India.Americans represent approximately five percent of
the world's population, use twenty-five percent of the
wo r l d ' s energy, emit twenty-two percent of the world's
c a r b o n dioxide, a nd account for twenty-five percent of the
wo r l d ' s gross national product (GNP). In comparison, India
has sixteen percent of the world's population, uses three
percent of the world's energy, emits three percent of all
the carbon dioxide produced, a nd accounts for one percent of
the w orld's GNP.^ Americans consume six times as m u c h grain
per person as do people in less dev e l o p e d parts of the
world.These over-consuming lifestyles are consistently
re inforced through newsprint, radio, and television. Edmund
Sullivan reminds us that "before a child reaches the age of
20 in America, she or he will have seen 3 50,000 television
commercials. The ave r a g e American child, it is estimated,
will have seen 18,000 commercial messages e a c h year or over
three hours of tele v i s i o n ad v e r t i s i n g a w e e k . " ^ ® Through the
"mass media" people learn that their very b e i n g a nd purpose
is c a lculable solely in terms of what they possess. John
Kavanaugh warns us of the detrimental e ffects of a
c onsumerist lifestyle. He states,
Our happiness is s a i d to be in p o s s e s s i n g more. Our

drive to consume, b o l s t e r e d by an e c o nomics of infinite
growth, becomes addictive: it moves f r o m m a n i p u l a t e d
need to the promise of joy in things, to b r o k e n
promises a n d f r u s t r a t e d expectations, to gui l t and
g reater need for b u y i n g . ' 7
Even so, m a n y people are 'worshipping' c onsumerism and
other prev a i l i n g ideologies a n d b e l ieving they will achieve
a sense of comfort and security d u ring times of helplessness
and alienation. T h e y are joining social and political groups
and abiding by particular philosophies. They are adopting
distinct pr a c t i c e s and e xhibiting specific attitudes and
behaviours as a way to be accepted by others and to feel
more secure. By living a life d e termined by a particular
ideology people are bou n d toget h e r by a total system of
perceiving, valuing, a nd behaving. There is a general
agreement that ideology represents some sort of system of
ideas, beliefs, commitments, or values about reality. But
this is where the agreement ends. For Karl Mannheim, an
ideology refers to specific mental mechanisms that serve a
certain group or class and seek to justify social control
and m a i n t e n a n c e of the status q u o.®® Clifford Geertz, on the
other hand, u n d e r stands ideologies to be "systems of
interacting symbols" that provide the primary ways of making
"otherwise incomprehensible social situations m e a n i n g f u l .
In this chapter, I will draw on these insights along with
those of Michael Grimmitt, regarding ideology as embracing
three components; (1) a worldview of what is happening in
life, (2) central values and goals that are considered
desirable in life, and (3) a v i s i o n of the process of social
change (or of ma i n t a i n i n g the status quo) a nd the
ap p r o p r i a t e tactics for ach i e v i n g this in relation to the
worldview, values, and goals . ® ®
48
In modern society, ideologies f u n c t i o n like the spirits
and gods of earlier times. They achi e v e an independent
exi s t e n c e over and sometimes against people. They promise
pe o p l e a good life. They are 'worshipped' and sometimes
treated as if they hav e h u m a n qualities. They offer
w o r s h ippers security, comfort, and a sense of community.
Modern religiousness reflects a new d i r e c t i o n in which
people are searching in order to understand and deal with
the complexities and insecurities in life. This modern
expression of r e l i g iosity incorporates, to a significant
degree, what Sigmund Freud calls " c o m p u l s i v e l y extended
infantilism." People regard ideologies like parental figures
who, as in childhood, prov i d e stability a n d security in the
face of sickness, injustice, natural disaster, betrayals,
and death.Modern religiousness also accords with
Fri e d r i c h S c h l e i e r m a c h e r 's notion that relig i o n involves a
"feeling of absolute dependence" on the infinite.^
It is w orth noting that this particular form of
religiousness is not new. Indeed, we can identify similar
human behaviour leading back to the primitive and archaic
era s of religious consciousness. The way people today
'worship' secularism, materialism, and consumerism is
simi l a r to how people b e h a v e d when they b e l i e v e d spirits or
god s existed. The names of the numinous have changed but
it's central function has remained the same; to offer people
hope, comfort, a n d s e c u r i t y in life.
49
A m b i g u i t y of Religiousness
An important question to ask is, What are the effects
of religious behaviour on human development? Gregory Baum
says that religiousness is ambiguous in the sense that it
can act as an agent of a l i e n a t i o n or liberation in society.
It can restrict or promote h u m a n growth. Whether the effects
are n e g a t i v e or positive will d e p e n d upon how it changes the
lives of people and the structures of communities to which
they belong. In the f o l lowing section I will use Baum's
insights into the sociological components of religion as a
base from which to identify both the alienating and
l i berating effects of religious b e h a v i o u r . ^
The alienating effects of religion are referred to by
Hegel as "bad infinity".^ He argues that by objec t i f y i n g
the divine, people u n d e r s t a n d G o d as being above the world,
extrinsic to it, a nd apart from human life and history.
Hegel posits that r e l igiousness in this sense c r e a t e s three
disti n c t forms of alienation: a l ienation from nature, from
oneself, and from others. First, people turn away from the
e n v i r onment to find God. N a t u r e becomes an object whi c h can
be m a n i pulated, dominated, and exploited. It is something
which e x ists apart from and below the heavens. The
inevitable result is an e c o l o g i c a l crisis. Secondly, people
look to God for solutions to their problems instead of
l ooking within themselves and developing their own
capacities. In this sense, people turn away from themselves,
50
they lose confidence in their own abilities, and they see
themselves as e m p t y and powerless. Thirdly, the m a s t e r - s l a v e
relationship, de v e l o p e d through a belief in an objectified,
other-worldly God, is p r o jected o n the whole of h u m a n i t y a nd
people define their relations with others in those terms.
Similarly, L u d w i g Feuerbach a r gues that by regarding G o d as
a projection of one's ideals, or w h a t he calls 'essence', a
separation is cr e a t e d between the real and the idealized.
Religion is the separation of m a n from himself: he sets

God over against himself as a n o pposed being. G o d is
not what m a n is, and m a n is not what God is. God is the
infinite being, man the finite; God is perfect, m a n is
imperfect; God is eternal, m a n is temporal; God is
almighty, m a n is powerless; G o d is holy, m a n is sinful.
God and m a n are extremes: G o d is the absolutely
positive, the essence of all realities, while m a n is
the negative, the essence of all n o t h i n g n e s s . 65
Thus, argues Feuerbach, by o b j e c t i f y i n g one's essence into a
transcendent sphere, one is r e d u c e d to a pitiful, miserable,
sinful creature.
For Karl Marx, religious b e h a v i o u r is a response to the
alienating e ffects of the social, political, and economic
reality. Religion is cr e a t e d as a w ay to find ha p p i n e s s
amidst earthly misery. But, the ha p p i n e s s is not to be found
in the here-and-now but in an illusory world. Marx argues
that it is t hrough the creation of this illusory w o r l d that
religion in fact protects the injustices of the present
order. R e l igious consciousness is a product of the social
ills and, once produced, prot e c t s a nd fosters this very
51
alienation. For Marx, religion is the "opium of the people"
be c a u s e it consoles people in times of s'iffer<.<»s
Sigmund Freud argues that by providing a sense of
security through the ’w o r s h i p p i n g ’ of a g o d rith paternal or
m aternal features, religion represents an illusion. It is a
p r ojection into the sky which mak e s people dependent and
encourages p a s sivity a nd uncritical thought.
For Karl Mannheim, religion is considered ideological
when it " l e g itimates the existing social order, defends the
d ominant values, enhances the authority of the dominant
class, and creates an imagination s u g g e s t i n g that society is
stable and perdures."^ Religion, in this sense, serves to
maintain the present social order and its various forms of
injustice.
Even so, religiousness can also act as an agent of
liberation. To counter-balance his concept of ’bad
i n f i n i t y , ’ Hegel refers to the positive effects of religion
as ’good infinity.Religion in this sense is commonly
witnessed in the person of Jesus Christ whose words and
actions provide a means to a liberating w ay of life; a life
free of m a n y of the cleavages and c o n t r a dictions of society.
For Hegel the d i v i n e m y s t e r y is present in and through human
action. God is the objectifiable mystery implicit in human
love and commitment. If people listen to the divine m essage
and act accordingly, they will discern the harmony between
themselves and nature, they will get in touch with their own
being, and they will learn to live in community with others.
52
Lu dwig Feuerbach, too, argues that by objectifying
one's essence and p r ojecting it into a transcendent sphere,
r eli g i o n provides people w i t h a way to become aware of their
g reatest dreams, aspirations, and potentials. To project
one's greatest human qualities implies that these qualities
are known beforehand. Feuerbach goes one step further and
suggests that once people u nderstand that 'God' is only a
name for their own idealized essence, they are then in the
posit i o n to develop these hu m a n qualities within
t h e m s e l v e s .^
For Emile Durkheim, while reli g i o n presents many
dangers, it is also assoc i a t e d with community. Relig i o n is
c r e a t e d by the members of society and, at the same time, is
constantly recreating society. It serves the common good and
nourishes people with the will to love others. It represents
an e n c ounter between people a n d society. M embers of society
are encouraged to disco v e r their h i dden potentials. It is
through religion that people can d evelop a n d express their
values, ideals, and hopes and feel that they are important
me m b e r s of a community.
Max Weber viewed r e l igious b e h aviour as an intrinsic
part of every society. Whether it is a belief in a
supernatural order, spirits, or gods, the lives of people
are a f f e c t e d by their part i c u l a r beliefs. Weber argues that
the forms of gods will v a r y d e p e n d i n g on natural and social
conditions. Thus, religion is regarded as an agent of
socialization. It enco u r a g e s people to place self-
53
gratification second to the well-being of the entire
community.
The liberating q u alities of religiousness are also
reflected in what Karl Mannheim calls 'utopian religion,'
whereby the ills of the pres e n t social order are revealed,
the dominant values in society are inverted, and the
authority of the ruling gro u p s is undermined. Mannh e i m does
not use the term 'utopia' to suggest an unreal i s t i c dream
that leads to inaction and which reinforces the present
social order. Utopia is understood as a vision for a new
society; a vision which invites criticism of the present
social order and enco u r a g e s social change.
Religio u s n e s s , as we h ave seen, is a m b iguous in man y
ways. It ca n alienate individuals and communities or it can
act as an agent for p o s i t i v e social change. The point here
is to avoid favouring one particular view an d acknowledge
that religiousness is a complex, sophisticated, and highly
a m b i g u o u s part of human behaviour. For Gregory Baum, because
of its ambiguity, relig i o u s n e s s is able to "bl i n d some
p eople and m ake others see, it produces sickness in some and
leads to h e a l t h in others, it acts as a l e g i t i m a t i o n for the
status quo a n d as catalyst for social change."^®
In summary, we have b een pondering a q u e s t i o n which has
tormented the minds of the greatest theologians,
philo s o p h e r s , social scientists, and people from all walks
of life: D i d the gods create us, or did we cr e a t e the gods?
54
We saw that religiousness implies a belief in and c o m m i t m e n t
to specific forms of the n u m i n o u s an d that it of f e r s people
a sense of comfort and security in life. The f orms of the
numinous have changed relative to prevailing social,
political, and economic factors. It is true, as c l a i m e d by
Reginald Bibby, that "the Canadian situation strongly
suggests not that the gods created us, but that we are
creating the g o d s . "7* The comp l e x i t i e s of culture lead and
religion t ends to follow. In the following chap t e r we will
consider how religion as a formal educational program came
into existence and the vari o u s disciplines of study which
influenced its content a n d process in recent years.
CHAPTER THREE
CONTEXTUAL RELIGIOUS EDUCATION:
AN HISTORICAL O V E R V I E W
In this chapter, I will provide a n historical overv i e w
of contextual religious education. To do so, I will discuss
how the socio-political nature of both liberatory pedagogy^
and Church teachings have influ e n c e d significantly the
direction taken by religious educators. Even though the
primary focus will be on Catholic social teachings I will
divert occasionally to teachings a nd philosophies outside
the Catholic domain. I will consider four historical eras:
foundational, V a t i c a n Council II, P u ebla and c o n t e m p o r a r y .^
Foundational Era (prior to 1962)
In 1891, Pope Leo XIII published Rerum Novarum in
which he protested against the harsh conditions of
industrial workers. He was concerned about the living
conditions of the poor a nd he c a lled for a social system to
replace capitalism which wo u l d respect the needs of the
worker. In 1931, Pope Pius XI p u b l i s h e d Quadragesimo A n n o to
commemorate the fortieth a nniversary of Leo XIII's Rerum
N o v a r u m Pius XI affirmed the rights of workers to form
trade unions a nd c a lled for a reform of social institutions.
He c r i tiqued c a p i t a l i s m a nd e x c l a i m e d that "free c o m p e tition
has destroyed itself; economic domin a t i o n has taken the
55
56
place of the open market."® Even though Church leaders
identified nany of the harmful effects of capitalism, some
clergy rejected the idea that the present social system
could be replaced w i t h s o mething better. This was the case
for D o m inican Father George Levesque who, in 1933, met a
group of ecclesiastics in Montreal to protest the founding
of the Cooperative Commonwealth Fede r a t i o n (CCF) an d the
g r o w t h of socialism in Canada. The Le v esque R e p o r t concluded
that the CCF was d a n g e r o u s territory for C a tholics an d that
it represented a form of socialism that they b e l i e v e d was
c o n d e m n e d by Pius XI.® D u r i n g the same year, the bishops of
Quebec published a joint pastoral letter defending the
capitalist system as "the most suited to the people's
inclinations a n d the most approp r i a t e for the w e l l - b e i n g and
e c o n o m i c progress of the nations.
Bven so, some clergy listened to the w o r d s of Pius XI
in a different light a n d u s e d them as a c a t a l y s t for social
change. Father Eugene C u l linane became a member of the CCF
in Sask a t c h e w a n because he b e l i e v e d that s o c i a l i s m in Canada
w a s m o r e faithful to C a t h o l i c social t e a c h i n g than a n y other
political party in Canada. In Nova Scotia, Fathers J.J.
T o m p k i n s and M.M. C o a d y i n i t i a t e d the A n t i g o n i s h M o v e m e n t , a
cooperative movement i n t ended to educate farmers and
f i s h e r m e n about their p o s i t i o n of economic h e l p l e s s n e s s a n d
to organ i z e them as co- o w n e r s of enterprises for the
p r o d u c t i o n a n d d i s t r i b u t i o n of good s . ®
57
S imilar developments a l s o occu r r e d in education during
this era. John Dewey (1916) spoke of education as the
"recon s t r u c t i o n or r e o r g a nization of experience which adds
to the m e a n i n g of experience a n d w h i c h increases ability to
direct t he course of subsequent experience.” ^ He believed
that education had a resp o n s i b i l i t y to eliminate from
society those forces that have an unworthy influence on
students. D e w e y rejected traditional approaches to schooling
w h i c h t r e a t e d knowledge as a n assemblage of absol u t e truths
a nd whe r e the primary objective for the teacher was to
transmit such truths. Knowledge, for Dewey, was seen as a
product of life experiences a nd something which, in turn,
c o u l d lead to social change.
While De w e y was pr o m o t i n g a progressive philo s o p h y of
ed u c a t i o n others were developing an approach to the
schooling process which addressed more directly the
relationship between g o vernment and schools. Francisco
Ferrer founded La Escuela M o d e r n a in Barcelona in 1901. He
a r g u e d that government control ex i s t e d in schools,
not b e c a u s e they hope f or the renovation of society

thr o u g h education, but b e c a u s e they need individuals,
workmen, p e r f e c t e d instru m e n t s of labor to make their
industrial enterprises a n d the capital e m p l o y e d in them
p r o f i t a b l e . 10
Arguing against the optimism of the prevailing progessive
approach to schools, Ferrer found it inconceivable to
believe that a government w o u l d want to create a s y s t e m of
education that would un d e r m i n e the.'r authority a nd lead to
radical social change. For Ferrer, the only way to create
58
change was to d evelop privately f u n d e d schools independent
of government powers where students co u l d explore o p enly and
criti c a l l y the role the State p l a y e d in the d e v e l opment and
control of society. Ferrer's school appealed to the interest
of so many p e ople that he was eventually accused by the
Spanish government of leading an insurrection in Barcelona
a n d was executed.
Shortly after Ferrer's an a r c h i s t attempts to redefine
the schooling process, there d e v e l o p e d in the United States
a philosophy of education b rought to the forefront by
reconstructionists including Theodore Brameld and George
Counts. They believed that s chools should be seen as a
vehicle for bringing about the reconstruction of society.
Reconstructionists crit i c i z e d the overemphasis on child-
c entred indivi d u a l i s m found commonly in progressive
education. They a r g u e d that individualism is most congenial
to middle class interests a nd that it is unlikely this class
would c h a llenge seriously an orientation that rationalizes
their controlling position in the status quo. For George
Counts (1932), m embers of the middle class (many of whom
sent their child r e n to progressive schools) seem "entirely
incapable of dea l i n g with any of the great crises of our
t i m e . T h e y are often too attached to their material
possessions so that, during a crisis, they would likely
"follow the l e a d of the most power f u l a n d respectable forces
in society and at the same time f i n d g o o d reasons for doing
so."12
59
Reconstructionists po s i t e d that schools are political
a r e n a s a n d that c o m p l e t e impartiality is u tterly impossible.
For Counts, schools must "share attitudes, develop tastes,
and even impose i d e a s . I t is impossible, he declared,
that education c an "be completely d i v o r c e d from politics ...
a n d pursue ends p e c u l i a r to itself" and to believe otherwise
"is one of the most dangerous f a l l a c i e s . A primary
r esp onsi b i l i t y for teachers, argued Br a m e l d (1935), is to
help students understand clearly the weaknesses of
capitalism a nd explore the potential superiority of
alternative social, political, a nd economic structures. He
maintained that so c i e t y is confronted by serious economic
and cultural c r ises and that through a critique of
capitalism and the development of a l t e r native visions
schools could bring about social change.
The insights of Leo XIII, pr o g r e s s i v e educators, and
reco n s t r u c t i o n i s t s i nfluenced significantly the direction
tak e n by religious educators. Until the early part of the
tw e ntieth c entury religious education followed the
authoritarian, question and answer format of the Baltimore
Catechism (1 8 8 5 ) . ^ The role of the teacher (catechist) was
to teach the 'truths' revealed by God. Spiritual knowledge
was c onsidered eternal and ahistorical. Teachers of the
fa i t h taught the Creed, the T en Commandments, the Holy
Sacraments, and prayers didactically. Students were not
e n c o u r a g e d to q u e s t i o n and make j u d g e m e n t s about the content
60
being taught. It was simply memorized and re-presented to
the teacher at a later time.
D u r i n g the foundational era George Coe (1917) presented
the first systematic theory of religious education written
from a sociological point of view. He ca l l e d for a religious
e ducation w h i c h w ould e n c o u r a g e learners to identify social
c o n tradictions in life and participate actively towards a
r econst r u c t i o n of the social order. The aim of religious
ed u c a t i o n became one of encouraging "growth of the young
t oward and into mature and efficient devotion to the
d e mocracy of God, and h a p p y s e l f - r e a l i z a t i o n t h e r e i n . T h e
term 'democracy of God' suggests an idealized social order
where the principles which were enunciated by Jesus are
actualized. By adopting Dewey's p r o g ressivist devotion to
the s c hooling process, Coe called for a curriculum based
upon the "present rel a t i o n s and i n t e r actions between
persons."^ He rejected the dic h o t o m y between worldliness
and o ther-worldliness which was promoted thro u g h the
Ba l t i m o r e Catechism. He encouraged students to become
c reators w i t h Jesus, here a n d now, to examine c r i t i c a l l y and
r econstruct "relations between persons, guided by Jesus'
a s s u m p t i o n that persons ar e o f infinite worth.
Toward the end of the se c o n d decade of this century
c a techists met in Munich and developed a catechism to
overcome the authoritarian approach of the Baltimore
Catechism. The basic thrust of what came to be k nown as the
'Munich Method'^ was a five-step process of pedagogy:
61
introduction, presentation, explanation, s ummary and
application. Even though it opened the doors to an
experiential w ay of learning, the M u n i c h Method c o n t i n u e d to
emphasize traditional theological a n d doctrinal assumptions
of the Church.
Near the end of the foun d a t i o n a l era, Josef Jungmann
launched a Kerygmatic approach to religious education in
North America^ which advocated a return to preaching the
Bible and us i n g the Holy S c riptures to discover the Word of
God. This p r e a c h i n g approach to religious education offered
many attractive features. First, the hierarchical and
authoritarian teacher-student relationship found lingering
from the Ba l t i m o r e Catechism d u ring earlier times was
replaced by a more eg a l i t a r i a n relationship where the
teacher a n d students together tried to find salvation in the
words of Jesus. Secondly, f a i t h was no longer v i e w e d as an
intellectual assent to doctrine. It was personal a nd it
cou l d be reaffirmed daily by relating life e xperiences to
the teachings of Jesus. Thirdly, the Kerygmatic approach
provided students with a broader vision of life. Religion
was no longer a w ay of inculcating obedience to the church.
By inte r p r e t i n g the words of Jesus in relation to their life
experiences, religion offered students a way of dealing
e f f e c t i v e l y with reality.
In 1959, Pope John XXIII summoned an ecumenical
council of bishops from all parts of the world. This
represented the preparatory stage for the Second Vatican
62
Council (1962-1965) which was to be "one of the most
important events in the entire history of the c h u r c h . " 2 ^ It
was two years later in Mater et Magistra that John XXIII
proposed a three-step me t h o d o l o g y to implement the social
t e a chings of the Church: observe reality, judge it carefully
in relation to the teachings of the Church, a n d act to adapt
traditional norms to r e a l i t y . 22 This three - s t e p m e t h o d o l o g y
of observing, judging, and acting would influence
significantly the direction taken by r e l igious educators
d u r i n g the Second V a t i c a n Council era
S e c o n d Vati c a n Council Er a (1962-1975)
In his opening address to the approximately two
t h o usand five h u n d r e d m e m b e r s of the Se c o n d Vatican Council
in Rome on Octo b e r 11, 1962, Pope John XXIII ca l l e d for a
"ne w order of h u m a n relations" which w o u l d refute the "siege
m e n t a l i t y " c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of nineteenth c e n t u r y Catholicism.
He re-defined the Church's position on five issues. First,
the absolutist a p p r o a c h towards kno w l e d g e was replaced w i t h
an understanding that truth was relative to culture, time,
and place. Second, knowledge was associated with action in
the sense that an authentic, knowing b eing was one who a c t e d
in accordance w i t h her or his thoughts. Third, salvation as
'other-worldly' was replaced with an understanding that
pe o p l e could be s aved in the present. Fourth, the belief
that people are sinful fro m b irth and that they fall
63
constantly to temptations of sin was replaced with a
conviction that humanity is basically good. Fifth, clergy
members were no longer considered the sole voices for God.
Words of revelation could be heard and interpreted by all
me m b e r s of the Church community.
A maj o r highlight of the Second Vatican Council was the
publication of Gaudium et Spes (1965). It represented a
constitutional statement on the Church in the m o d e r n world.
Addressed to the "joys and the hopes, the griefs and the
anxieties of ... those w ho are poor or in any way
aff1 i c t e d , t h e document called for a political theology
ai m e d at promoting justice and tightening the "bonds that
bind people together in the creation of a just and peaceful
w o r l d . "2^ Influenced by M a t e r et Magistra, the council
proposed a three-step process to achieve social change:
collect facts, reflect, and m a k e recommendations. Gaudium et
Spes prepared the g r ound for the growth of Latin American
critical pedagogy and l i beration theology and, according to
E.F. Sheridan, a critical approach to the pastoral teaching
and a c t i o n of the Canadian b i s h o p s . 25
Shortly after the Second Vatican Council, Gustavo
Gutierrez (1968) pre anted a paper in which he c a l l e d for a
theol o g y to proceed from action. He concluded that "theology
is not first; the commitment is first. Theology is the
understanding of the commitment, and the commi t m e n t is
a c t i o n . "25 This set the tone for the upcoming S e c o n d Plenary
Meeting of Latin American Bishops' Conference (CELAM II) to
64
be held in Medellin, Columbia, in 1968.^ During this
conference the bishops encouraged all members of the
Catholic community to become involved in "active, a nd
receptive, creative and decisive participation in the
construction of a new s o ciety"^® T h e Latin Ameri c a n bishops
invited schools to develop a " h e a l t h y critical sense of the
social situation" a n d to "foster the vocation of service.
The socio-political theology being d e v eloped in Latin
America influenced the teachings of the Canadian Conference
of Catholic Bishops (CCCB). In 1969, members of the CCCB
addressed a document to the deprived and forgotten in
society a nd enco u r a g e d them to d e v e l o p "new powers" and gain
a "public voice, to express their dissatisfactions, to make
known their longings and a s p i rations, to dialogue w i t h the
present holders of social power.
In the early seventies, Gustavo Gutierrez formally
introduced a "theology of liberation" or, as he d e f i n e d it,
a "critical r e flection on C h r i s t i a n praxis in light of the
word of God."®* For Phillip Berryman this method of doing
theology includes (1) an interpretation of C h r istian faith
through the suffering, the struggle and the hope of the
poor, (2) a criti q u e of soc i e t y a n d the ideologies s u s t a i n e d
wi thin it, a nd (3) a critique of the activities of the
Church and C h r i s t i a n s from a point of view of the poor.®^
In 1971, Pope Paul VI wro t e an apostolic letter to
Cardinal R oy of Quebec emphasizing collective action for
justice and p r o posing socialism as a viable option for
65
C a tholics.^3 For Gregory Baum this letter represented a
significant shift to the left for the Church's official
teachings.While Paul VI was appropriating the value of
socialism, members of the 1971 International Synod of
Bishops p u blished a document in w hich they supported forms
of action w h i c h w o u l d create social justice.
Action on behalf of justice and parti c i p a t i o n in the

transformation of the w o r l d fully appears to us as a
constitutive d i m e n s i o n of pr e a c h i n g the gospel, or, in
other words, o f the Church's m i s s i o n for the redemption
of the h uman race a n d its liberation f r o m every
oppressive situation. 5
During the seventies, members of the Church continued
to question the effe c t s of capitalism and warned that the
m a x i m i z a t i o n of consumption, profit a n d power often produces
idols which lead people away from the "service of the living
God."3*> The CCCB r e iterated m e s sages found in earlier
Vati c a n documents by emphas i z i n g the importance of Marxist
analysis as a tool to identify structures of exploitation.
Comments of the same nature were even p r o v i d e d by the highly
conservative Archbishop Lopez Truji l l o who was convinced
that "capitalism is a h uman failure.
During this era, Paulo Fre i r e (1968) developed a
pedagogy to h e l p p e a s a n t s read c r i t i c a l l y b o t h words an d the
reality in which they live. He used two terms which would
play a significant role in the future of religious
education: 'conscientization' and 'praxis.' For Freire
con s c i e n t i z a t i o n repre s e n t s the "dev e l o p m e n t of the
awakening of critical awareness"^ which leads to an
understanding of and action toward social, political and
economic contradictions in society. Praxis suggests keeping
thoughts and actions in a constant dialectic. ^ Previous
actions influence current thoughts and vice versa. Freire
criticized what he calls "banking education” where the
teacher "makes deposits which the stude n t s p a t iently
receive, memorize, a nd re p e a t . " * 0 He argued that when
s tude n t s are busy storing knowledge they cannot possibly
develop a critical un d e r s t a n d i n g of what is being learnt.
Freire claimed that banking-type education is used
freq u e n t l y to keep students passive, to preclude the
questioning process, a nd to avoid the development of
"critical consciousness which wou l d result from their
interaction in the w o r l d as transformers of that world.
As a remedy to the problem, Freire proposed a "problem-
posing" education where students learn to "problematize"
their life situations by q u e s t i o n i n g w h a t has been taken for
granted in the past. I t ’s aim is the social reconstruction
of soc i e t y so that j ustice and peace can be achieved.
According to John Elias, Freire's thoughts h a v e provi d e d a
"new theological bas i s for religious education by we d d i n g
his educational philosophy to the theology of liberation
which has been developed primarily by Latin American
theologians.
67
T h e critical c o n s ciousness raising a p p r o a c h proposed by
Paulo Freire influenced s t r ongly the way some people
regarded education in North America. For example, Ivan
Illich (1971) viewed schools as sources of ideological
control a n d places w h e r e t h e existing social s tructures are
continuously s u p ported and reproduced. They serve to
alienate pe o p l e from one another and create a sense of
dependency on the authority of institutions. Illich
envisioned the creation of a society in which schools would
neit h e r exist nor be necessary. He proposed the "de
s c h o o l i n g " of society an d the creation of "public utilities"
to s erve the needs an d interests of learners.This would
not imply the end of institutions specifically designed to
pass on skills, but the end of schools as institutions
d e s i g n e d to manip u l a t e students.
During this era, Paul Goodman (1966) called for the
development of non-compulsory "free schools" or "mini
s c h ools" w h i c h would no longer be under the direct influence
of the b u s iness sector. He ar g u e d that through public
schooling "a fe w great c o r p o r a t i o n s are getting the benefit
of an enormous weed i n g out an d selective proc e s s - all
c h i l d r e n are fe d into the m i l l a n d everybody pay s for it."**
Goodman rejected the idea of compulsory schooling. He
proposed that after the a g e of twelve years s t u d e n t s should
be offered "as many d i v e r s e paths as possible, w ith plenty
of o p p o r t u n i t y to b a c k t r a c k and change."*^ This c ould not be
achieved if the y were f o r c e d to attend specific classes and
68
study boring curricula. Schools should nourish the natural
ab i lities of each a n d every student. In many cases, argued
Goodman, c lassrooms should be d i s p e n s e d with a n d replaced by
f i r s t - h a n d experi e n c e s in the streets, stores, museums, and
factories. He also questioned the value of certified
teachers a n d sup p o r t e d the idea that they s h ould be replaced
by people including the local druggist, storekeeper, and
fa c t o r y worker.
Wh i l e Paulo Freire a nd others were developing a
critical appr o a c h in education, catechists met for an
International Catechetical Study W e e k in Hedellin, Columbia,
in 1968. D u r i n g this week of intense discussions, confe r e n c e
m emb ers decided to replace the Kerygmatic approach in
religious e d u cation with a pedagogy of praxis which would
encourage students to (1) become aware of and name their
life experiences, (2) examine and reflect on the causes of
these experiences, (3) interpret them in light of Christ
d e a d a nd risen, and (4) choose a course of a c tion to achieve
1iberation.^ This p a rticular pedagogy m a r k e d a significant
shift in religious education. S a l vation w as no longer
c o n s i d e r e d an other-worldy affair, but s o m ething w i t h social
and political connotations in the present. R e l igious
ed u c a t i o n moved beyond explanation to fo r m s of
"reinterpretation in ways that would c o mplement (people's)
present e x i s t e n c e a n d knowledge.
During t he Second Vatican Council era, Gravissimum
Educationis (1965) was published wh i c h c a lled for Catholic
69
education to take place 'in' the world rather than as an
abstract, theoretical form of learning independent of life
experiences. The document proposed a form of edu c a t i o n
"directed towards the formation of the human person in view
of his final end and the good of the society to w h i c h he
belongs."^® A pastoral message on Catholic education was
also published which called for service projects to be
inserted into school curriculum to provide students the
o p p o r tunity to serve others in direct, tangible w a y s . ^
Puebla Era (1976-1982)
During the late sixties and early seventies, countries
throughout Latin America experienced deteriorating socio
economic and p o l itical conditions a nd m o r e repressive forms
of national security. Latin American bishops responded to
the declined living conditions in the Third General
Conference of the Latin American Bishops (CELAM III) in
Puebla de los Angeles, Mexico, in 1979.
In Pope John Paul II's opening address to the bishops
of CELAM III he reaff i r m e d the importance of Medellin a nd he
s ug g e s t e d that the present c o nference should take its
conclusions as the point of departure. During the
conference, expli c i t attention was giv e n to many of the
fundamental themes in liberation theology. The b ishops
addressed the issue of equality of all citizens, the
exercise of freedom, legitimate s e lf-determination and the
70
re-establishment of justice. The participants also gave a
ri n g i n g endorsement to the "preferential o p tion for the
poor" and the approval of "communidades de ecles i a l e s de
base", or ecclesial base communities, which, they believed,
re p r e s e n t e d an "important ecclesial event" a nd the "hope of
the c h u r c h . ”5° The term "preferential option for the poor"
does not suggest an option for exclusivity, rather it
implies that all people, of whatever class or status, should
adopt an approach to life w h i c h will e l i m i n a t e poverty for
all members of society. It is this preference, argues
Gutierrez, that makes the gospel a challenge for the
p r i v i l e g e d members of a n unjust social order.
An 'exclusivity* w o u l d rather leave them on the

sidelines, where this proclamation d e n o u n c i n g whatever
despoils a nd o p p r e s s e s the poor would go right on by
them ... No, the gospel is addressed to e v e r y human
being; only it has a predilection for the poor, and
therefore makes its proc l a m a t i o n f r o m a p o s i t i o n of
solidarity with the o p p r e s s e d . 51
Ecclesial base communities represent small groups of
people (concerned parents, community activists, students,
religious leaders) who a re part of the C h u r c h c o m m u n i t y and
who are "committed to work together to improve their
communities a nd to establish a more just s o c i e t y . ”5^
Normally, members meet in homes or community centres and
they discuss how their faith in Jesus can help them improve
their general well-being. Emphasis is placed upon group
participation, small g r o u p Bible study, lay leadership, and
71
consciousness-raising acti v i t i e s which lead to social
c h a n g e . ^3
The c o nference addressed the issue of education and
c a l l e d for a n "evangelizing" or "liberating" education which
w o u l d " c o n t ribute to the c onversion of the total h u m a n being
- not just the innermost ego of the person but also that
person's peripheral a nd social e g o . "5* The learning process
was no longer regarded simply as a w ay of mastering
technical skills which wou l d be used at some later time in a
specific profe s s i o n or trade. Learning was under s t o o d as a
process w h i c h o f f e r e d students the opportunity to grow fully
and to act as responsible, faithful human beings.
During the Puebla era, J o h n Paul II dev e l o p e d Laborem
Exercens (1981) in whi c h he identified the unresolved
conflict be t w e e n capital a nd labour as a primary cause of
oppression a nd injustice in the world a nd he regarded the
solidarity of workers as an agent of social change.
According to Gregory Baum, the encyclical revealed a
"radical orien t a t i o n " in John Paul's social teaching.^ He
propo s e d that workers take co-ownership of industries so
they may become co-responsible for industrial policy and
production. The socialist t e a chings of John Paul II were
re iterated later by Canadian bishops. In 1982, the CCCB
ca lled for a shift in values, stating that the "goal of
serving the human needs of all people in our society must
take p r e c e d e n c e over the m a x i m i z a t i o n of profits a n d growth,
72
an d p r i o r i t y m u s t be given to the d i g n i t y of h uman labour,
not m a c h i n e s . " 55
This era also proved to be eventful for educational
theorists a n d practitioners. It was during this period that
we wit n e s s e d the birth of "critical p e d a g o g y . " 57 This
particular discourse draws upo n various sources including
neo-Marxism, critical theory, phenomenology, feminism,
structuralism, cultural studies, and various forms of
p ostmodern and pos t s t r u c t u r a l i s t analysis. Critical
pedagogues focus on the social, political, cultural, and
economic dimen s i o n s of the schooling process. Even though
they may not share a homogenous set of ideas, critical
theorists are united in their objective to empower the
powerless in society and t r ansform existing social
inequalities an d injustices.
One of the earliest expressions of critical pedagogy
emerged in the early seventies and reflected s o m ewhat the
orthodox Marxist view of education held by some of the
reconstruction theorists. Reproduction theorists view
schools as agencies of the dominant culture and places where
the existing power relations an d forms of domination are
reinforced. T h e y are highly c r i tical of m a i n s t r e a m theorists
who claim that schools are neutral institutions that oper a t e
in the interest of all people and offer all s t u dents the
same op p o r t u n i t y for social m o bility. R e p r o duction theorists
call for a critical analysis of the sociocultural, e c o nomic
and historical contexts of schooling. For example, Samuel
73
Bowles and Herbert Gintis (1976) ar g u e that schools
inculcate specific forms of knowledge through a h i dden
curriculum, place an undue emphasis on intellectual work
over manual work, a nd favour hierarchical over democratic
forms of organization and individual competition over
collective, cooperative shari n g . 6® Similarly, Michael Apple
(1979) discussed the various ways that ideologies are
perpetuated through school curriculum. He addressed the
political components of the schooling process and suggested
that "schools create and recreate forms of consciousness
that enable social control to be m a i n t a i n e d . " 60 This
r e f lected Paul W i l l i s ' s analysis of h ow "determinant socio
economic structures embedded in the dominant society work
t hrough the medi a t i o n s of class and culture in shaping the
lived a n t a gonistic e x p e r iences of students of everyday
l i f e . " 60
The s o c i o -political critique of e d u cation expressed by
repr o d u c t i o n theorists and others extended into religious
education. M ichael Warren (1982) proposed the
"politicization" of youth ministry and religious
education.6 ^ Politicization extends education to "the
rela t i o n s h i p of y o u t h to the p o l i s , that is, to the sphere
of human affairs"6 ^ and it includes both awareness and
engagement. Awareness means "conscious awareness of how the
world 'works'" and engagement suggests "acceptance of an
a c t i v e role in the p o l i s ."6 ® Suzanne T o t o n (1982) proclaimed
that religious educators should teach for institutional
74
transformation^ a nd William K ennedy (1979) called for a
"counter-education" with which religious educators cou l d
develop a critical awareness of the relationship between
ed u c a t i o n a n d ideol o g y . ^
Th omas Groome (1980) developed a "s h a r e d praxis"
approach to Christian religious education whereby a group
"share in dialogue their critical r e flection on present
a c tion in light of the Ch r i s t i a n Story and its V i s i o n toward
the e n d of lived Christian f a i t h . H e a s s o c i a t e d religious
ed u c a t i o n with e d u cation for justice and provided a five
move m e n t pedagogical m e t h o d for religious e d u c a t i o n grounded
in critical theory and social analysis. T he movements of
G roome's shared praxis coincide in some ways with Paulo
Freire's moments in liter a c y education. In the first
movement, participants a r e invited to describe their own or
society's present action; in the second movement
participants are encouraged to reflect critically on what
was expressed earlier. In the third movement, the group
reflects on the Christian Story and Vision relative to a
g enerative theme. The fourth movement invites the
p a r t icipants to "place their critical understanding of
present praxis around a g e nerative theme or symbol
(movements 1 and 2) in dialectical hermeneutics with
Christian Story/Vision (movement 3)."®^ The concluding
movement encourages the participants to m a k e de c i s i o n s for
r e n e w e d praxis.
75
C o n t e m p o r a r y Era (1983-1993)
D u r i n g the last decade, l i beration theology has reached
a stage a maturity. It has been a c c e p t e d in most theological
circles as an authentic method of 'doing' theology.
Nevertheless, critics like Michael Novak (1979) have
continued to accuse liberation theology of "formal attempts
to translate C h r i stianity into Marxist categories"®® and to
make the Marxist understanding of class struggle the
de t e r mining principle for interpreting the Christian
message. It was not until 1986 that the Congregation for the
Doctrine of Faith finally endorsed liberation theology's
option for the poor and the d evelopment of Christian base
communities. For Gustavo Gutierrez, this endorsement of
liberation theology represented a "relaunching of the
movement itself."®^
In the mid-eighties, John Paul II visited Canada and
reiterated many of his messages found in Laborem Exercens.
For example, in Toronto he s u g g e s t e d the "needs of the poor
must take prior i t y over the de s i r e s of the rich, the rights
of the w orkers over the maximization of profits, the
p r e s e r v a t i o n of the environment over uncontrolled industrial
expansion, a nd the prod u c t i o n to meet social needs over
pr oduction for military p u r p o s e s . "^0 In Newfoundland, he
a d d r e s s e d workers in the f i s h i n g industry and he urged them
to "work together to find ap p r o p r i a t e solutions to the
76
p roblems at hand."^ John Paul II blamed unre s t r i c t e d
c a p i t a l i s m for the m a s s i v e unemployment and poverty in the
country. In Edmonton, he warned p e ople ag a i n s t consumerism
and he suggested that p e ople avoid re g a r d i n g culture as
something created by market forces alone. S ociety must be
seen as a joint p roject where the moral values of love,
justice, loyalty a n d d e d i c a t i o n play a s i g n i ficant role.
Ir. 1992, bishops met for the F o u r t h General Conference
of the Latin Ameri c a n Bishops (CELAM IV) in Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic. The final document called for a new
evangelization to confront Latin American urbanization,
poverty, materialism and "cultures of death." It raised
concerns about d a mage to the environment and favoured the
"new faces of poverty" - calling for a r e c o n sideration of
the rights of "children, women, and the poorest groups in
so c i e t y - campesinos, Indians and A fr o - A m e r i c a n s . " ^
Du ring the contemporary era, critical pedagogues
ou t s i d e religious education have c o n t i n u e d developing their
ideas. For example, D a v i d Livingstone (1987) har. called for
a pedagogy to "expose the dynamics of cultural powe. rnd to
e n able popular engagement in creating alternative
futures.Ideologies, he claimed, a re the "basic stuff" of
c ritical pedagogy and the role of the teacher is to "help
su b o r d i n a t e groups to de-construct dominant ideologies"
which serve the interests of upper class, male, white, and
middle-aged social groups.^ Ira Sbor (1987) presented an
anthology of essays which showed how teachers in North
77
Ame r i c a a re usi n g Freire's methodology in the classroom.
For example, he showed h o w teachers of English can u se the
F r e i r e a n a p p r o a c h to d e v e l o p s t u d e n t self-confidence a n d how
t eachers of mathematics c an help students understand how
s t atistics reinforce hegemonic ideologies. The liberatory
pedagogy of Paulo Freire was also applied in a variety of
s ettings by Alice Evans, R o bert Evans and William Kennedy
(1987).^ They showed how Freire's ideas can be used with
members of the North American middle-class to make them
aware of the detrimental ef f e c t s of prevailing ideologies in
s ociety a nd to engage them in "transformative education" for
personal a n d socio-political change.
D u r i n g this era, critical p e d a g o g y theorists introduced
a " r e s i s t a n c e theory" of e d u c a t i o n which was built u p o n the
ideas of reproduction th e o r i s t s whi l e moving beyond their
o ft e n p e s s i m i s t i c views of the s c h o o l i n g process. Resistance
theory identifies the pote n t i a l s w i t h i n schools to challenge
p o l i t i c a l a nd sociocultural forms of domination. It's intent
is to identify the di a l e c t i c a l manner in which social
structures and human agency interact and to u se this
relationship as a base from which to create social change.
For example, Apple and We i s s (1983) viewed school curriculum
as a mea n s to simultaneously serve the interests of
domination and to provide possibilities for opposition and
emancipation. Henry Giroux (1983) called for educators to
become aware of the po l i t i c a l n a ture of schools and to
78
encourage s t u dents to work toward a genuine d emocratic
society. As G i r o u x argues,
Schools will not change society, but we can cr e a t e in

them pockets of resistance that provide pedagogical
models for n e w forms of l e a r n i n g an d social r e l ations -
forms w h i c h c a n be used in o t h e r spheres m o r e d i r e c t l y
involved in the struggle for a n e w morality and v i e w of
social j u s t i c e . 7 '
A r o nowitz and Giroux (1985), a r g u e d that teachers must
consider t hemselves as "transformative intellectuals" and
take an active role a d vancing " e m a ncipatory t r aditions and
cultures within an d without alternative public s p h e r e s . " 7®
Schools offer a f orum where praxis is a "fundamental social
project to help students develop a dee p and abiding f a i t h in
the struggle to overcome i n justices and to change
themselves."7 ® R oger Simon (1987) c a l l e d for a " p e d a g o g y of
empowerment" to enable "those who have been silenced to
speak" an d those "who have been marginalized economically
an d culturally to claim in both respects a status as full
participatory m e m b e r s of a c o m m u n i t y . " ® ® Henry Giroux (1988)
later p u b l i s h e d a book in w h i c h h e linked schooling to the
quest for d e m o c r a c y and p r e s e n t e d what he called a "theory
of critical citizenship."®^ In this theory, teachers are
enco u r a g e d to "work toward a realization of their view of
community, social justice, empowerment, and social
reform."®2 Michael Apple (1988) a d d ressed the issue of
"intensification," that is, the many ways which the "work
privileges of educational w o r k e r s ar e eroded" by p e o p l e w i t h
greater a u t h o rity.®® He argues that if t e a chers are
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overworked they will have neither the time nor the energy
re q u i r e d to 'stand b a c k ' , as it were, from the schooling
p r o c e s s a nd identify the many forms of injustice w i thin it.
In religious education, Mary Elizabeth Moore (1983)
pr e s e n t e d a "tradi t i o n i n g model" for teaching, that is, a
p r o c e s s by which "the historical tradition is remembered and
t r a n s formed as the Ch r i s t i a n c o m munity enco u n t e r s G od and
the world in present experience and as the community is
motivated toward the future."®^ In a later work, Moore
developed an organic approach to re l i g i o u s education which
regarded teaching as a "matter of the heart" or a set of
" r e - v e r i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p s - relationships a m o n g teachings and
students, people and subject matter, thinking and feeling,
theoretical concepts and practices, play and work,
i magination and logic ... Teaching from the heart links the
many dimensions of the learning community in order for the
parts to work together."®® John Elias ( 1986) ca1 d for
religious e d u cation to foster social and political
imagination and e n able students to u n d e r s t a n d society in a
larger h i storical context.®® William Kennedy (1985)
encouraged religious educators to develop a "greater
ideological c o n s c i o u s n e s s " so that w h e n hegemonic ideologies
distort the way things should be in reality, teachers are
able to uncover a n d cor r e c t the d i s t o r t i o n s and move toward
a greater sense of justice.®^ Daniel Schipani (1988) used
some of the themes f o u n d in Paulo Freire's work and explored
the relationship between religious e d u c a t i o n and liberation
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theology. He c a lled for religious edu c a t i o n to be
" e x p l icitly concerned with and involved in society's
political and s o cio-economic realms."®® All e n Moore (1989)
propo s e d a "lifestyle" religious education wh i c h would
p romote consciousness-raising activities and focus on the
v a lues and a ssumptions wh i c h influence the way people
live.®® Such a p e d a g o g y w o u l d encourage stude n t s to develop
a de e p e n i n g a w a reness of reality a nd take action to
transform it. Thomas Groome (1991) fur t h e r de v e l o p e d his
" shared praxis" a nd applied it to religious ed u c a t i o n and
pastoral ministry.®® He c a lled for an "ontological turn"
which "encourages educators to engage a n d inform, form and
transform the very 'being' of people in the world."®^ For
Groome, religious e d u cation is a " c o n a t i v e activity" which
"engages people's corporeal, mental, and volitional
capacities, their heads, hearts, a nd overt behaviors, their
cognition, desire, and will as they realize their own
'being* in right r e l a tionship with others and the w o r l d and
c o ntribute in ways that are life-giving for all."®^
In summary, I have shown in this chapter that the
socio-political consciousness-raising approach in religious
education is rooted deeply in liberatory pedagogy, Church
teachings, and l i b e r a t i o n theology. In the following chapter
I will develop a nd explicate fully four components of a
contextual pedagogy for religious education. It will become
e vi d e n t as the pedagogy unfolds that some of the themes
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d e v e l o p e d above, such as praxis, dialectic, an d the role of
life experiences in the ed u c a t i v e process, will influence
s i g n i f i c a n t l y both its content a n d dynamism.
CHAPTER FOUR
A C O N T E X T U A L PEDAGOGY F O R RELIGIOUS E D U C A T I O N
In this chapter I will present four components of a
contextual p e d a g o g y for religious education. Before doing
so, I wish to discuss three c o m m o n approaches to re l i g i o u s
education cu r r e n t l y practiced in high schools and some
foundational principles upon w h i c h the pedagogy is based.
Common Approaches to Religious E d u c a t i o n
Sp e a k i n g very broadly, we commonly find in schools
three general approaches to religious education:
traditional, kerygmatic, and experiential. By no m e a n s are
these approaches entirely independent of one another. In
fact, religious educators often rely on a combination of
approaches to provide a more effective educative process.
Even so, for simplicity's sake I will present each appro a c h
to religious education as a distinct form of pedagogy.
A traditional approach to religious edu c a t i o n promotes
the idea that there are two distinct worlds: the world of
sin and the wor l d of perfection. A traditional religious
educator argues that the pur p o s e of human existence is to
resist the temptations of sin and prepare oneself for a
perfect, o t h e r - w o r l d l y existence.
From a traditional point of view, the primary purpose
of religious e d u cation is the transmission of a salvific,
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h i storical m e s s a g e th r o u g h a systematic study of scripture.
In this case, the O ld Testament and New Testament are
regarded as primary sources of a "unique, divinely
authoritarian, s a l v i f i c message.
This part i c u l a r a p p r o a c h promotes w h a t R. Rummery calls
a "pedagogy of object.It concentrates upon handing on
unchanging and universally understood statements of faith.
Content is n o r m a l l y taught in a d i d a c t i c fashion and treated
as part of a " c o n c e n t r i c plan, e v e r - e x p a n d i n g the 'truths of
the f a i t h . T h i s syst e m a t i c u n f o l d i n g of a pre-determined
plan plays a s i g n i f i c a n t role in the 'Catechism of Christian
Doctrine' (1966), w h i c h states, for example:
Question: What is faith?
Answer: F a i t h is a supernatural gift of God, which

e n a b l e s us to believe wit h o u t doubting
w h a t e v e r G o d has revealed.
Question: W hy m u s t y ou believe w h a t e v e r God has

revealed?
Answer: I m u s t believe whatever G o d has revealed

b e c a u s e God is the very truth a nd can neither
d e c e i v e nor be deceived.
Question: H ow a r e you to know what God has revealed?
Answer: I a m to know what God h a s revealed by the

testimony, teaching a nd a u t h o r i t y of the
C a t h o l i c Church.
Even though very few traditional re l i g i o u s educators make
frequent reference to catechisms of e a r l i e r decades, it is
important to note that the static, question-answer format
oft e n a s s o c i a t e d w i t h them can still be found in classrooms.
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The value of a traditional approach to religious
education is that it does not neglect the historical events
of a fai t h tradition. Values and beliefs are r ecognized as
b e i n g rooted deeply in traditions which, in m o s t cases, have
i n c l u d e d conflicts, acts of courage, and moments of immense
human joy and suffering. A f* value of a
traditional approach, a ^ a primary r e am®" Why religious
educators sometimes practice it, is its .^trolling effect
on c l a s s r o o m behaviour. T he rote m e m o r i z a t i o n of historical
facts a nd p r e determined responses promotes a sense of
a c h i e v e m e n t and p r o d u c t i v i t y in the classroom. All students,
c o o p e r a t i v e a nd disruptive alike, are so o c c u p i e d w i t h "busy
work" that there is no time for the more troublesome
s t u d e n t s to express their sense of boredom, rest l e s s n e s s a n d
frustration.
Even so, I feel that a traditional approach to
religious education is pr o b l e m a t i c in at least two ways.
First, traditional religious educators create a harmful
dichotomy between a sinful this-worldly existence and a
pe r f e c t other-worldly existence. This often leads to an
u n q u e s t i o n i n g a cceptance of the status quo. For example, a
traditional religious educa t o r m a y suggest to students from
a l ess-fortunate s o c i o - e c o n o m i c b a c k g r o u n d that the pangs of
hunger they experience and the various forms of violence to
which they are exposed s h ould be accepted whol e h e a r t e d l y
because that is the path set for them b y God, a path they
must travel if they wish to enter heaven. This approach
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pacifies students and discourages them from changing their
present reality. They lack a vision of the way the world
could be. Instead, they accept the world as it is and wait
in despair for something better to come. Second, because
scriptures are understood as representing the 'truth' there
is no room for the qu e s t i o n i n g process to discover
scriptural contradictions or falsities. Scriptures become
static, objectified collections of knowledge rather than
expressions of living faith recorded many years ago in
different social and political contexts.
A s e cond approach to religious education is a
k erygmatic approach. Derived from the Greek wox'd keryx
s igni f y i n g a herald, k erygmatic religious educators
e mphasize p r e aching and teaching about the "Good News"
proclaimed by Jesus. This Christo-centric approach
c o n c entrates on c o m municating to others the words and
actions of Jesus Christ. It is evident, therefore, that the
New T e s tament is regarded as a primary source of content for
k e rygmatic educators. However, while traditional religious
educators use scriptures for historical purposes, kerygmatic
religious educators use the New Testament for purely
revelatory purposes, that is, to reveal the divinely
inspired words a n d deeds of Jesus Christ.
The value of the kerygmatic approach is that it reminds
students that religious fai t h is much more than an
intellectual matter. Faith is also a matter of the heart. To
p roclaim faith in Jesus Christ means going beyond the
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r ecitation of creeds and prayers. It suggests truly
b e l i e v i n g in a n d living life in r e l a t i o n to the t e a c h i n g and
actions of Jesus.
Nevertheless, I feel that the k e rygmatic approach to
religious e d u cation is problematic. First, its Chris t o -
c e n t r i s m reflects a f o r m of absolutism. K e rygmatic r e l igious
educators often over-emphasize the infallibility of Christ,
thus den y i n g the possibility that Jesus was wrong on some
matters, a nd o v e r l o o k e d others. As a result, students often
resort to literal interpretations in the New Testament. Why
q u e s t i o n a n y t h i n g that was recorded if Jesus was omnipotent,
omniscient, and infallible?
Second, the kerygmatic appro a c h insists that e d u c a t o r s
themselves are truly committed to Jesu6 Christ. The pro b l e m
h ere is that many educators are perhaps asking profoundly
religious questions themselves and searching beyond
C h r i s t i a n i t y f or answers. We saw in an e arlier chapter that
people are approaching religior in a fragments fashion,
s e l ecting beliefs and practices f r o m m a n y of the major w o r l d
religions. Religious educators are not exempt from such
temptations. They m ay prefer preaching the words of Jesus,
but if they t h e m s e l v e s are not truly c o m m i t t e d to what is
bei n g said then students will quickly detect such
inconsistencies a nd close themselves off to anything of
v al u e that the educator may have to share with them.
Third, students relate more e f f e c tively to modern
martyrs like Oscar Romero a nd Martin Luther King, Jr. than
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to someone who fought for a just w orld two thousand years
ago. The y have access to videos, newspapers, and m a g azines
which port r a y firsthand the efforts and struggles of the
R o m e r o s a n d Kings of today. The s tory of Jesus, on the other
hand, is part of a tra d i t i o n which has been passed down
thro u g h centuries. There are no photographs of Jesus, no
ne w s p a p e r clippings, and no videos for a technologically-
in s pired student p opulation to use.
Fourth, there is no evidence to suggest that students
learn mor e effectively or that their faith in Jesus is
strengthened significantly through th e actions of a
preaching religious educator. In fact, through my teaching
experiences I have learnt that students do not appreciate
being "preached at" by educators, parents, or peers. While
so m e learners politely tolerate such b e haviour on the part
of the educator, others express their objections verbally
a n d sometimes rather d i s r u p t i v e l y .
A third approach to religious education is
experiential. For experiential r e l igious educators the
content of the t e a ching and learning process derives from
t he life experi e n c e s of students. Their questions and
c oncerns, hopes and aspirations, act as a base upon which to
explore the r e l a t i o n s h i p between reality and the words and
actions of Jesus. Group discussions, projects,
presentations, and community service work replace Church
doctrine and scripture s tudy as the prim a r y focus for an
e x p e r i e n t i a l rel i g i o u s educator.
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Experiential religious educators are regarded less as
authoritarian, master figures and m o r e as leaders or guides.
As the term 'educere' suggests, educating be c o m e s a process
of leading forth, bring i n g out, eliciting. This role of
educa t o r as guide is i d e n t i f i e d by Pierre Babin.
Our a im in religious ed u c a t i o n will not be c o n d u c t e d on

the individual so m u c h as on the group and
interpersonal relations. This group e d u c a t i o n supports
less of the presence of the teacher as the sole
au t hority but more p f his (sic) presence as guide in a
fraternal relation.
Experiential religious educators do not d i fferentiate
be t w e e n this wo r l d and a perfect other-worldly existence.
H e a v e n a n d earth are o ne a nd salvation f r o m su f f e r i n g can be
achieved here and now. Rather than enduring pain and
suffering in the p resent in anticipation of a heavenly
ex i stence later, learners a re e n couraged to fight against
current social ills a n d create a greater sense of h e a v e n on
earth. They become more sensitive and responsive to their
own inner feelings a n d learn to recognize a n d a p p r e c i a t e the
mysterious side of human existence. Faith is seen as
so m e t h i n g m u c h more p r o f o u n d than the simple m e m o r i z a t i o n of
names, dates a nd Church teachings. Faith in Jesus Christ
involves compassion, care, devotion, and doubt. Experiential
reli gious education devel o p s within learners what John
Ka v a n a u g h calls the "found a t i o n of an interior life"®
wherein students encounter both the grace and the darkness,
the s t r e n g t h a nd the v u l n e r a b i l i t y of their character.
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A value of an experiential approach to religious
education is that it allows people a n d their socio-political
contexts to speak for themselves. Rather than b e g i n n i n g with
predetermined, carefully selec t e d content which is often
un r elated to the life experiences of the learners, this
approach brings life's struggles a nd conflicts into the
forefront and invites students to search for and evaluate
the significance of such experiences. An additional value of
this a p p r o a c h is that it encourages cl a s s r o o m participation.
Students carry with them m a n y life experiences which they
are a n x iously awaiting to share with others. Activities
including group work, presentations, plays, a nd so on are
of t e n used as means with which learners can share their
stories a n d visions w i t h others.
Even so, I feel that an experiential approach to
religious education c an be p roblematic in at least three
ways. First, it can be very di f f i c u l t for a teacher to keep
a large group of students focussed on a single subject or
theme. While many students are a n x iously awaiting the
op p o r t u n i t y to share their experiences, opinions,
understandings, and judgements with others, the group
discussion can so m e t i m e s take radical contextual turns. Such
dynamics c an in t h emselves lead to some interesting
discussions, a nd they should be pur s u e d whenever possible,
but educators s h o u l d be aware of the "pre-defined" Mini s t r y
curricula which must be interwoven within the group
dialogue. The hard reality is that certain content,
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regardless of its irrelevancy to the lives of the learners,
must be covered. Second, an experiential approach to
religious edu c a t i o n requires a v e r y high level of e n e r g y and
cl a s s r o o m skill on the part of the educator. Leading group
discussions w i t h thirty or so enthusiastic and h i g h l y vocal
students is tiring work. Ed u c a t o r s are expected to k e e p the
cl a s s r o o m discussion teasonably well directed to w a r d a
specific theme and ensure that onl y one student spe a k s at a
time while the rest listen. Third, with the use of
experiential approaches, learners sometimes express
difficulty identifying the relevance of the discussion at
han d to the overall focus of the course. Vhen religious
e d ucators over-em p h a s i z e classroom discussion and the
sharing of life experiences, learners often question the
value and expectations of the course. They see religious
ed u c a t i o n as an "opinion course" or an "easy credit" which
naturally leads to less effort an d interest on their part.
Fou n d a t i o n a l Principles
The contextual pedagogy to follow is different, in both
content and process, from the common approaches discussed
above. It is based upon five foundational principles:
dual i t y of structure, contextuality, counter-hegemony,
conscien t i z a t i o n , a n d p r o b l e m - p o s i n g education.
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1. D uality of Structure
The first foundation on whi c h a contextual p e d a g o g y for
religious education is based is duality of structure.
Bri t i s h social theorist Anthony Giddens has d e v e l o p e d what
he calls a " theory of s t r u c turation"^ in which he provides a
common discourse between two traditional sch o o l s of
sociological thought: (1) p h e n o m e n o l o g y and it's e m p h a s i s on
the role individual consciousness plays in the way people
c onstruct meaning in life,** a nd (2) structu r a l i s m and the
idea that people are the products of social stru c t u r e s . ^ For
Giddens, a s t r ucture is more than a physical entity or
s omething a k i n to "the skeleton or m o r p h o l o g y of an organ i s m
or to the girders of a b u i l d i n g . " * ® Structures are rules and
resources allowing "the 'binding' of time-space in social
systems, the properties which make it possi b l e for
discernibly similar social p r a ctices to exist across v a r y i n g
spans of time a nd space."** Gi d d e n s argues that social
structures c an be either liberative or oppressive in nature.
A liberative structure, or what he calls a "structure of
freedom", e nables people to intervene intentionally in life
and create social change. An o p p r e s s i v e structure, or what
G iddens calls a "structure of domination", restricts human
g r owth and d i s a b l e s the m o v e t o ward a better life.
The e ssence of Giddens's theory is what he calls
" duality of structure" or the dialectical relationship
b e t w e e n people a n d the larger s t r u c t u r e s in society.
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By duality of structure, I mean that the structural

properties of social systems are b o t h the m e d i u m a n d
the outcome of practices that c o n s t i t u t e the system -
the identification of structure w i t h constraint is als o
rejected s t r ucture in both enabling and c o n s t raining
and it is one of the specific tasks of social theory to
study the c o n d i t i o n s of social svstems that govern the
interconnections between the two. 2
Giddens differentiates between d u a lisms and dualities.
D u a lisms imply s e p a r a t e or mutually e x clusive entities w hile
dua l i t i e s suggest complementary p o s itions or ways of
thinking. He ar g u e s that we should v i e w differing schools of
thought as du a l i t i e s rather than dualisms. D u alities
e m phasize similarities in variant positions while dualisms
tend to highlight the differences.
Dualisms found commonly in soc i o l o g y can also be
identified in educational theory. Some educators have
applied symbolic interac t i o n i s m and phenomenology to the
sch o o l i n g process. They have presented a conservative
d i s course emphasizing the mastery of individual skills and
the a cquisition of specific knowledge.^® Such a discourse
a ccentuates what Henry Giroux c alls a "polite civic
humanism" w here c l a s s r o o m s are viewed as happy, c ooperative
environments v o i d of any critically reflective a c t i v i t i e s . ^
Other educators have developed underst a n d i n g s of the
s c hooling process ro o t e d in the sociological tradition of
structural f u n ctionalism. The emphasis here is on
i n t e r relationships at the societal level and the way
students are c o n s t r a i n e d by social struc t u r e s . ^ ®
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Educational theorists like Stanley Aronowitz a n d Henry
G i roux have a r t i c ulated an underst a n d i n g of the s c h ooling
process which incorporates, in many ways, ideas common to
G i d dens's duality of structure. They d e v e l o p e d a "theory of
r e s i s t a n c e ” which accentuates the d ialectical relationship
b etween human agency and social structures, that is, the
"complex ways in which people me d i a t e and respond to the
connections between their own experiences and structures of
domin a t i o n and c o n s t r a i n t . " 1^ The value of this theory is
the w a y it regards the s c h o o l i n g process both as a means of
e mpo w e r i n g students a nd as a mea n s of sustaining,
legitimating, and r e p r o d u c i n g dominant class interests. This
idea of empowerment and reproduction was developed further
by Henry Giroux in what he called a "radical theory of
pedagogy." Here, the sc h o o l i n g process is based upon a
"dialectical interplay of social interest, political power,
and economic power on the one hand, a nd school knowledge a n d
p ractice on the o t h e r . I n this sense, schools are
r egar d e d as sites of indoctrination, social i z a t i o n and
instruction and cultural terrains that p romote student
empowerment and self-transformation.
Students and teachers do not s i m p l y c o m p l y with the

oppressive features of schooling, as radical critics
suggest. In some cases both groups resist; in some
cases they m o d i f y school practices. In no sense do
teachers and s t u d e n t s uniformly f u n c t i o n in schools as
s i mply the passive r e flex of the logic of capital. In
other words, these radical accounts fail to u n d e r s t a n d
that while schools serve the interests o f capitalism,
they also serve other interests as well, some of w h i c h
a re in oppo s i t i o n to the economic order a n d the needs
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of the dominant s ociety ... Teachers and students do
not simply receive information; they also produce and
m e d i a t e it. 8
Theorists in r e l igious education have also d e v eloped
pedagogies whi c h incorporate Giddens's idea of the duality
of structure. Thomas G r oove developed a "conative pedagogy”
which takes into a ccount the "dialectical relationship
between people and the 'place', both secular and
e c c l e s i & l ." ^ T w o aims of Grocme's pedagogy are (1) to
develop learner awareness of their self-identity as "agent-
subjects- i n - r e l a t i o n s h i p " a n d (2) to encourage learners to
attend critically to the socio-cultural reality of which
they ave a part. The first aim emphasizes the more
p h e nomenological c omponents of the schooling process and
considers factors such as physical growth, the development
of reasoning, r emembering and imagining skills, a nd the
capacity to make c hoices in life. The second aim
concentrates on the structural components of the schooling
pro c e s s and encourages students to "criti c a l l y and
c r e a t i v e l y a t tend to their socio-cultural situation, both to
draw life from it and to become agent-subjects-in-
relationship who contribute to it as a 'place' that is
h u m a n i z i n g for a ll."^®
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2. C o n t e x t u a l i t y
A s e cond foundation upon which a contextual pedag o g y
for religious education is bas e d is contextuality. During
his p r e s e n t a t i o n of the 1990 Chan c e l l o r ' s Lecture at Regis
College, U n iversity of Toronto, Albert Noian r e f l e c t e d upon
his experiences as a priest working in South Africa. He
shared w i t h the audience his u n d e r s t a n d i n g of t h e o l o g y as ”a
refl e c t i o n upon real life in conc r e t e circumstances fro- the
point of view of faith. Nolan a r gued that all theol o g i e s
are contextual in their origins.
Di f ferent questions give rise to different theologies.

The r e is one faith, but there are many theologies.
Ch r i s t i a n faith, as a c o mmitment to God in Jesus
Christ, remains the same at all times and in all
circumstances. But theology, as the attempt to answer
qu e s t i o n s about this faith, will vary a c c o r d i n g to the
different historical a n d social contexts that g i v e rise
to d i f ferent questions ... Because our q u e s t i o n s are
a l ways contextual, our a n s w e r s also become
c o n t e x t u a l .**
By bo r r o w i n g insights from Albert Nolan, I will argue
that peda g o g i e s in religious edu c a t i o n must be c o ntextual in
nature. They must be r o oted in the life experiences and
historical traditions of learners. The contextual pedagogy
d ev e l o p e d in this thesis is contextual in the sense that it
is rooted in a n d a d d ressed to the life experiences of the
re latively comfortable, f o r t u n a t e class in Nor t h America.
1 have chosen the e x p r e s s i o n contextual p e d a g o g y rather
than critical p e d a g o g y be c a u s e readers often a s s o c i a t e the
96
latter with speci f i c Latin Ameri c a n social, political and
e conomic contexts, and d i c h o tomies such as oppressor-
oppressed, r i c h-poor and owner-worker wh i c h I feel do not
reflect a c c u r a t e l y the realities fou n d in North America. For
example, In Latin America there oft e n exists a single
dominant form of oppre s s i o n to which all other injustices
are subordinated. In North America, as we discussed in an
earlier chapter, the situation is v e r y different. The s o c i o
political reality is complex in n ature and incorporates
forms of d o m i n a t i o n and o p pression w h i c h are not as blatant
as economic ineq u a l i t y but are equally devastating: racial
exclusion, the subjugation of women, the exploitation of the
environment, a n d so on.
A contextual pedagogy begins with the questions and
concerns of learners. Because the questions are always
contextual, that is, they are r o oted in the experiences of
the learners, the a nswers also b e c o m e contextual. Therefore,
an acceptable response in one situation may be cons i d e r e d
unacceptable in another place or at a different time. The
q u e stions and concerns, the ways in w h i c h social, political
and economic problems are analyzed, the appropriation of
structural c a uses of oppression, and the derivation of
f easible so l u t i o n s are influenced significantly by the
context of the learners. As Gregory Baum points out, all
c ontextual theologies, a nd here we may include contextual
pedagogies, have discovered that "the human predicament is
not universal. That is, the predicament of the poor is not
97
the same as the predicament of the non-poor, and the
predicament of women is not the same as t he predicament of
men, and so on."^ The questions, problems and needs of
p e ople over time and p l a c e are not always the same.
What is not sought here is a universally applicable
p e d a g o g y which can s o m e h o w be a pplied regar d l e s s of social,
political and economic differences. Alfred Nor t h Whitehead
was correct when he s u g g e s t e d that " e ducation is a difficult
problem, to be s o l v e d by no one s i mple formula.
Pedagogies claiming to be the method w o u l d be de s e r v i n g of
skepticism. What is n e e d e d is a pedagogy which is flexible
and sensitive to the experiences, traditions and
transformative visions of learners.
3. C o u n ter-Hegemony
A third foun d a t i o n upon which a contextual pedagogy for
r e l igious education is based is counter-hegemony. Thomas
B at e s suggests that the concept of hegemony "is really a
very simple one. "25 Raymond Williams, on the other hand,
i ndicates that the n o t i o n of hegemony "as d e e p l y saturating
the consciousness of a society" is highly complex.^În some
a spects, both Bates a n d Williams are correct. T he concept of
hegemony is simple in the sense that it can be easily
d e f i n e d a n d discussed. At the same time it is h i g h l y complex
in the w a y it functions in society. It c a n be def i n e d with
relative ease but it is intertwined w i t h i n the ordinary of
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everyday life to such a d e gree that it is virtually
impossible to identify.
To u n d e r s t a n d the concept of hegemony it is important
to d iscuss briefly what Antonio Gramsci ca l l s "civil
society" and "political society." For Gramsci society as a
whole is the summation of both civil and political parts.
Civil society is represented by agencies including schools,
churches, clubs, trade unions, political parties, and the
mass media, w h i c h contribute to the formation of social and
political consciousness. It represents the sphere where
hegemony is most commonly exercised. Political society,
sometimes referred to as the 'State', r e presents public
institutions such as governments, courts, police forces, and
the army, which exercise d i rect force over the population.
Gramsci rejects the Mar x i s t - L e n i n i s t position that power is
c o n c e n t r a t e d solely in the h a n d s of the State, a n d that (he
aim of revolutionary action is to overthrow the State and
capture power. He posits that power is both diffused
throughout civil society a nd embod i e d in the ha n d s of the
State. The worldview of the rulers is transmitted to the
ruled through schools, churches, trade unions, and so on,
a c h ieving and maintaining "free" consent of the m a sses to
law and order. It is only w h e n consent is not a c h i e v e d that
the ruling class relies upon the State's more direct and
violent tactics.
Hegemony is a process of persuading or, if necessary
coercing the majority of the population to consent to the
99
wo r l d v i e w of the political a nd ideological leaders in
society. For Gramsci hegemony represents "the entire complex
of practical a nd theoretical activities with which the
ruling class not only maintains its dominance but man a g e s to
win the consent of those over whom it r u l e s . I t is a
process of ma i n t a i n i n g domin a t i o n over the less-fortunate
not by the exercise of force but t hrough consensual social
practices in civil society. As Peter McLaren states,
Hegemony refers to the moral a n d intellectual

leadership of a dominant class over a subordinate class
achieved not through c o e r c i o n (ie., threat of
imprisonment or torture) or the willful c o n s t r u c t i o n of
rules and regulations (as in a dictatorship or facist
regime), but rather through the general w inning of
consent of the subordinate classes to the a u t h o r i t y of
the domin a n t class. The d o m i n a n t class need not impose
force for the m a n u f acture of h e g e m o n y since the
s u b o r dinate class activ e l y s u b s c r i b e s to m a n y of the
values and objectives of the domin a n t class w i t h o u t
being a w a r e of the source of those values or the
interests which inform t h e m . * 8
Hegemony is more than a simple act of manipulation. It
saturates human consciousness to such a degree that the
social world in which we live is believed to be the only
possible reality. Everything else is m e r e l y a d i s t o r t i o n of
what is real. It dictates h o w we think a nd act, h ow w e see
reality, what values we cherish, and how we relate to
others.
C oun t e r - h e g e m o n y is a foundational principle for a
contextual pedagogy. It represents the ways schools can
counteract o ppressive hegemonic forces in society. Students
are e n couraged to question the p r e v a i l i n g values, attitudes,
a nd social practices of dominant society. They are invited
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to create a counter-hegemony which would lead to a more
e quitable dist r i b u t i o n of well-being. While Michael Apple is
partially correct when he states that "schools create and
recreate forms of c o n sciousness that enable social control
to be maintained without the necessity of dominant groups
having to resort to overt mechanisms of domination,"^
schools c an also be sites of counter-hegemonic activity. The
challenge for educators, as Peter McLaren suggests, "is to
recognize and att e m p t to transform those undemocratic and
oppressive features of hegemonic control that often
structure everyday cla s s r o o m existence in ways not readily
a p p a r e n t ."30
4. C o n s c i e n t i z a t i o n
A fourth foundation upon which a contextual pedagogy
for religious education is based is what Freire calls
"conscientization." This term involves m o r e than mechanical,
consciousness-raising activities. It includes a process of
praxis, or moving learners from naming and discerning
problems in society to formulating and implementing
s t rategies of c o n c r e t e action. It e n c o u r a g e s them to examine
the underlying ideologies in their own socio-political
realities and make d e c isions that will have a positive
impact on the w a y the world operates. For Daniel Schipani,
c o n s c i e n t i z a t i o n involves,
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[A] process of cultural action in whi c h w o m e n and m e n
are awak e n e d to their sociocultural reality, move
be yond the constraints a n d alienations to w h i c h they
are subjected, and a f f i r m themselves as conscious
subjects and co-creators of their historical f u t u r e . 3 '
According to Schipani, Paulo Freire's process of
conscientization has insp i r e d an approach to religious
education that "is dialogical in spirit, prophetic-
eschatological in vision, p r axis oriented, hermen e u t i c a l in
character, and communal in shape.Contextual religious
education has among o t h e r s a political agenda, that is, it
intervenes deliberately in the lives of students and
influences how they will function in society. As Freire
reminds us, "a teacher must be fully cognizant of the
political nature of his/her practice a nd assume
responsibility for this rather than denying it."33
Contextual religious ed u c a t o r s join in c o m m u n i t y with their
students in a dialogical search for oppr e s s i v e structures
which act upon their lives. They act coordinators or
facilitators of group dialo g u e and become one participant
am o n g many. They reflect a nd act together in what George Coe
refers to as a "systematic, critical examination and
reconstruction of r e l ations between persons, guided by
Jesus' assumption that p ersons are of infinite w o r t h . " 3* The
guiding light is the "democracy of G o d , " 33that is, an
idealized social order in which the p rinciples enunciated
most c learly by Jesus Christ will be actualized.
Conscient i z a t i o n not only provides a methodology for
a n a l y z i n g s y s t e m a t i c a l l y social structures of o p p r e s s i o n and
102
alienation but also encourages concrete forms of action.
Classroom acti v i t i e s frequently include excessive d egrees of
rhetorical verbalism a nd abstract theorizing. Contextual
religious e d u c a t i o n moves b e y o n d words to ccncrete forms of
social action. As Allen Moore suggests, contextual religious
education, or what he refers to as "political action
education," is under s t o o d as "doing justice rather than
learning ab o u t the theories or principles of a just
order.
C o n s c i e n t i z a t i o n enhances both cognitive and a f f ective
development. Unlike other approaches to religious education
which focus almost entirely on lower levels of cognitive
development, with activities s u c h as listing, defining, and
describing, a contextual pedagogy founded upon the dynamic
process of cons c i e n t i z a t i o n relies upon higher levels of
cognitive development, with activities such as analyzing,
synthesizing, and evaluating. In addition, conscient i z a t i o n
guides learners to a greater se n s i t i v i t y about their inner
feelings and promotes a g reater sense of awe and wonder
about the mysterious side of h u m a n existence. Learners are
enco u r a g e d to open their hearts and respond compassionately
to feelings of insecurity, loneliness, and alienation.
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5. P roblem-Posing Ed u c a t i o n
A fifth f oundation upon whi c h a c o ntextual pedagogy for
r eligious education is based is what Paulo Freire calls
"problem-posing" education. Freire claims that "education is
suffering from n a r ration sickness." ^ T e a c h e r s tend to
n arrate lifeless c ontent into the min d s of patiently
awaiting students. This type of teaching is what Freire
calls "banking" education. In banking edu c a t i o n the teacher
regards students as empty containers to be filled with pre
selected knowledge. F r eire makes r e f erence to phrases such
as "words to be digested," "nutritionist v i e w of knowledge,"
a n d "act of deposition" wher; d e scribing banking education.
[Banking education represents] an act of depositing, in

which the students are the d e p o s i t o r i e s and the teacher
is the depositor. Instead of communicating, the teacher
issues communiques and makes deposits whi c h the
students p a t iently receive, memorize, a nd repeat. ^
Implicit in this view of education is the a s sumption
that a dichotomy exists between the learner and the world.
The learner is m e rely in the world, not with the w o r l d or
wi t h others. A student is n othing more than an empty mind
p a s sively and r e c e p tively open to deposits of prefabricated
knowledge.
Banking e d u cation creates a nd maintains a teacher-
s tudent contradiction. Freire identifies elements of this
contradiction.
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(a) T h e teacher knows e v e r y t h i n g and the s t u d e n t s know
nothing.
(b) T h e teacher thinks a n d the students are thought
about.
(c) T h e teacher tr.lks a n d the students listen.
(d) T h e teacher e n f orces specific choices and the
students comply.
(e) T h e teacher selects the program of content and the
students adapt to it.
(f) Th e teacher is the Subject of the learning process
a n d the students are objects. ®
In contrast to banking education, Freire presents a
h umanistic, libertarian t e a c h i n g and learning proc e s s which
he calls "problem-posing'' education. Problem-posing
education is the raison d ’etre for learners who feel
m a r g i n a l i z e d or oppressed. It views human beings, knowledge,
an d society as unfinished products in history. Freire
s u g gests that problem-posing education is a d e mocratic way
for s t u d e n t s to take part in the process of shaping society:
P r o b l e m - p o s i n g e d u c a t i o n affirms men (sic) as beings in

the process of b e c o m i n g - as unfinished, u n c o m pleted
b e i n g s in and with a likewise unfinished reality ...
The bank i n g met h o d e m p h a s i z e s permanence and becomes
reactionary; p r o b l e m - p o s i n g education - w hich accepts
n e i t h e r a "well-behaved" present nor a p r e d etermined
f u t u r e - roots itself in the dynamic present and
b e c o m e s revolutionary ... Whereas the banking method
d i r e c t l y or indirectly reinforces men's (sic)
f a t a l i s t i c perception of their situation, the problem-
p o s i n g method presents this very situation to them as a
problem. '
P r o b l e m - p o s i n g e d u c a t i o n begins with a reconciliation
b e t w e e n the student-teacher c o n t radiction wher e b y b o t h are
s i m u l t a n e o u s l y teacher a n d student; both are l e a rning and
teaching. For Freire this m e a n s that "the teacher-of-the-
s t u d e n t s a n d the s t u d e n t s - o f - t h e - t e a c h e r cease to exist and
a n e w term emerges: teac h e r - s t u d e n t with student-
teachers."^ The teacher as problem-poser leads a critical
105
dialogue on issues of concern in the lives of the students,
issues i n c luding power relations in the classroom, in
schools, a n d in society at large, student culture,
inequality, language, and so on. All subject matter, w h e t h e r
mathematics, religion, or economics, is regarded as a
product of h i s t o r y to be q u e s t i o n e d critically, rather than
universal w i s d o m to be a c c e p t e d blindly. As Ira Shor states,
The r e sponsibility of the p r o b l e m - p o s i n g teacher is to

div e r s i f y subject m a tter and to use students' thought
and s p eech as the base for d e v e l o p i n g critical
u n d e r s t a n d i n g of personal experience, unequal
conditions in society, a n d e x i s t i n g knowledge. In this
d e mocratic pedagogy, the teacher is not filling empty
minds w i t h official or unof f i c i a l knowledge but is
posing knowledge in a n y form as a problem for mutual
inquiry. ’
The pedagogy to follow emph a s i z e s the important role
that religious educators play in u p h olding a dialectical
relationship between tradition and transformation and
between hum a n a g ency and social structures. The s c h ooling
process must be seen as both l i berative a n d oppressive. If
we c oncentrate solely upon it's liberative aspects then, as
Groome warns us, ''the d o m i n a t i o n and destruction of whi c h
all socio-cultural situations, secular and ecclesial, are
capable r e main unchallenged, and C h r istian religious
education, reduced to acting merely as an agency of
socialization, fails to h o n o u r its u l t i m a t e purpose of God's
r e i g n . I f , on the other hand, we r e gard the schooling
process as w h o l e h e a r t e d l y o p p r e s s i v e then its m a n y positive
and e m a n c i p a t o r y components will s o o n be forgotten.
106
F o u r Mom e n t s of a Contextual Pedagogy
The p e d a g o g y to follow is a method of doing religious
ed u c a t i o n which is rooted firmly in personal teaching
e x p e r i e n c e s ^ an(j has proven efficacious most of the time.^®
It is a pedagogy which was developed primarily within the
C atholic expression of the Christian tradition. It is a
p eda g o g y for Catholic religious e d u c a t i o n only because it is
from there that my teaching ex p e r i e n c e s and insights
evolved. This does not preclude its use for teaching in
other religious traditions and w i thin other disciplines of
study.
The four pedagogical moments are interrelated and
d ependent upon one another. Each moment is connected to or
flows into every other moment. They are not static parts of
a whole such that teaching moves syst e m a t i c a l l y from point
to point a nd w h e n the last part has been addressed the work
is complete. T he mo m e n t s are dynamic in the sense that they
are i n terdependent and ever-changing with time and place.
For B ernard Lonergan, d y n a m i s m between m oments occurs "where
each operation is r elated to the others, where the set of
relations forms a pattern, where the pa t t e r n is de s c r i b e d as
the right w ay of doing the job, whe r e operations in a c c o r d
w i t h the p a t t e r n m ay be repeated indefinitely, and wh e r e the
107
fruits of such r e petition are not repetitious, but
cumu l a t i v e and p r o g r e s s i v e . " ^
The term 'moment' is used rather than 'component,'
'step,' or 'part' b ecause the latter three terms suggest a
s t atic quality which works against an effective pedagogy.
The term 'moment' reflects a period of time w h i c h is related
dy n a m i c a l l y to what came b e fore and what lies ahead. In this
sense, time understood as a segmented unit of measure along
an i m a ginary line is r e p l a c e d here by an A u g u s t i n i a n concept
of time as always being in the present.
If future a nd past time exist ... they are there

neither as future nor as past, but as present. For if
they are in that pla c e as future things, they are not
yet there, a n d if they are in that p l a c e as past
things, they are n o longer there. Therefore, wherever
they are, a nd what e v e r they are, they do not exist
except as present things. 8
1. T h e m a t i c Dialogue
The first moment of a contextual p e d a g o g y for religious
ed u c a t i o n is thematic d i a l o g u e . Through this moment learners
are introduced to a p rocess of communal critiquing and
grappling with life experiences, the effects of social
structures, faith traditions, customs, values and
behaviours. Its pu r p o s e is to foster a passion to question
the 'givens' insociety a n d begin s t r u g g l i n g for a more just
a nd c o m passionate way of being.
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The curriculum in religious e d u cation should be
explored through the use of themes. A theme is a "unit of
wo r k organized around a topic which is known to the child
from first-hand experience."^ It should attract the
interest of learners a nd pertain to their present,
existential, concrete life experiences. If p a rticular themes
do n ot relate to the reality of the learners, it is likely
that they will prove ineffective in the schooling process.
Through a systematic exploration of themes students are
encouraged to engage actively in c l a ssroom discussion, to
strive, according to Pa u l o Freire, "towards awareness of
r e a l i t y and towards s e l f - a w a r e n e s s " ^ and to reflect "about
the v e r y condition of exis t e n c e " itself.
Ira Shor diff e r e n t i a t e s between three effective types
of themes; generative, topical, and academic.^ Generative
themes e m erge from the culture and life e x p e r iences of the
learners. According to Freire, such themes a re normally
"weighted with emotion and meaning, e x pressing the
anxieties, fears, demands, a nd dreams of the group.
Generative themes are normally focussed a r ound issues of
great import to the lives of students - work, school, music,
friendship, violence in the community, family life, and so
on. Top i c a l themes reflect social questions of local,
national, or global importance that do not emerge directly
from the life experiences and conversations of students;
they a r e introduced into the classroom by the educator. Such
themes m a y include, for example, the role of the mass media
109
in society, or Canada's response to the Z a p a t i s t a uprising
in Mexico. The purpose of a topical theme is to incite
critical thought and d i a l o g u e in an area of study w h i c h may,
at first glance, appear u n r e l a t e d to the lives o f students,
hut after serious critical analysis it offers students a
more profound unders t a n d i n g of their present reality.
Academic themes, introduced into the classroom by the
teacher, are rooted in scholastic, professional, or
technical bodies of knowledge such as history, computer
science, religion, m a t h ematics, and biology. Shor argues
that even though topical and academic themes begin with
knowledge beyond the immediate interests of learners, they
can be e q u a l l y effective in the learning process.
T h emes can be presented through the use of films,
photographs, stories, books, newspaper and magazine
articles, a n d so on. For example, a n educator m a y introduce
the theme ’Christianity and the environment' by using
p hotographs and newspaper a r t i c l e s whi c h depict t h e w ay life
forms in a local river or l a k e are being d e s t r o y e d by the
emission of sulphur dioxide into the air a n d the s e e p i n g of
toxic waste material from local factories into tht water.
Students may wish to share stories about how lakes and
rivers used to be clean enough for swimming and fishing.
Co m m u n i t y activists may be invited into the classroom to
d iscuss specific 'green' activities being developed in the
community. Priests and oth e r m embers of the religious
c o m m u n i t y m i g h t discuss recent C h u r c h action w h i c h addresses
110
the present environmental crisis. They m ay discuss, fcr
example, how v arious activities p r o m o t e d through the Church
community have developed a greater sense of ecological
c onsciousness in the community a n d encourage people to live
a more environment-friendly w ay of life. Throughout all
these activities, learners are encouraged to react
d i a l ogically to what is being shared, by asking qu e s t i o n s
a n d by relating the stories of others to their personal life
experiences.
Dialogue sugge s t s m o r e than discourse. Dialogue is not
talking back and forth at each other; it involves sharing
and listening, agreeing and disagreeing, affirming a nd
confronting, understanding, and judging in communion with
others. Paulo Freire explains what d i a l o g u e does not imply.
[Djialogue c a nnot be reduced to t he act of one person's

"depositing" ideas in another, n or can it become a
simple e x c h a n g e of ideas to be " c onsumed" by the
discussants. N or yet is it a holistic, polemical
argument b e t w e e n men (sic) who are committed neither to
the n a ming of the world, nor to t he search for truth
... It is an a ct of creation; it m u s t not serve as a
crafty inst r u m e n t for the d o m i n a t i o n of one man (sic)
by another. 5
It is through the powers of thematic dialogue that
learners are invited to name and re-name their present
reality. They are enco u r a g e d to express their sentiments,
attitudes, intuitions, perceptions, understandings, and
as s e s sments about the theme at hand. Students learn to
perceive thems e l v e s as part of a complex socio-political
p rocess and they begin to recognize their capacities as
agents of social change. They identify contradictions
111
between the w ay life is and the way life s h ould be. They
develop what Edmund Sulli v a n calls a " r e c iprocity of
perspectives", that is, an "emphatic s e eing f r o m the stance
of the other ... (which) makes it possible to share a common
world of f o r m . They b e g i n developing what Aronowitz u nd
Giroux call "voices forged in opposition" to the exploitive
institutions in society. They seek ways to "reclaim their
own memories, stories, and histories"^ and to define
them s e l v e s as "active a uthors of their w o r l d s . "5® As Freire
suggests.
D i a l o g u e is a m o m e n t where humans meet to reflect on

their reality as they make a n d remake it. Something
else: To the e x tent that we ... c o m m u n i c a t e to each
other as we b e c o m e m o r e able to t r a n s f o r m our reality,
we are able to k n o w that we know, w h i c h is something
m o r e than just k n o w i n g ... We human b e i n g s also know
that we don't knew. T hrough dialogue, r e f l e c t i n g
together on what we know and don't know, we can then
act critically to transform reality.-*9
The key to successful thematic dialogue is trust.
St u d e n t s who are a f r a i d to speak as part of a group in case
others will ridicule and denigrate them morally will feel
d i s c o u r a g e d enough not to participate in g r o u p discussions.
T h e educator is r e s p o n s i b l e for creating a comfortable, n o n
th r e a t e n i n g learning e nvironment in w h i c h e a c h learner feels
'at home* and trusting e n o u g h toward the oth e r group members
to contribute to the d y n a m i c s of the c l a s s r o o m discussion.
E v e n though this component emphasizes the importance of
dialogue in the teach i n g a n d learning process, we should be
cautious as to h ow it is implemented in the classroom.
Elizabeth Ellsworth reminds us that dialogue can sometimes
112
r e i nforce "the very c o nditions we were trying to work
against, including Euro-centrism, racism, sexism, classism,
a nd 'banking education.'"**1 If themes are not selected
carefully a nd dialogue co-ordinated acutely, then certain
groups of people may very well be excluded from the
discussion and their sense of alienation reinforced. For
example, Ellsworth found that her understanding and
e x p e r i e n c e of racism was constrained by her white skin and
middle-class privilege. If she were to co-ordinate dialogue
on r a c i s m from her p r i v i l e g e d point of view, then people of
colour would feel they have nothing to add to the
conversation and w o u l d si l e n c e themselves. E l l s w o r t h quotes
Audre Lorde, who states. "The master's tools will never
dismantle the master's house."**În other words, students of
colour c a nnot be expected to justify and explicate their
claims in terms of the tools of, say, a white, middle-class
e duca t o r - tools fa s h i o n e d precisely to keep "the oppressed
occupied with the master's concerns.Students should be
permitted the o p p o r tunity to express themselves with the
tools which help them most effectively e xpress their
feeli n g s a nd insights.
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2. Tradition
So far, w e have seen that th r o u g h a contextual p e d a g o g y
students are invited to explore d i a l o g i c a l l y specific themes
and begin the process of discerning and balancing
harmoniously their o wn worldviews with the positive aspect
of those held by others. The s e c o n d m o ment of a contextual
pedagogy for religious education is tradition - a pro c e s s of
re-awakening historical consciousness. Tr a d i t i o n is
introduced into the lesson (or unit) to ground the life
experiences of learners in history. Tradition, in this
sense, includes the whole faith t r a d i t i o n of people h owever
that m ay be e x p r e s s e d or embodied. It m a y include reference
to historical fact and fiction recorded in scriptures,
creeds, theologies, myths, songs, a n d so on.
Students learn that kn o w l e d g e passed down through
history does not represent the truth but an expr e s s i o n of
reality at a spec i f i c time and place. It is u n d e r s t o o d as a
social construct and something w h i c h can change through the
interaction of human agency and t he structures of society.
Hi s t o r y is no longer regarded as so m e t h i n g static a nd
u n r elated to the here and now. It is treated with respect
and understood as a n integral part of the present. History
is not a closed m essage in final form but a message in
process. It is not s o m ething from the past which h as been
ossified but rather, as Jari^lav Pelikan reminds us, it
repr esents the " living faith of t he dead."®* For M a r y Boys,
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tradition represents the "very 'stuff' o ut of which new was
drawn from o l d . "**5 jt permits the past to "speak in the
pr e s e n t for the sake of the future; it is not, on the
contrary, to d ictate past answers for present problems.
Thus, e v e n though tradition involves h a n d i n g over or passing
on historical facts and expressions of faith, tradition
itself is alive and forever evolving and influencing our
present and shaping o ur future.
The primary resp o n s i b i l i t y of the educator during this
moment is to make accessible to learners their living
traditions. This does not m e a n that educators 6imply present
histo r i c a l facts. Their responsibilities include bringing
t r a d i t i o n s to the forefront of the discu s s i o n so they may be
appropriated critically. Interpreting traditions includes
what David Tracy calls a "hermeneutics of retrieval" and a
"hermeneutics of s u s p i c i o n . The former implies
discerning, affirming, cherishing, and m a k i n g accessible the
valuable messages of tradition. The latter involves
i d e n t ifying and discarding distortions and aberrations of
goodness in tradition. The intent here is not to initiate
n e g a t i v e criticism but to encourage students to identify the
subjugated or forgotten memories from the past that m ay
offer n ew life. Through a critique of tradition students
r e d i s c o v e r those v o i c e s in history w h i c h have been di s t o r t e d
or silenced through time.
To clarify what is meant by tr a d i t i o n and situate it
within the learning process, I will cite as an example how
115
stude n t s generally understand the role of the Catholic
Church in society. I have chosen this p articular example
because it often acts as a fundamental theme in religious
education programs. Wh e t h e r in a course about the New
T e stament, social justice, or World Religions, discussions
a b o u t the role of the Catho l i c Church are often commonplace.
To contrast the view of the Church commonly held by
students, a view I call the "memorable church," is a
" f o r g o t t e n church" v i e w w h i c h takes into a c c o u n t the darker
si d e s of history. The memorable church is discussed with
relat i v e ease in the c l a s s r o o m while the f o r g o t t e n church is
often ignored or placed on the marginr of a d i s c u s s i o n and
c o n s i d e r e d insignificant.
I use the term "memo r a b l e church" to h i g hlight the non-
threatening, self-gratifying lessons in C h urch history. The
term "forgotten church" incorporates the sometimes
th r e a t e n i n g and painful aspects of the Church which people
would rather forget than a p p r o priate critically.
Unquestionably, it is more enjoyable to keep in one's memory
and close to one's heart warm, gentle, non-threatening
t hou g h t s and feelings. Memories of pain, suffering, and
i n j ustice are often denied their a p p r o priate place in the
minds a n d hearts of people because they bear u n p l e a s a n t and
s o m e t i m e s unrewarding results
When asked the q u e s t i o n "What is the Catholic Church?"
students generally re s p o n d with thoughts and feelings which
re f l e c t those q u a lities comm o n l y found in the me m o r a b l e
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church. That is to say, the m e m orable c h urch is an
institution which bears exclusive rights to human salvation.
It is seen as a "perfect" and "holy" place, organized
hierarchically, a nd direc t e d b y the mystical powers of the
sacraments, liturgies, Bible study, and parish activities.
The m e m o r a b l e church is part of the world yet distinct from
it. It is situated in society but represents an other
w orldly existence. It is a place of worship a nd a warm,
loving community of believers. It is believed that the
majority of activities of the Church focus on helping the
less-fortunate in the world. This view of the Church is non
threatening in the sense that it avoids social conflict and
change. T he Church h i e r a r c h y aligns itself with the
fortunate class, c o n s istently r einforcing the status quo
through influential channels including Catholic elementary
and high schools, universities, a nd Christian political
parties.
Even though a "memorable" u n d e r s t a n d i n g of the Catholic
C h urch provides learners with a sense of the important role
the Church plays in society, it is by no means a complete
portrait. To provide students with a more accurate portrait,
a discussion and critique of the "forgotten church" is
imperative.
The forgotten church is a c h urch of hypocrisy. It's
thoughts a n d actions, theory and practice, p r o c lamation and
implementation, are contradictory to one another. It
represents an important part of the Catholic tradition, but
117
a part often excluded in curriculum guide-lines and
classroom discussions. For example, most school textbooks
avoid discussions about why the Catholic c h urch supported
Columbus in his conquest of the "New World" and the
destruction of e n tire indigenous populations, collaborated
with fascist g overnments in Latin A m e r i c a and Italy during
e arlier decades of the twentieth century, and refused to
h e l p Jews and others d u ring the Holocaust.
Jesus c o nstantly warned his fo l l o w e r s to resist any
t emptation to formalize his teachings into an institution
with a clearly defined hi e r a r c h y of power relations. He
stated,
You know h ow those w ho rule the n ations exercise

tyranny over them a nd they practice viole n c e against
them. This is not to be among you: on the contrary, if
one of you w i shes to be great, he must be your servant;
and he who d esires to be first a m o n g y o u must serve
all; because the Son of Man d i d not come to be served
but to serve a n d to give his life for the redemption of
many. (Lk.22:25-27)
Even so, tradition has shown that with the conversion of
Constantine Christianity became both the official religion
and the sacred ideology of the empire. Constantine
incorporated Christianity into his p o l itical agenda. The
Catho l i c Church was no longer a community of believers.
Rather, it became a great institution of power that
supported the existing political order. It was structured
hierarchically with its o wn bureaucratic centralization,
laws, positions, a n d titles.
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The Catholic C h urch is organized in a "top-down”
fashion, from the Pope with his utmost a u t hority a n d power
to the millions of laity with virtually no voice in the
decision-making processes of the Catholic community.
Elections to administrative posts are cont r o l l e d by those
who hold ecclesial power. The forgotten church is an
institution with its own authoritative figures. Even though
the P u ebla text Justice in the World propo s e d that all
"members of the Church should h a v e some share in the drawing
up of decisions, in a c c o r d a n c e with the rules given by the
S e cond V a t i c a n Council and the Holy See,"®® the democratic
rights of a c o m munity have been shelved on behalf of the
interests of an a u t h o r i t a r i a n body. In fact, it is evident
that the intentions of this particular body go far beyond
the Catholic com m u n i t y it alf. Malachi Martin argues that
the Catholic Church is presently participating in a three-
w ay c ontest w i t h Wes t e r n c a p i t a l i s m and Eastern co m m u n i s m to
establish, maintain, and co n t r o l world power. As Martin
suggests,
W i l l i n g or not, ready or not, we are all i n v o l v e d in an

all-out, no-holds-barred, three-way global competition.
Most of us are not competitors, however. We a r e the
stakes. For the c o m p e t i t i o n is about who will establish
the first o n e - w o r l d s y s t e m of government that has ever
e x i s t e d in the society of nations. It is ab o u t who will
h o l d a n d yield the dual pow e r of a u t hority a n d control
over each of us as individuals and over all of us
toge t h e r as a community; o v e r the entire six bil l i o n
p e o p l e e x p e c t e d b y d e m o g r a p h e r s to inhabit t h e earth by
e a r l y in the third m i l l e n n i u m . *
119
Such intentions for global power w e r e c o n demned by Jesus but
are const a n t l y pursued by p a r t i c u l a r mem b e r s of the Catholic
community.
To bring to the forefront in c l a s s r o o m di s c u s s i o n s the
forgotten church is not to devalue the a u t hentic a nd
constructive qualities of the memorable church. In fact,
such qualities must be emphasized a nd c h e rished at all
times. Even so, it w o u l d be u n r e a l i s t i c to create a portr a i t
of the past b a s e d upon incomplete recollections. This point
is r e inforced by Leonardo Boff in his critique of the
Catholic Church. He states,
To reject the past h i s t o r y of the Church with its

exercise of power is not to reject the institution of
the Church. The institution is a concrete r eality that
makes explicit the Christian m y s t e r i e s and preaches
Jesus Christ as liberator, in spite of all internal
contradictions. Every C h r i s t i a n must accept this past
without running from it, yet at the same time
preventing its continuation in the present and future.
To a c cept the past is not to j u s t i f y it. We must
co u r ageously accept it bec a u s e it is our past as much
as we are members of the P e ople of G od of which the
hierarchical institution is a part. Nor does the past
allow us to sit back; rather, it calls us to be
c o responsible for the future of Christian faith in the
world. The cause of Christ a n d the People of God is too
important to leave to the hierarchy. 0
3. Un i t y in D i v e r s i t y
The third m o m e n t of a conte x t u a l peda g o g y for religious
education is u n i t y in d i v e r s i t y , at whi c h time stude n t s are
en c o u r a g e d to d evelop a sense of community, bringing
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together into some kind of unity, or wholeness, the
insights, feelings, experiences, a nd historical facts shared
and developed in t he earlier pedagogical moments. The
expr e s s i o n 'unity in diversity' suggests that the good of
the whole can be r e a l i z e d through the rich individuality and
c omp lex i n t e r r elationships of the parts. Stability, balance,
and harmony in the classroom are achieved not through
simpl i c i t y and homogeneity of ideas but through a deeper
appreciation of the complexity and variety of human
experiences.
The concept of uni t y in diversity is developed in the
works of Peter Kropotkin and other students of evolution,
w ho argue that fluctuations in population depend upon the
complexity of the ecosystem.^ If the environment is
simplified and the var i e t y of animal a nd plant species is
reduced, fluc t u a t i o n s in population tend to get out of
control a n d reach pest proportions. For Murray Bookchin, the
e c ological pr i n c i p l e of unity in d i v e r s i t y leads to greater
pa r t i c i p a t i o n for all m embers of the community.
The more d i f f e r e n t i a t e d the l i f e - f o r m and the

environment in w h i c h it exists, the more acute is its
overall senso r i u m , the greater its flexibility, a nd the
more a c tive its p a r t i c i p a t i o n in its own e v o lution ...
The greater the differentiation, the wider its degree
of p a r t i c i p a t i o n in elaborating the world of life. 2
From a societal viewpoint, unity in diversity suggests
that if we reduce the v a r i e t y and richness of expression, we
d e b a s e society's wholeness. We destroy the forces m a k i n g for
h a r m o n y a n d stability. Wholeness is a c h i e v e d by c h a l l enging
121
struc t u r e s and actions which threaten the diversity and
richness of society. T he tern 'wholeness' does not mean a
final end-point or totality in which no fur t h e r development
or growth is possible or meaningful. It represents an
ex pression of the "varying degrees of the a c t u a l i z a t i o n of
p ote n t i a l i t i e s . " 73 It is the unity that giv e s order to the
parts; it is what has eme r g e d so far from the process.
Wholeness represents an incomplete, ever-changing
integration of the parts into a uni f i e d form, the "fixing of
its directiveness into a clearly contoured form, and the
creation in a d im sense of a 'self' that is identifiable
w ith respect to the 'others' with w h i c h it i n t e r a c t s . " 7 ^ As
B o o k c h i n states,
Wholeness is the relative completion of a phenomenon's

potentiality, the fulfillment of latent possibility as
such, all its concrete m a n i f e s t a t i o n s aside, to become
more than the realm of mere p o s s i b i l i t y and attain the
'truth' or f u l filled reality of p o s s i b i l i t y . 73
Fundamentally, unity in d i v e r s i t y is a c h i e v e d through a
dialectical relationship between thematic dialogue and
tradition. The only way a sense of unity, wholeness, or
co m m u n i t y can be achieved in a classroom is if personal
experiences, concerns, a n d joys of the pr e s e n t a re brought
into a dialectical r e l a tionship with past ways life. It is
only when the present and the past can be understood as
parts of an ever-growing, developing who l e that students
will feel confident enough to move into the future and
forecast the w ay the world should be. So long as some
learners believe that their ex p e r i e n c e s and personal
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hi s t o r i e s a r e superior to those of others in the classroom,
any s ense of community will be fragmented, and the
possibility of mo v i n g into a future b ased u p o n the concerns
and visions of the community as a whole, rather than the
p r e o c c u p a t i o n s of a few, will be significantly reduced.
The term 'dialectic,' as it is being u s e d here, has its
roots, to varying degrees, in the insights of Hegel and
Marx. While I agree with Hegel that reality is a process of
continual change, I disagree that this change is influenced
by and const a n t l y moving toward some kind of absolute,
deity-like force. As my understanding of dialectics will
show, social change comes about through people and their
immediate environment, not through the forces and wills of
an e n t i t y beyond reality itself. This reflects somewhat the
position held by Marx and Engels that social change is
d i c t a t e d by social forces in the here and now. What I reject
in t heir position is the under s t a n d i n g that social change
occurs so l e l y through class conflict. I do not deny the
important role conflict has pl a y e d and continues to play in
c r e a t i n g social change. E v e n so, I wish to go b e y o n d a view
of social change as teleological or conflictual to suggest
that social change occurs primarily through a developmental
process, or what Murray Bookchin calls "dialectical
n atural ism.
Dialectical naturalism^? suggests that social change
o ccurs pr i m a r i l y through natural, cooper a t i n g forces. In
this sense, society is not treated as a conglomerate of
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d ualisms - oppressor/oppressed, spirit/matter,
humanity/nature, subjectivity/objectivity, reason/feeling -
as Marx and Engels would have us believe. As Bookchin
states, d ialectical naturalism incorporates a "process of
unfolding toward ever-greater differentiation, wholeness,
and adequacy insofar as each potentiality is fully
actua l i z e d given a specific r a n g e of development."
4. T r a n s f o r m a t i o n
T h r o u g h the first three m o m e n t s learners are e n c o u r a g e d
to a nalyze dialogically and c r i t i c a l l y both the p r e s e n t and
the past. These components, as important as they are in a
contextual pedagogy, are oriented primarily toward
reflective activities a nd lack concr e t e commitment to action
and change. It is relatively easy to engage students in
critical reflection, but to move them beyond reflection to
ac tion is a tremendous challenge. Even so, this movement
from refl e c t i o n to action is an important one in t he process
of education. Marx said in his famous elev e n t h thesis on
Feuerbach, "the philosophers h a v e only i nterpreted the world
in various ways; the point, however, is to change it." Paulo
F r eire e c h o e s Marx's concerns, s u g g e s t i n g that the educative
process should not be focused solely upon reflective
activities. The intent should be to move beyond wor d s to
action. Words alone lead to empty verbalism while action
w it h o u t criti c a l reflection lea d s to activism.
124
W h e n a w o r d is d e p r i v e d of its d i m e n s i o n of action,
r efl e c t i o n a u t o m a t i c a l l y suffers as well; and the w o r d
is changed into idle chatter, into v e r balism , into an
a l i e n a t e d a n d alien a t i n g ' b l a h . 1 It becomes an empty
word, o ne w h i c h cannot denounce the world, for
denun c i a t i o n is impossible wi t h o u t a commitment to
transform, a n d there is no tran s f o r m a t i o n without
action.
O n the other hand, if action is e m p h a s i z e d exclusively,
to the d e t r i m e n t of reflection, the word is converted
into activism. The latter - a c t i o n for action's sake -
negates the true praxis and mak e s dialogue impossible.
Either d ichotomy, by creating u n a u t hentic forms of
existence, c reates also u n a u t h e n t i c forms of thought,
which r e i n f o r c e the original dichotomy. 8
T r a n s f o r m a t i o n bridges the gap b e t w e e n the way reality
is, as expressed through moments one, two and three, and the
w a y reality s h o u l d be. It represents the active component of
praxis, leading to a transformed rea l i t y rooted firmly in
the past and the present. The term 'praxis' has been used in
various ways throughout history. A r i s t o t l e referred to three
kinds of knowledge; theoria, poiesis, and praxis. Theoria
r epresented knowledge achieved th r o u g h contemplative or
p hilosophical lifestyle. Poiesis was knowledge de v e l o p e d
through the productive lifestyle, exerc i s i n g technical
skills and the creat i o n of a r tifacts. Praxis, in the
Aristotlean sense of the word, r e p r e sented knowledge
achieved t hrough a political lifestyle. It was co n c e r n e d
w i t h the p a r t i c i p a t i o n of the individual in the life of the
polis.
While A r i s t o t l e w i s h e d to o v e r c o m e the Platonic idea of
pure p h i l o s o p h y d e v o i d from life, his theory of e p i s temology
incorporated a cle a r dichotomy between theory and practice,
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reflection and action. This dichotomy was reinforced in
ce n turies to follow which emphasized the p r i m a c y of the
co n t e m p l a t i v e life over the practical. O ne e x c e p t i o n to this
trend was stated by St. Augustine.
[There are] three m o d e s of life, the contemplative, the

active, the contemplative-active. A man(s i c ) c an live
the life of faith in a ny of these three a n d get to
heaven ... no m a n ( s i c ) must be so c o m m i t t e d to
contemplation as ... to give no thought to his(sic)
neighbour's needs, nor so absorbed in a c t i o n as to
dispense with the contem p l a t i o n of G o d . 79
Th r o u g h the discoveries of science in the eighteenth
century, a new confidence was placed in the powers of
reason. Kant h i g h l ighted the autonomy of the individual a nd
argued that one cannot be defined simply by a given cosmic
order. Hegel stated that "theory rises only at sundown"; it
comes after the praxis of Spirit in history. That is, praxis
re presents the unfolding activity of the Spirit in the
world, and theory is the rational articulation of that
praxis.
Ha r x replaced Hegel's praxis of Spirit, which did
not h i n g to change the c o urse of history, with a praxis of
h u m a n beings aimed at social transformation. The subject of
history is no longer a Spirit guided by Providence but the
pains, sufferings, a n d actions of human beings. By standing
Hegel on his head, so to speak, Marx r e d e f i n e d praxis as the
dy n a m i c s of improving the social conditions of the working
class. People are d e f i n e d b y what they do - their nature a nd
126
c h a racter are d e termined b y their actions. This principle of
praxis c e t e r m i n i n g conscio u s n e s s acts as the bas i s of Marx's
scie n t i f i c materialism, w h i c h states that:
The production of ideas, of conception, of

c o n s c i o u s n e s s is d i r e c t l y interwoven w i t h the material
a c t i v i t y a n d material relationships of men(sic) ...
c o n s c i o u s n e s s does not d e t ermine life, but life
d e t e r m i n e s consciousness.**®
This suggests that the material conditions of life
determine, to a s i g n i ficant degree, the shape of human
consciousness. Theory is t he expression and a r t i c u l a t i o n of
co n sciousness based on the material conditions resulting
from praxis. Even so, Marx insists that praxis must be
informed by a critical underst a n d i n g of the social
situation. Praxis must never be a theory void of a critique
of exist i n g social conditions. C r i ticism is e f f i c acious only
when it e nables people to br i n g to s elf-consciousness the
reasons why they are suffering and what they can do to
change the causes of such pain. Marx's emphasis on critical
reflection and human activity provides the basis of his
"r e v o l u t i o n a r y praxis." Praxis must be informed by a
critical u n d e r s t a n d i n g of reality.
Transformation implies change, that is, a deviation
from normative patterns of b e lief and behaviour. Through
tr a n s f o r m a t i v e action students re-create their communities
and traditions, r e s t r ucture actions, and re-prioritize
values and lifestyles. Transformation requires personal,
interpersonal, and structural changes. Personal
transformation calls for c h a n g e s in one's o wn subjectivity,
127
that is, a n e w way of regarding oneself in relation to the
world. It means redefining one's attitudes, lifestyles,
values, perceptions, and beliefs. Personal transformation
seeks to ach i e v e what we m a y call a 'metanoia' or c o nversion
of the whole person. For B ernard Lonergan, a conv e r s i o n may
be intellectual, moral, or religious. Intellectual
conversion suggests moving away from the "exceedingly
stubborn and m i s l e a d i n g myth" that k nowing is simply looking
at the world to an un d e r s t a n d i n g of "truth" a rrived at by
critically questioning one's socialized perspectives and
reevaluating those values and b eliefs that define one's
subjectivity,®^ Moral conversion implies m o ving c onsciously
and intentionally beyond h e d o n i s m to choose a nd do what is
truly moral. R e l igious conversion means falling in love with
God. For Lonergan this means "being grasped by ultimate
concern. It is otherwordly fa l l i n g in love. It is total and
permanent self-surrender without conditions, qualifications,
r eservation."®^
Interpersonal t ransformation requires a change in the
w ay people interact with each other. It means developing a
n ew se n s i b i l i t y that stresses unity in diversity,
interdependence, a nd cooperation. It means striving for
goals and worldviews which reflect the well- b e i n g of the
m a j o r i t y of the members of the community.
Structural transformation seeks change in institutions
which control and promote specific hegemonic ideologies and
ensure the continued d o m inance of a mino r i t y over the
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m a j o r i t y in society. Ideologies which protect the well-being
of a w ealthy minority in society are normally perpetuated
t hro ugh government agencies, schools, television, radio,
newspapers, magazines, a nd so forth. Structural
t ran s f o r m a t i o n calls for these societal structures to be
changed such that they no longer reflect the interests of a
small minority, but the majority of the m embers of society.
T r a n s f ormative action at this level can take various
forms. For example, it may mean refusing to purchase
p rod ucts adver t i z e d through demeaning images of women or
other minority groups. It may imply engaging in civil
disobedience to o p pose the unjust intervention of our
government in the affairs of a Latin American country. It
m a y mean not paying a proportion of one's taxes that is used
by the government for nuclear testing. It may include
s ending letters to heads of government d e m a n d i n g changes in
poli c i e s and procedures, organizing demonstrations, or
in s isting upon the r e s i g n a t i o n of p a rticular individuals in
pu blic office. It m ay call for the d e v e l opment of community-
based, g rass-roots proj e c t s to act against the interests of
t h o s e agencies a n d c o r p o r a t i o n s whi c h protect the interests
of the most fortunate in society. Everett Reimer argues that
s u c h changes are inevitable as people a re p u shed further a nd
further into lives of poverty and injustice. Reimer suggests
that:
People stop b e l i e v i n g in what once m a y have been true

and has now b e c o m e false. They w i t h d r a w support form
institutions w h i c h m a y once have s e r v e d them but no
129
longer do. They refuse to submit to terms which m ay
once have been fair b ut no longer are. S u c h changes are
a product of true education. 3
The dynamics of a contextual pedag o g y for religious
e d u c a t i o n suggest that as students move t hrough the fourth
m o m e n t a n d create s ignificant change in themselves a n d the
w o r l d about them, they will want to discuss, compare, and
re-evaluate new experiences with others. Thus, the fourth
m o m e n t flows naturally into the first, second, a nd third,
a n d the process continues.
Li m i t a t i o n s
The outcome of the educative process is often
unpredictable, e p e cially when one is in a classroom with
thirty or so adolescents. T e a c h i n g involves an intricate and
highly complex r e l a tionship between people w ho enter the
classrooom with very different experiences, values, and
expectations. Regardless of its efficacy, a contextual
pedagogy for religious ed u c a t i o n is c o n f r o n t e d with its own
set of limitations.
First, a contextual pedag o g y is l imited when an
educator assumes that the schooling process is either an
a g e n t for the perp e t u a t i o n of the present social order or an
agent for social transformation. The political nature of
sc h o o l s immediately d i s m i s s e s any claims of neutrality. The
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term 'political' suggests that there exists in classrooms a
distribution and exercise of power which can be used to
intervene and influence the lives of others. Even so, I
dismiss any claims that favour a clear "either-or"
dichotomy. Michael App l e is correct when he states that the
essence of schools is political such that they "create and
recreate forms of consci o u s n e s s that enable social control
to be maintained without the necessity of dominant groups
having to resort to overt m e c h a n i s m s of d o m i n a tion."®^ But
it is e q u a l l y true that power can be used to intervene and
influence the lives of others in a constructive rather than
de s t r u c t i v e way. Thus, schools are both sorting mechanisms
which f a vour students on the basis of race, class, and
gender, a n d agents for individual a nd social empowerment.
Secondly, the efficacy of a contextual pedagogy
influenced by the works of Paulo Freire and others can be
r e stricted if educators assume that the schooling process
needs a "pe d a g o g y of the op p r e s s e d . " ® ® We must continuously
remind ourselves that Freire's educational me t h o d o l o g y was
developed within a parti c u l a r socio-political reality very
different to a ny in North America. To simply adopt his
methodology verbatim without modifi c a t i o n s could lead to
c a t a s t r o p h i c results. As Bruce Boston suggests,
A l r e a d y there are a number of groups of people at work

among o p p ressed classes a n d groups in the U n ited
States (and even among the m i ddle class), w h o have
e x p e r i e n c e d the frustrations of trying to impose Freire
like a grid on v a stly d i f f e r e n t situations.®®
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Paulo Freire's peda g o g y is rooted in a socio-political
r eality which cle a r l y distin g u i s h e s between oppressor and
oppressed. In North America, however, a si g n i f i c a n t part of
the fortunate class o b s c u r e s this distinction. The result is
what we referred to e a r l i e r as a "complex intermeshing" of
factors including economic domi n a t i o n and exploitation,
racial exclusion, a nd the subjugation of w o m e n . U n l i k e in
Brazil and other parts of Latin America where economic
e xpl o i t a t i o n is cle a r l y visible, in North A m e r i c a the issues
of racism and sexism oft e n replace ec o n o m i c s on the
liberation agenda. This is not to say that economic class,
race, a nd gender are not related in some way. Rather, it
s ugge s t s that pedag o g y in North A merica needs to address
issues beyond class a n a l y s i s itself. As G r e g o r y Baum reminds
us,
The raising of co n s c i o u s n e s s in the c o m p l e x situation

of North A merica m e a n s the ac k n o w l e d g e m e n t of the
multi p l e forms of e x p l o i t a t i o n ...
Critical theology in No r t h America is, therefore,
different from the l iberation theol o g i e s of Latin
America. What is d i f ferent is the c o m b i n a t i o n of
factors in the a n a l y s i s of social evil, ... the form
which the political commitment takes, ... [and] the new
imagination Sfcawn f r o m diverse h i s t o r i c a l
experiences. 8
Third, contextual religious educators o f t e n assume that
critical reflection will n a t urally lead to a c t i o n and social
change. Consciousness-raising activities themselves are
r e l a t i v e l y simple to initiate in the classroom. Frustration
a b o u n d s when learners a re encou r a g e d to c o m m i t themselves to
various forms of action. They often want to avoid
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commitment, perhaps for fear of failure or because it
r e q uires e xtra time an d effort on their part. To cite an
example, religious edu c a t i o n programs normally incorporate
" s e rvice work" components, inviting students to o f f e r their
services to the less-fo r t u n a t e in their community.
Activities include working in a soup kitchen, visiting
elders in a s e n i o r ’s home, a n d participating in fund-raising
activities for projects in Latin America. Stude n t s are
generally receptive to l e a rning about the less-fortunate,
but they r e g a r d the passage from theory to c o mmunity-based
a c t i o n a fearful one.
Fourth, regardless of the dynamics and e f f icacy of any
particular pedagogy, there are days when students are
determined to resist all a u t h e n t i c efforts put forth by the
teacher to create an i n t e r esting and challenging learning
environment. There are days, as students often say, when
they "don't want to think," e s pecially about c h a l l e n g i n g and
s om e t i m e s emotionally-charged subject matter. Resis t a n c e is
expressed in numerous ways; passivity, anger, boredom,
a b s e n teeism, incomplete homework, tardiness, cheating, and
so on. Such behaviour should not be regarded as something
" a bnormal" or "unnatural" to the educative process. On the
contrary, it reflects the many ways people are capa b l e of
r e s i s t i n g the norms of the status quo. By resisting students
are acting against the grain, so to speak. They are
suggesting that they are not willing to accept things the
w a y they are, at least not all the time. They want things to
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change, and their first logical step to ensure such change
is to resist the present.
Fifth, t e a ching contextually requires att i t u d e s and
a bilities w h i c h far exceed the demands a s sociated w i t h other
pedagogical methodologies. It r e q uires that e d ucators are
well read in many fields of study - history of religion,
ethics, politics, science, economics, and so on. It means
being responsive to the problems, needs, and desires of
students. It calls for dynamic and energetic t e a ching
styles. It involves listening, questioning, and c h a n g i n g in
community with others. It calls for al t e r n a t i v e f orms of
action an d way s of being w hich m a y include varying degrees
of risk, failure, and rejection.
The m e t h o d s and actions of c o n t e x t u a l educators may be
regarded by the more conservative memb e r s of a school
community as being "subversive," "radical," or " communist"
in nature. The labels themselves should be of very little
concern to any compassionate, c r i t i c a l l y enquiring educator.
Some of our greatest leaders in history, including Jesus
himself, were, at one time or another, labelled accordingly.
Unfortunately, contextual pedagogues who are identified in
such a manner m a y feel al i e n a t e d f rom some of their peers.
As Paulo Freire suggests,
T hose wh o mak e reality op a q u e t h r o u g h the d o m i n a n t

ideology, through spreading, multiplying, r e p r o d u c i n g
the d o m i n a n t ideology, are s w i m m i n g with the current!
Those who dem y s t i f y the r e p r o d u c i n g task are s w i m m i n g
against the current! S w i mming a g a i n s t the current m eans
risking a n d a s s uming risks. Also, it means to expect
c o n s t a n t l y to be punished. I al w a y s say those w h o swim
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against the current are first b e i n g p u n i s h e d by the
current a nd cannot expect to have a gift of weekends on
tropical b e a c h e s ! ® ’
The limitations d i s c u s s e d above by n o means exhaust all
possible scenarios that can possibly d e v e l o p in a classroom.
H u m a n beings are unpredictable. T he efficacy of any pedagogy
will be, to a ce r t a i n degree, limited by the
unpr e d i c t a b i l i t y of h u m a n nature a n d the human context.
In the fo l l o w i n g chapter, I will s h o w how a contextual
pedag o g y can be applied in a grade eleven 'Christian
Morality' program.
CHAPTER FIVE
A CONTEXTUAL P E D A G O G Y F OR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION:

P R A CTICAL IMPLICATIONS
In this chapter I will show how four components of a
contextual pedagogy for religious ed u c a t i o n can be
i m p l e mented in a classroom setting. Before doing so, I will
r e view some of the main points discussed in earlier chapters
and show how they apply concretely to the teaching and
l earning process. I b elieve this will offer the reader a
sense of continuity bet w e e n concrete cl a s s r o o m practice and
the foregoing lengthy e xposition of ideas.
B r i d g i n g the Gap: From T h e o r y to C l a s s r o o m Praxis
A contextual pedag o g y for religious education
i ncorporates insights from many academic disciplines
i ncluding sociology, anthropology, social theory, theology,
and philosophy. While an exposition of ideas m a y have some
value in itself, theory distant or disconnected from the
c onc r e t e nature of e v e r y d a y life is not h i n g m o r e than what
Paulo Freire calls verbalism. In earlier chapters themes
were developed that I be l i e v e apply dire c t l y a nd concretely
to the teaching a nd learning process. The s e included
equitable accessi b i l i t y to well-being, r e s u rrection of
being, unity in diversity, praxis, and counter-hegemony. I
will focus here only on the first two themes but this does
not negate the important ways other foundational ideas
135
136
contribute to the dynam i c s of the teaching and learning
process.
Contextual religious educators posit that p e ople should
have an equitable a c c e s s i b i l i t y to well-being. This implies
that everyone should have equal access to those services,
resources, and op p o r t u n i t i e s that are essential for a
c o m f o r t a b l e way of life. Specific social groups should not
have favoured access to w e l l - b e i n g at the expense of others
in society.
The idea of equitable a c c essibility to w e l l - b e i n g car
be p r o m o t e d in the c l a s s r o o m in numerous ways. For example,
d u r i n g an introductory s e s s i o n in a course on social justice
I asked students to di s c u s s the m eaning of the term
'justice. ' We a d d r e s s e d specific questions: What is justice?
Are there varying degrees of justice? Who defines what is
just? W h y is an act just in one place and unjust elsewhere?
D u ring our discussion students moved from a general
u n d e r s t a n d i n g of justice to concrete cases of injustice. We
focussed our att e n t i o n on the issue of sexism in school and
how males often treat females as second-class citizens.
Specific examples of sexism were d i s cussed including how
males dominate classroom discussions, the u se of sexist
language, and sexual stereotypes which portray women as
fragile, irrational, a n d dependent.
Even though sexist attitudes a n d behaviour patterns are
f o u n d commonly in b o t h genders, students a g r e e d that sexism
normally favours the well-being of males. To support this
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position, students raised the issue of the sexist n a t u r e of
the school p o licy regarding school uniforms - an issue of
significant import to students. The p o l i c y states that while
males may wear shorts in school during w a rmer months,
females m u s t wear woollen kilts or dress pants. T he policy
clearly di s c r i m i n a t e s against f e male students and favours
the general well-being of males.
To foster an equitable accessibility to w e l l - b e i n g I
asked the class to generate a n ew p o l i c y regarding uniforms
that promoted equality between g e nder groups. Groups of
students r e s e a r c h e d policies in other schools, d i s c u s s e d the
issue with friends, parents, and teachers, and eventually
produced a well-informed policy statement which was later
adopted by the school administration.
A second theme discussed in earlier chapters that
relates concretely to the classroom setting is that of
resu r r e c t i o n of being. I n terpersonal and structural
transfor m a t i o n begins with a rebirth of individual
subjectivity. This process of rebirth involves, among other
things, a reprioritization of v a lues a nd a change in
lifestyle.
During a unit on the humanity of Jesus I began by
asking students to list characteristics that best describe
their physical, mental, and s p i ritual nature. T h e y d e s c r i b e d
themselves as charming, intelligent, angry, overweight,
dishonest, hard-working, c ompassionate, lazy, and athletic.
They were then asked to describe the character of Jesus
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during his adole s c e n t years. Students had read in the
gospels about the infant Jesus and Jesus during his early
adult years* but t h e y cou l d only s p e culate on Jesus' teenage
years - a p e r i o d of Jesus's life that was not recorded in
the gospels. The initial list of responses re f l e c t e d
traditional catechism upbringing and portrayed the
adolescent Jesus as tall, slim, powerful, perfect, saintly,
other-worldly, overly generous, and brave. We referred to
scriptural passages that emphasize the human qualities of
Jesus during his adult years, qualities including anger,
confusion, sadness, loneliness, trust, sympathy, a nd
compassion. We concluded that if Jesus incorporated human
qualities during adulthood, there was no reason to doubt
that those same characteristics existed during his teenage
years.
Groups of students were asked to write and present a
one-act play that portrayed Jesus during his adolescent
years. One group presented Jesus as a young man committed
whol e h e a r t e d l y to a life of study. Other groups saw h im as
an intelligent y o u n g m a n who, like m a n y teenagers, sometimes
experienced co n f l i c t s with his par e n t s and teachers. One
group even portrayed Jesus as a lov e r of women and good
wine.
Students learned that Jesus and other great political
and spiritual l e a d e r s in the wor l d e x p e r i e n c e feelings like
the rest of us. They experience joy, sadness, confidence,
a nd doubt like e v e r y o n e else. In essence, by disc u s s i n g the
139
human qualities of Jesus students were confronted by the
q uestion, "What does it m e a n to be h u m a n ? ” Does b e i n g human
mean being infallible, omnipotent, and o m n i b e n e v o l e n t , or
does it imply exper i e n c i n g feelings of doubt, powerlessness,
a n d selfishness? Whi l e students a g r e e d w i t h the latter, they
also posited that, like Jesus a nd other w o r l d leaders, to be
human implies trying to improve oneself, to become more
knowledgeable, compassionate, and generous, that is, to
exper i e n c e a r e s u rrection of being. They learned that if
others in the world can overcome feelings of madness,
anxiety, and loneliness a n d contribute to the betterment of
humanity, then they can do the same.
T he Gr a d e Eleven R e l i g i o u s Education P r o g r a m
I will now show how a contextual pedagogy can be
im p l e m e n t e d in a grade e l e v e n "Christian Call to Justice and
P e ace" program.^ According to the Archdiocese of Toronto
Roman Catholic High School C ommission (1991), the grade
eleven religious e d u c a t i o n program challenges students to
"expand the concepts of moral behaviour to include universal
issues of human r i g h t s , to "see the earth and its
re s o u r c e s as a gift f r o m God a n d to c r i t i q u e one's lifestyle
in light of that p r i n c i p l e . "3 it i nvites students to
"chal l e n g e the u n d e r l y i n g assumptions of s ociety whi c h give
rise to permanent underclasses depri v e d of freedom, full
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personhood a nd the realization of their full p o t ential as
children of God."^
The "formal" curriculum ad d r e s s e s issues including
consumerism, individualism, fatalism, the Rom a n Catholic
Church and social justice, poverty, sexism, racial
prejudice, the environmental crisis, militarism, and civil
disobedience. The program incorporates a pragmatic component
where stude n t s are expe c t e d to a p p l y what they have learnt
by c ommi t t i n g themselves to co m m u n i t y service work, such as
wo r k i n g in inner-city soup kitchens, participating in fund
raising activities, plant i n g trees, assisting in animal
shelters, a nd so on.
C o n s u m e r i s m a n d the Cons u m e r T r i a d
To identify the implications of a contextual pedagogy
for religious education, I have selected consumerism as a
topic of study. C onsumerism is normally a topic of direct
relevance and great interest to students. It relates well to
their concrete life ex p e r i e n c e s and normally invites
discussion about a variety of socio-political issues. In
presenting this extended example of curriculum
implementation, I will deal with both the form and the
content. Understanding the content is essential to
u n d e r s t a n d i n g what is going on in a program of study of this
kind.
141
T he present social and economic order fails to p r o v i d e
a sense of well being for the majority of people in the
world. It results in gross maldistribution of wealth and
access to resources that favours a small minority. People in
post-industrial nations consume about fifteen times as m u c h
as people in deve l o p i n g co u n t r i e s . ® This is pla c i n g
tremendous s t r a i n on the environment, a factor which, in the
long run, will affect everyone, rich and poor alike.® In
fact, during a typical day on p l anet earth, people add
fifteen billion kilograms of carbon to the atmosphere,
destroy almost two hundred square k i lometres of tropical
rainforest, c r eate over one hundred square kilometres of
desert, eliminate up to one h u n d r e d species, erode seventy
billion kilograms of topsoil, a nd increase the world
population by approximately t h irty thousand.^ The results
are devastating. A large major i t y of people in the w o r l d a re
forced to live without the basic n ecessities of a decent
life so that people in other parts of the w o r l d can c o n t i n u e
to overconsume and concern t h emselves with frivolous
luxuries.
A life of overconsumption invo l v e s what Marx calls the
"fetishism of commodities."® When basic hum a n nee d s and
wants are distorted, a nd wants t u r n into needs, we place the
consumption of c o m m o dities ahead of the general well-being
of people. T he a ct of overconsuming becomes a form of
idolatry in w h i c h we worship the products of human labour.
The commodity, like a god, achieves an independent e x i s t e n c e
142
f o r people. We worship things - televisions, cars, clothes -
and relate to them as if they were persons. At the same
time, w e treat people as objects to be u s e d and consu m e d for
our own benefit. We alienate ourselves from each other in
t he struggle for greater economic wealth. For Brazilian
liberation t h eologian Dorn Helder Camara, a life oriented
to w a r d s ov e r c o n s u m p t i o n and wealth creates insensitivity
t o w a r d the needs of others.
I u s e d to think, when I was a child, that Christ might

have been e x a g g e r a t i n g when he w a r n e d about the dangers
of wealth. Today I know better. I k n o w how very hard it
is to be rich a n d still keep the m i l k of human
kindness. Money has a dangerous w ay of putting scales
on one's eyes, a dangerous w ay of freezing people's
hands, eyes, lips, a nd h e a r t s . 9
C o n s u merism relates to an array of complex socio
p o l itical issues: poverty, wealth, greed, environmental
destruction, and so forth. In the d i scussion to follow, we
will address these issues and others by considering
systematically the practical implications of the four
c o m p o n e n t s of a contextual pedagogy.
1. Thema t i c Dialo g u e
The purpose of thematic dialo g u e is to introduce
students to a process of communal critiquing a nd grappling
with the 'givens' in society. Through this process students
g e n e r a t e specific themes w h i c h are used as a base from which
to seek social change.
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My teaching experiences have been based primarily in a
Catholic high school which was designed originally to
a cc omm o d a t e approximately five hundred students less than
are currently enrolled. As a result, many teachers and
students, myself included, have been forced to work in
portable classrooms that are small, poorly ventilated, and,
during the warmer seasons, unbearably hot. During one
a b normally long heat spell, students wanted to bring to
class a beaverage to make their stay in the "heat chamber"
tolerable. I agreed whol e h e a r t e d l y with the idea.
For a few days I had been concerned about h ow I was
going to initiate a creative discussion about the effects of
c o n s u merism in society. The following day, as I looked about
the classroom, I noticed that on almost every desk was a
soft drink. I decided to begin our critical analysis about
c onsum e r i s m with this simple observation.
I learned that students purchase soft drinks a n d snacks
from a vending machine located inside the school, a machine
owned a n d operated by Pepsi-Cola. I found it intriguing that
so many students purchase products from this particular
company. Students were asked to form small w o r k i n g-groups
and address the following questions:
* Why do I favour a r t i f i c i a l l y f l a voured soft drinks
over naturally flavoured juices?
* Why do I always select specific brands, like Pepsi
Cola or Coca-Cola?
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* Is there a relationship bet w e e n what I buy and the
c o m m e r c i a l s I watch on television?
While some students e njoyed the o pportunity to share
thoughts about their consumption habits with the class,
others responded with lesser degrees of enthusiasm. Their
comments included,
* W ho cares! All I know is that I like the taste of
Pepsi.
* W hy should I want to change my habits? My parents
have w o r k e d h a r d so I can enjoy life.
* We only live once! We s h ould enjoy what
we h a v e .
* M y life is simple: What I want is what I get.
We r e f l e c t e d on the sign i f i c a n c e of these questions and
comments. Students were a s k e d to identify two or three
topics which continuously reappeared during the classroom
dialogue. The topics we identified as recurrent were (1) our
compulsive d e s i r e to consume, (2) the effects of television
programming on people, a nd (3) the power of large
corporations in society. For simplicity's sake, we referred
to these three topics as consumerism, the mass media, and
transnational corporations.
We u n d e r s t o o d the term 'consumerism' to mean a way of
living d i c t a t e d by wants rather than needs. The term 'mass
145
media' referred to the us e of television, radio, newspapers,
and m a gazines to communicate messages an d symb o l s to the
general population. We adopted the definition of 'trans
national corporations' defined by United Nations, that is,
"associations which possess an d control m eans of production
or services outside the country in which they were
established."
Even though they could not identify any significant
relationships between the three topics, stude n t s were
insightful enough to re c o g n i z e that perhaps consumerism is
a f f e c t e d by a complex a r r a y of variables. We r e f e r r e d to the
i n t erplay of consumerism, the mass media, and transnational
c o r p o rations as a "consumer triad." We decided to use the
consumer triad model as a base from which to begin a
critical analysis of consumerism. Students generated
n u m erous themes which they thought related to consumerism:
wants and needs, happiness, greed, corruption, inequality,
fairness, selfishness, an d so on. We agreed that the theme
'manipulation' r e p r e s e n t e d most accurately the complexities
a s s o c i a t e d wit h consumerism.
2. Tra d i t i o n
The se c o n d mo m e n t of a c ontextual p e d agogy for
rel i g i o u s edu c a t i o n involves a process of re-awakening
h i s t o r i c a l consciousness. Students learn to r e - e v a l u a t e past
events and differentiate historical fact from fiction.
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S t a t e d simply, critical t r a d i t i o n helps give all f a c t s their
appropriate place on the table. Before students make
j udgements and commit t h emselves to transformative action,
it is essential that they d i f f e r e n t i a t e between historical
fact and fiction.
The "traditioning" proc e s s implies more than absorbing
prefabricated knowledge and historical "truths."
Traditioning also involves research, analysis and synthesis
of data, group participation, presentations, interviews,
report writing, guest speakers, and field trips.
To begin the traditioning process, the class was
divided into work i n g groups. Each group was responsible for
conducting research into an d p r o v i d i n g a one-hour classroom
presentation about specific components of the consumer
triad. What follows is an overview of some of the findings
p r e s e n t e d d u r i n g group presentations.
Consumerism
A group began their presentation about co n s u m e r i s m by
considering a few statistics. We learned that, on average,
Can a d i a n s produce two kilograms of household g a r b a g e every
day. According to En v i r o n m e n t Canada, we are the most
wa s teful country on earth. Fo r example, we w aste excessive
amou n t s of paper in schools a n d offices. In fact, the total
am o u n t of paper wasted by Canadians every year equals
approximately 80 mill i o n trees.^ We discussed the
147
relationship between over-consumption and en v i r o n m e n t a l
destruction. We learned that beef co m p a n i e s in North A m e r i c a
often purchase and deforest parcels of rainforest land in
Central America to raise cattle for Canadian and American
over-consumers of hamburgers and steaks. It is estimated
that one h ectare of rainforest allows for the p r o d u c t i o n of
two hundred ki l o g r a m s of beef - or almost two thousand
hamburgers. Simply stated, approximately six square metres

19
of rainforest is destroyed for every burger. A
We revie w e d parts of "Agenda 21" of the 1992 United
Nations Conference on the E n v i r onment and Development
(UNCED), which states that "the major cause of global
environmental deterio r a t i o n is an u n sustainable pattern of
consumption a nd production, p a r t icularly in the
industrialized countries... New concepts of wealth and
prosperity s h o u l d be d e v eloped w h i c h allow higher standards
of living t hrough changed lifestyles that are less d e p e n d e n t
on the Earth's finite resources a n d m o r e in harmony w i t h its
carrying c a p a c i t y . " ^
We read in Genesis that we a re to "have d o m i n i o n over
the fish of the sea and over the bir d s of the air and over
everything that mo v e s upon the e arth." The earth is treated
as a commodity to be exploited by those who hold dominion
over it. We compared the traditional Christian
understanding of humanity's relationship with the
environment to Chief Seattle's p o s i t i o n on the s acredness of
the earth:
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Every part of this earth is s a cred to m y people. Every

shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in
the d a r k wood, e v e r y clearing, a nd h u m m i n g insect is
holy in the m e m o r y and experience of m y people.
We k n o w that the whi t e m an does not u n derstand our
ways. One p o r t i o n of land is the same to him as the
next, for h e is a stranger w ho comes in the night and
takes whatever he needs ... He treats his mother, the
earth, and his brother, the sky, as things to be
bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads. *
A group related their findings to o ur local environment
by analyzing the contents of the school garbage bin. By
c l i m b i n g up and l ooking inside the large container, we found
a m a s s of recyclable a n d reusable items - paper lunch bags,
soft drink cans, and notebooks - along with wasted
sandwiches and fruit. We were informed b y a school custodian
that this massive bin is filled with garbage every day.
There was no question in our minds that, at least in our
school, people w a s t e d food, paper, and other materials.
T he Mass Media a nd Transnational Corporations
The claim made by newspaper companies that the printed
news is fair, accurate, a nd unbiassed, is a contentious one,
espe c i a l l y w h e n we learn that the owners of these companies
belong to a w e a l t h y elite in society a n d hold an array of
powerful business interests throughout the world.
Our i n t r oduction into the role of the mass media in
s o c i e t y began by breaking into small groups and d iscussi ng
the meaning of th r e e cartoons.^ The first cartoon
149
illustrates how advertising in the mass media is used to
d istort wants and needs. It shows five advertising
executives planning ways to sell a new product. Under the
cartoon it states, "Of course no one NEEDS it, Willoughby!
T h a t ’s where you people in advert i s i n g c o m e in." The second
cartoon shows how t e levision programs oft e n appear to be
brief interludes between c o r p o r a t e - s p o n s o r e d advertisements.
It depicts a lady watching television, and states, "A TV
pr o g r a m is what they give us for w a t c h i n g commercials." We
could relate well to the first two cartoons, primarily
b ecause we had all been e x p o s e d to enough TV pr o g r a m m i n g and
ad v e r t i s i n g to identify the issues from personal
experiences.
We d i s cussed the fact that, on average, N o r t h Americans
wa t c h television for 26 hours a week, or 13 continuous years
of an average life span. Since 27 percent of prime time is
devoted to advertisements, on a verage we watch the
equivalent of three sol i d years of c o m m e r c i a l s . ^ We learned
that the average sixteen year old has w a t c h e d some 200,000
televised acts of violence a n d 300,000 c o m m e r c i a l s . ^
The third cartoon shows the To r o n t o Star building, and
u n d e r n e a t h it states, "Free d o m of the press belongs to those
who own one." The message b e hind this c artoon - that
information services are c ontrolled by and serve the
interests of the owners of m e d i a outlets - was difficult for
the class to comprehend, partly because they belie v e d that
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news is presented objectively, accurately, and
comprehensively.
We considered some facts that support the mess a g e in
the third cartoon. For example, in 1989, of the 117 daily
n e wspapers in Canada, 89 w ere owned by three corporations.
Today, the majority of dail i e s are c o ntrolled by two empires
- T h o m s o n an d Southam.
The T h o m s o n chain, o w n e d b y Ken Thomson, is the largest
newspaper chain in Canada, providing the printed daily news
for approximately 2.5 million readers.Mr. Thomson's
holdings include over 140 newspapers in N orth America, along
with business interests in England and South Africa.^ In
1993, profits in the n e w s p a p e r division reached $174 million
(US). Interestingly enough, in 1993, while employees, some
w ith 18 y ears of service, w e r e being laid off a n d employees
earning less than $30,000 a year were a s k e d to accept wage
rollbacks, the president of Thomson Corporation and the
newspaper division chief earned $1.2 mill i o n (US) and $1.1
million (Can) respectively.
The second largest new s p a p e r c hain in Canada is
Southam. In a d d ition to the ownership of 14 daily
n ewspa p e r s , Southam a lso has control of Coles, the largest
b o o k retailer in the c o u n t r y . ^
In th e television cable industry, T e d Rogers, owner of
Rog e r s Cable, recently pur c h a s e d Maclean-Hunter for $2.8
billion (Can) to be c o m e Canada's "cable TV czar" with
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interests in cable television, telecommunications,
publishing, b r o a dcasting and p r i n t i n g . 22
S tudents began to understand the message behind the
third cartoon. It is only natural, they argued, that the
newspapers and magazines they read, including The Toronto
Sun, Maclean's, a nd Chatelaine, all owned by Ted Rogers,
will reflect the interests of Rogers himself. It would be
highly unlikely, for example, that an article criticising
the business interests of R o g e r s w o u l d be pu b l i s h e d in The
Toronto Sun. As Michael Czerny and Jamie Swift state,
The T h o m s o n empire, with its control of both newspapers

and m a j o r department stores, provides an e xample of the
dangers of having c o r p o r a t e c o n n e ctions between
a d v e r t i s i n g and the media. The Bay, Simpsons a nd
Zellers are major newspaper advertisers, who s e
displ a y s of the latest fashi o n s and sale items a d o r n
many a page. Can a n e w spaper w i t h those business
c onnections be expected to report compre h e n s i v e l y or
criti c a l l y on the retail trade ind u s t r y ? 23
The m e s s a g e was clear: those w h o own the press (Rogers,
Thomson, Southam) have greater fre e d o m to print what they
see fit. To a degree, what is "fit to print" is what
benefits the owners economically. The r e l a tionship between
the mass m e d i a a n d the elite in s ociety was b e c o m i n g clearer
as the discussion continued in the classroom. In fact, as
Wallace C l e m e n t suggests,
Actually, the overlap (of the m e d i a elite) w i t h the

economic elite is extensive, a l most one-half the
m e m b e r s a re exactly the same people. Moreover, those
not o v e r l a p p e d resemble v e r y cl o s e l y the econo m i c
elite. The conclusion m u s t be that together the
econo m i c a n d media elite a re s i m p l y two sides of the
same u p p e r class; between them they hold two of the key
sources of power - econ o m i c a n d ideological - in
C a n a d i a n society and form the corporate e l i t e . 2 *
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To comp l i c a t e matters, we learned that t e levision
stations a re normally owned by e c o n omically « '.althy
individuals or g r oups of people who h a v e business interests
b e yond the mass media. For instance, the CBS network is part
owner of various p u b l i s h i n g agencies, Colum b i a records, a nd
the New York Yankees. The ABC network is part of PBC-
Paramount, wh i c h is linked to Gulf & Western. The Gulf &
We s t e r n empire has business interests in sugar and breakfast
cereal companies, plantations in the Dominican Republic,
Paramount Pictures, the New York Rangers, along with
extensive m e d i a holdings throughout Latin America. R CA is
own e d by General Electric, which in turn owns the NBC
network. Westinghouse owns major telev i s i o n - b r o a d c a s t i n g
stations, a cable network, and a radio-s t a t i o n network. Both
General Electric a n d W e s t inghouse are powerful transnational
corporations invol v e d heavily in weapons production and
nuclear power. In fact, during the G u l f War General Electric
"manufactured or supplied parts or m a i n t enance for nearly
every major w e a p o n s y stem employed by the U.S. ... including
the Patriot a nd Tomahawk Cruise missiles, the Stealth
bomber, the B-52 bomber, the AWACS plane, and the NAVSTAR
spy satellite system."^ General Electric has also been
identified on m o r e than one occasion as one of the world's
ten worst (most destructive) corporations, whose nuc l e a r
weapons work "has created environmental health and s a fety
nightmares across the U n ited S t a t e s . " ^
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To appreciate the complexities of t he mass media, I
suggested that we consider the "propaganda model" proposed
by E d ward Herman a n d N o a m C h o m s k y . ^ We v i e w e d and discussed
parts of a video that explicates cl e a r l y the various
components of the model.The propaganda model, according
to H e r m a n and Chomsky, "traces the roots b y whi c h money and
power are able to filter out the news fit to print,
marginalize dissent, a nd allow the g o vernment and dominant
p rivate interests to get their messa g e s across to the
p ublic." The authors claim that only "filtered" news is
printed. News filters include "(1) the size, concentrated
ownership, owner wealth, and profit orientation of the
dominant mass - m e d i a firms; (2) ad v e r t i s i n g as the primary
income source of the mass media; (3) the reliance of the
media on information provided by the government, business,
and ’experts' funded a n d approved by these primary sources
and agents of power; (4) ’f l a k ’ as a means of disciplining
the media; and (5) ’a n t i c o m m u n i s m ’ as a national religion
and control m e c h a n i s m . N e w s passes through these
filters, "leaving only t h e cleansed residue fit to print."
We focused our a t t e n t i o n on the s e c o n d filter, that is,
the role of advertising in the mass media. We d i s cussed the
contradictory nature of advertising. F or example, we
considered the case of National Geographic w h e n it featured
a c o v e r story about w h e t h e r humanity can "save this fragile
Ea r t h , " whi l e on the back cover was an ad v e r t i s e m e n t for
McDonalds - notorious for their e n v i r o n m e n t a l l y destructive
154
a ctivities throughout the world. We also considered an
adver t i s e m e n t campaign on television and in major we e k l y
m a gazines which featured a Vietnam veteran playing
basketball on artificial legs supplied by DuPont. The
adver t i s e m e n t reads,
W h e n Bill Demby was in Vietnam, he used to d r e a m of

c o m i n g home and playing a little basketball w i t h the
guys. A d r e a m that all but died w h e n he lost b o t h legs
to a Viet Cong rocket. But then, a group of r esearchers
d i s c o v e r e d that a r e m a r k a b l e DuPont plastic c o u l d help
m a k e a r tificial limbs that were more resilient, more
f l exible, more like life itself. Thanks to these
efforts, Bill Demby is back. And some say, he hasn't
lost a step. At DuPont, we make the things that make a
d i f f e r e n c e . 30
We learned that DuPont definitely makes things that make a
difference. DuPont played a highly profitable role as a
m i l i t a r y c ontractor during the V i e t n a m War. Between 1964 and
1972, DuPont earned several billion dollars in Pentagon
contracts, p r o d u c i n g napalm, anti-personnel bombs, a n d heavy
e quipment for the U.S. war e f f o r t . 3 ^
Case Study: PepsiCo and the Burm e s e Dictatorship
After c o n s i d e r i n g some of the historical facts related
to the consumer triad, it became clear to us how and why
transnational corporations like Pepsi-Cola influence our
lives on a daily basis. They invest m i l lions of
advertisement dollars every yea r in newspapers, magazines,
and television commercials to manip u l a t e c o nsumers to buy
their products. To m a i n t a i n a "competitive edge," P epsi-Cola
155
bro ad ene d its market potential by selling its products in
high school cafeterias a n d v e nd in g machines. We de c i d e d to
treat the issue of P epsi-Cola vending machines as a case
study.
Students conducted an interview with a school trus tee
an d learned that part of the money raised through vending
sales supposedly goes to subsidize ca feteria service and
lunch programs. We were informed that over the past few
years various school boards had solicited bids fr om sev en
companies on their vending machine contracts. Pepsi-Cola
Canada was a m o n g them, a n d was se l ec te d to be the vender.
To research more th oroughly the activities of Pepsi
Cola, I reco mme nde d that we contact a local agency that
monitors the activities of transnational c o rpo ra tio ns
throughout the w o r l d . ^2 We invited a researcher from the
agency to appear as a guest speaker in our classroom, and
discuss with us the history of Pepsi-Cola.
We learned that Pe psi-Cola began its activities in
Canada in 1934. In 1965, Pepsi-Cola me r g e d with Fr ito-Lay,
Inc. to form PepsiCo Inc. - one of the largest transnational
companies in the snack food and soft drink sectors, with
well-known brands including Pepsi, Frito-Lay, Ke ntu cky F r i e d
Chicken, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell.
In 1991 , PepsiCo entered a soft drink joint ve n t u r e in
Burma called Pepsi-Cola Products Myanmar Ltd (PPML).^ Its
current annual product ion capacit y is more than 54 million
10-oz bottles of soft drinks, with plans to up gr ade
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p r o d u c t i o n to 140 m i l l i o n bottles. A Pepsi Co representative
claimed that the joint venture "is pro vi di ng positive
ben ef it s to the citizens of that country.Each of the
a pp ro x i ma t e ly 250 p eo pl e employed is paid mor e than twice
the government's m i n i m u m wage. PepsiCo is a major sponsor of
spo rt in g events in Burma, supplying uniforms, trophies and
othe r products for all major activities.
Bu rm a is d e s c r i b e d by Amnesty International as a "State
of terror." It is c u r r e n t ly ruled by the State and Order
R es to r a t i o n Council (SLORC), one of the most brutal and
des tr uc ti ve mi lit ary regimes in the world. In 1988, the
SLORC injured and ki ll ed tens of thousands of pro-democracy
protesters. More recently, the regime has closed
universities, e n f or ce d ma ss slave labour, condoned drug
dealing, and placed the democratic leader and 1991 Nobel
Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, under strict house
arrest. Human rights abuses have been ext en si ve ly documented
by Amne sty International, Asia Watch, and other agencies
c o n c e r n e d about human rights violations.
In response to such atrocities, the international
c o m m u n i t y cut off tr ad e a n d aid to Burma, and since then the
c ou nt ry has been rap id ly approaching bankruptcy. The SLORC
ha s man ag ed to stay in power, in part, beca use of revenues
g e n e r a t e d by private f o re ig n investment a n d trade. Ac cording
to former U.S. A mb as sa do r to Burma, Bu rt on Levin, any hard
cu r r e n c y received from foreign co r p o ra ti on s is poured
157
"straight into the ar my wh i le the rest of the country is
collapsing.
Human rights groups cla im that by conducting business
in Burma, PepsiCo is su ppo rti ng the country's milita ry
regime. In fact, it is co mm on knowledge that Pe psiCo's joint
venture business partner in Burma, Golden Star Enterprises,
is a "private" trading compa ny owned an d c on tr ol le d by the
m i li ta ry regime.
PepsiCo denies any a f fi lia tio n with Burma's mil it ar y
regime. In a letter to the Sisters of Cha ri ty of Saint
Vincent de Paul, Pe psi -Co la International s ta te d that
"PepsiCo neither invests in nor supports political or
m i l it ar y systems or governments. We invest in business and
people. In the case of Burma, let me assure you that PepsiCo
is not in business with the Burmese g o v e r n m e n t ."^ Students
were insightful enough to know that by c la im in g political
neutrality, one is siding with the status quo or, in this
case, wi t h the military regime. Conduc tin g busine ss with a
repressive regime is inherently political; it lends
political legitimacy to a brutal regime.
Students began to a p pr opr iat e clearly the dynamics of
the consume r triad. They e x pr es sed mixed emotions: anger,
sadness, powerlessness, and a strong sense that they are
being m a ni p ul at e d by pe ople in positions of authority. We
concluded that acts of ma ni pu l a t i on and co rr up ti on are
morally wro ng on all accounts. To support our conclusion, a
158
group of students were asked to research the Church's
position on the consumer triad.
The Canadian Conf erence of Catholic Bishops states that
the purpose of a socio-economic order should not be merely
growth, "not profit or do mination ... but the service of
persons and indeed of the whole person, in terms of their
material needs and the demands of their intellectual, moral,
spiritual and religious life."3^ The words of the CCCB are
blatantly dis re ga rd ed by transnational corporations, the
mass media, and others who act according to their own
profit-dr ive n interests.
Pope Paul VI add ressed the issue of transnational
activities. He states
Under the impact of new modes of production, the

boundaries of nations are, as it were, being pushed
aside, a nd new economic powers are arising, the
mul tinational enterprises. Because these businesses
bring together such a we alth of resources and yet are
also so adap tab le by nature, they are able to act in
au ton omo us ways, largely independent of national
political authorities, and thus free in that respect
from accoun tab ili ty for the common g o o d . 38
In Global Justice - Global P e a c e , the CCCB express ed
the Church's concern over the activities of Canadian
transnational corporations and banks in other parts of the
wo r l d . 3^ Students found the document useful because it not
only refers to the corrupt nature of these large entities,
but also addresses the issue of censorship an d why
information regarding the activities of Canadian
transnational corporations and banks is not available to the
general public. In addition, students found that the passage
159
touched on some of the issues r e l at ed directly to the
ac tivities of PepsiCo in Burma. For example, the bishops
call for "social criteria and monitoring mechanisms"^ to
ensure that Canadian transnational co rp orations are serving
the social and economic needs of the m a j o r i t y of people in
the countries in which they are c o nd uc t i n g business. The
CCCB expressed a major concern of the Catholic Church
re garding the lack of public in fo rma tio n about the
activities of transnational corporations. The bishops
request that measures are taken to "ensure that these
Ca nad ian enterprises are more publicly a c c o u n t a b l e . " ^
A group presented to the class for discussion purposes
other biblical passages within and be y o n d the Roman Catholic
tradition. For example, they quoted a passage from the
Buddhist Dhammapada which, in their view, add ressed the just
nature of people driven by violence an d corruption:
A man(sic) is not just if he carries a matter by

violence; no, he who di stinguishes both right and
wrong, who is learned and leads others, not by
violence but justly a n d righteously, an d who is guarded
by the Law (Dharma) a n d intelligent, he is called just.
Similarly, they conside red the passage in Jeremiah 5:26-29,
Wicked men are found among m y people;

they lurk like fowlers lying in wait.
They set a trap;
they catch men.
Like a basket full of birds
their houses are full of treachery;
16G
the r ef o re they have become great and rich,
they h a v e grown fat and sleek.
Th ey k n o w no bounds in deeds of wickedness;
they judg e not w it h justice
the c au s e of the fatherless,
to m ak e it prosper,
a n d t h e y do not de fe nd
the rights of the needy.
3. Un i t y in Di versity
The t h i r d moment of a contextual pedagogy for religious
edu cat ion offers students the opportunity to bring together
into some k ind of order, or unity, the insights, feelings,
experiences, and historical facts shared and d e v el op ed in
earlier pedagogical moments.
Our attemp ts to ge n er at e a unified position regarding
c o n s u m e r is m began by c on du ct in g a formal classroom debate.
The class was divided into two groups. For our purposes, one
group re p r e s e n t e d the interests of PepsiCo, while the other
group e x p r e s s e d the concerns of human rights activists. Both
groups were assigned a general question: Are PepsiCo's
business activities in Burm a morally justifiable? The
purpose of the debate was not to emphasize a polari ty of
arguments, but to high light pe rtinent information that would
pro vi de a foundation f o r a coherent, w e l l -i nf or me d position.
In each group, a few students recorded the d i s c u s s i o n taking
place, while others volunteered to defend the group's
po si ti on a g a in st re pr esentatives from the other group in a
formal de b a t e in front of the class.
161
Du ri ng the classroom debate, both sides raised
significant points which ex t en de d far beyond the specific
case of PepsiCo in Burma. Ar guments in defense of Pep siCo's
business interests included: (1) conducting busine ss in
Burma offers greater op portunities of employment for the
Burmese wo rk ing population; (2) PepsiCo business
opportunities benefit ec on omically the people of Burma; (3)
it is an issue of demand and supply: what the public
demands, PepsiCo supplies; and (4) Pep si Co is not intere ste d
in ma nip u la ti n g the public mind, it simply uses the mass
media to inform the public that their products are av a i l a b l e
on the market. Arguments suppor ti ng the interests of human
rights act iv is ts included: (1) by conduc ti ng b us in es s in
Burma, PepsiCo is supporting a re pr es si ve mi lit ary regime;
(2) PepsiCo and other transnational corporations ex e rc is e
tremendous power over the mass me d i a for their personal
interests; and (3) the Catholic C h u r c h condemns all forms of
exploitation, including those exercised by transnational
corporations.
Through the dynamics of the debate, a general c o n se ns us
was reached reg arding particular aspects of the consume r
triad. For example, students agreed that while it is
necessary to consume in order to mainta in a r e as on ab le
standard of living, people must b e c o m e "informed cons ume rs. "
People should be informed about the products the y are
purchasing. Secondly, they agr eed that while structures in
society continuously reinforce the myth that happ in ess in
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life is achieved throu gh the ownership/consumption of
commodities, people should try to live a c co rd in g to needs
rather than wants. Thirdly, they ag r e e d that while it is
virtually impossible to live without being influe nce d
di r e c t l y or in di r e c t l y by the mass media, people sh o u l d
watch television and read newspapers c ri ti ca ll y and be able
to identify pol itical biases and forms of manipulation.
Fourthly, they agreed that while large corporations have
ac c e s s to markets throughout the world, a cc ur at e information
re g a rd in g co rporate activities sh o u l d be made easily
accessible to the public, and corporations should be more
accountable for the ways they conduct business in other
par t s of the world.
4. T r a n s f o r m a ti o n
The fourth c o m p on en t of a co nte xtu al pedagogy for
reli gi ou s e d u ca ti on focu se s on co ncr ete forms of action for
so cial change. After a lengthy discourse on the socio
po l i ti ca l asp ec ts of consumerism, studen ts were inevitably
anxious to mo ve beyond words to ac t i o n or, as they often
say, to "make a d i f f e r e n c e . "
The first form of ac ti on taken by the class was c h a n g e s
in personal lifestyles. Students tried sin ce re ly to escape a
co n s u m e r i s t mentality that en courages the judgement of
people ac c o r d i n g to what they possess. Person al
re la t i o n s h i p s deepened in the class as students learned to
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a p p r e c i a t e values such as friendship, honesty, and respect.
Others decid ed to reduce the number of hours they watched
television. They were a s k e d to monitor their activit ies each
ev e n i n g and share their results with the class the following
week. By not watching television, students f ou nd they had
three or four extra hours each evening to pursue other
interests - to co mp l e t e homework assignments, read
leisurely, and share time wi t h their family.
A second form of a c t i o n chosen by the class was related
speci fi ca ll y to the school Pepsi-Cola v e nd in g machine. After
lea rn in g about the a c t i v i t i e s of PepsiCo in Burma, students
were determined to have the Pepsi-Cola v e nd in g machine
r e mo ve d from the school property. The school principal
accepted an invitation to join our class to discuss the
issue of the vending machine. After explaining the current
s i t ua ti on in Burma, students requ es te d that the Pepsi
vending machine and all PepsiCo products sold in the
cafeteria be removed from the school. A few days later we
were informed by the principal that ou r request is beyond
his jurisdiction and sho ul d be di re c t e d to m e mb er s of the
school board.
Before a dd re ss in g our concerns to the school board,
st udents decided to inform the general school population
about PepsiCo's activ it ie s in Burma and their request to
have its products removed from the school. A flyer was
distributed throughout the school explaining the current
si t u a t i o n in Burma. More than four hu n d r e d students signed a
164
bo yc ott form which st ated they were w i l li ng to boycott
ca f e t e r ia services until all PepsiCo products were removed
f ro m the school. A copy of the boycott form was sent to
local school trustees, the director of c a f et er ia services,
members of the school board, and the principal of the
school.
The vending machine became a popular topic of
di s c u s s i o n in the school. Posters de manding a boycott
covered the cafe te ri a walls and banners were placed
throughout the school. While contractual agreements between
the school boa rd and PepsiCo forbid the removal of the
ve n di ng machine, the direct or of cafeteria services agreed
not to sell PepsiCo p ro du ct s in the cafeteria in the future.
As a third form of ac t i o n taken by the class, students
wr o t e letters to Pep si Co 's director of public relations
e x p r e s s i n g their concern about PepsiCo's business activities
in Burma, and e xp re ss in g their urgent request for PepsiCo to
susp en d all business activities with the Burmese military
regime. Even though we neve r received a response from
PepsiCo, students we re as su red that each letter of protest
plays a small yet si gn ificant role in the process of social
change.
165
Lim it ati on s
A contex tua l pedagogy for re ligious education offers
students an opportunity to a ct upon well informed
judgements. I believe that the results of specific forms of
action are less important than the process of a c t i n g itself.
Whether an organized boycott or a letter of protest results
in success or failure is not the pressing issue. What is
important is that students mo v e b e yo nd ve rb ali sm a nd commit
themselves to forms of action that they believe will create
social change. Nevertheless, parti cu la r forms of re sistance
pervade the classroom setting that re st ri ct the
ef fe ctiveness of a contextual pe da gog y for religious
education. The forms of studen t resistance that were
exp re sse d during our study of the consumer tri ad inc luded
lack of time and energy, un wi ll ing nes s to take risks,
general lack of interest in social issues, refus al to
partici pa te in group activities, a n d adherence to a fatalist
attitude to wa r d social change.
Some students were unwi ll in g to spend extra time after
school m e e t i n g with others a n d d i s c u s s i n g issues, c o nd uc ti ng
research, an d pr eparing posters, banners, letters, a n d other
items. They work part-time after school, are active in
sports, a n d are unwilling to par ti ci pa te in "school work"
after school. Other students were resistant to the idea of
taking risks by acting against the status quo. R i s k -t ak in g
may result in failure which so m e students believe will
166
al i e n a t e them from their peers. Some studen ts were too tired
to deal with social issues in a criti ca l manner. The demands
of school, family, and social life w e r e sometimes excessive
and students wou ld enter the classroom exhausted. A few
student s were not in ter est ed in the topics discussed in
class. Their interests lay in rock music, fast cars, and
parties, act iv it ie s they believed (mis t a k i n g l y ) were not
r el at ed to the topics d i s c u s s e d in class. Some students felt
u nc om fo rt ab le participating in group work and sharing their
ideas with others. They preferred working individually and
ex pr es si ng their ideas thro ugh w ri tt en assignments. Finally,
a few students expressed a fatalist a t t it ud e toward social
issues and b e l i e v e d that action on thei r part wou ld not make
a difference.
CONCLUSION
We are now living in a critical era. In recent years we
have wit nessed a drift toward greater c o n c en tr ati on of
we a l t h and power in the hands of a few people. We read about
company mergers a n d buy-outs. Transnational corporations are
expanding their mark et s conti nu ou sl y by ta king over smaller
companies in diverse fields - telephones, mining, sugar
plantations, insurance, transportation, hotels, the mass
media, and professional sports. We hear about large
businesses dictating governmental social policies and
con trolling economic markets in de ve l o p i n g parts of the
worl d through their r elationships wit h the World Bank and
the International Mon et ar y Fund. Gov er nme nt s are spending
less on education, recreational facilities, and public
he alth care, and mor e on military resea rc h and arms
production.
The gap between the economic elite and the poor has
co ntinued to widen over recent years. Rates of unemployment
are increasing an d more people depend on social assistance
programs. At the same time, we hear that the rich are
g et ti ng so rich that they waste money in ima ginative ways.
For example, in the late eighties a s h a r e - d ea li ng company
e arn ed a large profit fr om selling shares in a recently-
pr iva tiz ed public utilities company. To celebrate its
success, the company d r a i n e d all the water fr om its central-
heating system and filled it up with several truck-loads of
champagne, costi ng over $30 a bottle. The co m p a n y owners sat
167
168
in their comfortable offices a n d "listened to the sound of
e v a p o ra ti ng m on ey swilling around their radiators.
When w e a l t h an d power are conce nt ra te d increasingly in
the h an ds of a few powerful individuals, or what Bertram
Gross calls "friendly f a s c i s t s , workers and the
environment are expl oi ted incre as ing ly for profit. I
believe that if we continue along our current socio
political and economic pa t h of competition and excessive
growth, we will soon be c o n f r o n t e d wit h a problem which no
economic mo del can resolve. C o u nt ri es in the advance d
ca pitalist part of the w or ld as su m e that natural resources
are inf inite and the environ me nt is self-healing. It
operates ac co rdi ng to an econom ic model and set of values
that is impairing rather than impr ov ing our well-being. It
promotes individualism, competition, egoism, manipulation,
and profit - values that fragment rather than unify society.
Schools are, in many ways, a microcosm of society. They
legitimate class, race, and gender differences that play an
important role in the agenda of the social elite. Me mbe rs of
a school community, including teachers, administrators,
students, and parents, con tr ib ut e in their own ways to the
dynamics of a friendly fascist hegemony. Teachers respond
uncontentiously to the di ct ate s of people in positions of
greater authority. Parents acce pt a distant role in the
educa tio n of their children. Students tolerate to varyin g
degrees the hierarchical a n d op pre ssi ve nature of schools.
169
The present conservative nature of schools conflicts
with the un der lyi ng interests of a contextual pedagogy for
religious education. The effectiveness of the teaching and
learning process is determined to a significant degree by
the nature a nd interests of teachers. They are relatively
free to develop and practice their own methods of pedagogy.
The majority of teachers believe that the primary purp os e of
education is to reproduce forms of kn ow led ge that reinfor ce
a transnational global economic order. Rather than cha llenge
the status quo, teachers believe that it's their moral
obligation as public servants to preser ve and protect the
current state of affairs. They favour individualism and
competition over community and interdependence. Their
curriculum is defin ed by "experts" who often represent
corporate busine ss interests.
A contextual pedagogy for religious edu ca ti on
confronts an d tries to transform the socio-political and
economic forces that preserve a st atu s-q uo way of life and,
at the same time, continue to wi d e n the gap between the rich
and the poor. Contextual pedagogues in religious edu ca ti on
assume that:
1. Society is divi ded along social classes. Wh i l e the
mass media, schools, churches, and other
institutions of social control often portray society
as a ho mo gen eou s body wit h equal opportunities m ad e
170
available to everyone, in reality there exists
varying levels of general well-being.
2. The fortunate class can help to ameliorate
conditions of social inequality and provide people
with an equ itable accessibility to well-being. While
it may appear on the surface that members of the
broad middl e-c la ss are content w it h the status quo,
it is as su m ed that as social condit ion s continue to
worsen, the fo rtunate class will create social
change that will improve the w e l l - b e i n g for the
major i t y .
3. Religiousness is a human construct. It is a product
of pre va i li ng socio-political an d economic
conditions. Historically, people have responded to
the my ste ri o us and powerful forces in life through
various ex pr es si on s of human religiousness. While
some expressions of religiousness are overtly
oppressive, other expressions offer people a sense
of meaning, hope, and fulfilment in life.
4. Religious e d u c at io n is praxis-education. It
incorporates both critical reflection and
concrete forms of action for social change.
5. A contextual pedagogy for religious education
attempts to b al an ce har moniously tradition and
transformation. It creates a sense of unity and
continuity b et we en the past, the present, and the
future.
171
A contextual pedago gy for religious edu ca ti on provides
us with a legitimate alt er nat iv e to a fr ien dly fascist
future. It incorporates values that cha ll eng e current
trends: community, health, happiness, freedom, a sense of
m ea ni ng in life, mutual aid, respect for others, a n d respect
for the environment. It encoura ges critical reflec tio n and a
commitment to concrete forms of action, and offers people
with a renewed sense of h o p e in life.
H o w does a contextual pedagogy for religious education
relate to the long term future of schools? If teachers,
students, administrators, and parents support a hegemo ny in
oppos it io n to the interests of a contextual approach to
teaching and learning, is it realistic to expect schools to
act as a catalyst for social change? I b e l ie ve so. Even
though in recent years we have w i t n e s s e d dramatic changes in
public education: d e c r ea se d government financial support,
lay-offs, wage-freezes, increased class sizes, and the
ama lg a m a t i o n of school boards, I believe that this attempt
to di sempower mass public education will, in the long term,
serve the well being of the majority. At present, teachers,
students, and parents feel their voices are not b e i n g heard
in the bureaucracy of the schooling system. I believe that
as more people become c o n ce rn ed about the q u a li ty of
ed u c at io n that youn g pe ople are receiving, t he y will insist
that schools become decentralized and c on tro ll ed by local
communities. By m ov in g from large-scale to co mm un i t y - b a s e d
172
schooling, the interests a n d concerns of each com mu ni ty will
be addressed. At this time the critical nature of a
contextual pedagogy for religious education will play a
leading role in social change. It will provide teachers and
students with a thorough and critical wa y to address social
and political issues that directly affect their lives.
The greatest challenge that confronts teachers in the
near future is to develop and mai nt ai n a renewed sense of
hope in life. If we lose hope, social conditions will
continue to worsen. With hope there is always a glimmering
light on the horizon. I will close this thesis wi th the
words of Peter Kropotkin, a great Russian anarchist. I
believe that his words reflect the hope and determination
which embodies a contextual pedagogy for religious
education. "We ll- be in g for all," Kropotkin posits, "is not
a dream. It is ... realizable."^
ENDNOTES
INTRODUCTION
1. Leon Muszynski, "A N e w Social Welfare Agen da for

Canada." In Daniel Drac he (ed.), Getting on Track:
Social Democratic Strate gi es for Ontario (Montreal:
M c G i l l - Q u e e n ’s Un iv er si ty Press, 1992), p . 170.
2. Marlene Webber, Street Kids: The Tragedy of Canada's

Runaways (Toronto: U ni ve rs it y of Toronto Press, 1991),
p. 137.
3. Child Poverty Action Group and the Social Planning

Council of Met rop ol it an Toronto, Unequal Futures: The
Legacies of Child Po ve rt y in Canada (Toronto: CUPE
Local 1777, 1991), p . 23. In 1984, ac cording to
Statistics Canada, the med ia n wealth of the highest and
lowest income groups were $160,674 and $798
respectively.
4. I b i d . , p . 165.
5. I b i d . , p . 137.
6. I b i d . , p .160.
7. Ma r y Jo Leddy, "The wi nt e r of our discontent: Towards a

middle class spiritua li ty ," Catholic New T i m e s .
February 4, 1990, p . 7. A recent article in The Globe
a n d Mail stated that by 1986 just over th ir t y percent
of the Canadian p o p u l a t io n be lo n g ed to the middle-
class. My concern here is not to achieve absolute
accuracy but to show that a significant part of the
populace bel on g to this particular class. See The Globe
a n d Mail, Saturday, July 31, 1993.
8. Marle ne Webber, Street K i d s , p . 169. Webber includes some

other interesting statistics: (1) 30% of students in
Canada drop-out from school before c o mp l e t i n g hi?h
school; (2) In Ontario, 79% of students in the ' sic'
program, 62% of st udents in the 'general' program, and
only 12% of students from the 'advanced' progr am d r o p
out from school prior to graduation. The 'basic' and
'general' programs are the two streams w i t h the
greatest propor ti on of wo r k i ng class and min ori ty
youths.
9. See Alice Frazer Evans, Robert A. Evans, an d William B.

Kennedy, Pedagogies for the Non-Poor (Maryknoll, New
York: Orbis Books, 1989), p. 232.
173
with permission o f the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
174
10- I will use the term 'less-fortunate' rather than 'poor'
b e c a u s e the latter term can imply social, economic,
poltical, psychological, and spiritual deficiency.
11. See Al ic e Frazer Evans, et a l , P e d a g o g i e s . pp. 220-221.
12. John K en ne th Galbraith, The Culture of Contentment

(Boston: Houghton Mi f f l in Company, 1992), p. 20.
13. Ibid., p . 19.
C H A P T E R ONE
1. Jo h n K e nn et h Galbraith, The Affluent Society (Cambridge:

The Riverside Press, 1958), p . 251.
2. P o v e r t y in C a n a d a : A Repo rt of the Special Senate

Committee, Ottawa, 1971, p.1.
3. See E r i k Dammann, R e v o l u t i o n in the Affluent Society

(London: Heretic Books, 1984), p.67. First p u b li sh ed as
R e v o l u s i o n i Ve ls ta nd s s a m f u n n e t (Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk
Forlag, 1979) and t r a n s l a t e d from the No rwegian by
Louis Mackay.
4. Jo h n Kenne th Galbraith, Cultur e of C o n t e n t m e n t .

pp. 30-41.
5. John Kenne th Galbraith, Affluent S o c i e t y , p . 322.
6. Daniel Bell, "Labour in the Post-Industrial Society,"

D i s s e n t (Winter 1972), pp. 163-189.
7. See A l a i n Touraine, Post Industrial S o c i e t y , p . 18.
8. G r e g o r y Baum, Religion a n d Alienatioon: A Theological

R e a d i n g of Sociology (New York: Paulist press, 1975),
pp. 218-219.
9. R o b e r t Brym (ed.), The S t r uc tu re of the Canadian

Capita li st Class (Toronto: Garamond Press, 1985), p.1.
10. John Porter, The Vertical Mosaic (Toronto: Un iv e r s i t y of

T o r o n t o Press, 1965), p . 3.
11. M a r l e n e Webber, Street K i d s , p . 167.
12. C h i l d Poverty Action G r o u p and the Social Planning

Counc il of Metro po li ta n Toronto, Unequal F u t u r e s , p . 39.
13. Ibid., p . 168.
175
14. Dennis Forcese, The Canad ia n Class Structure (3d.
edition) (Toronto: McGraw-Hill R y e r s o n Limited, 1980),
p . 27.
15. John Porter, Vertical M o s a i c , p . 12.
16. See Barbara Hargrove, The Em erg ing New Class:

Implications for Church and S o c i e t y (New York: The
Pilgrim Press, 1986), p . 93.
17. Dav id Bazelon. Power in America: T h e Politics of the New

Class (New York: The New A me ri ca n Library, Inc., 1963),
p . 307.
18. I b i d . , p . 308.
19. John Ken net h Galbraith, Culture of C o n t e n t m e n t .

pp. 15-16.
20. David Bazelon, Power in A m e r i c a , p . 20.
21. H. Frankel, Capitalist Society a n d Modern Sociology

(London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1970), p. 207.
22. Barbara Hargrove, Emerg ing New C l a s s , p . 93.
23. Alan Brown, Mo dern Political Philosophy: Theories of the

Just Society (London: Penguin Books, 1990), p . 168.
24. Paul Wachtel, The Poverty of Affluence: A Psychologica l

Portrait of the American Wav of Li fe (New York: Free
P r e s s , 1983 ) , p . 30.
25. Erik Dammann, Revolution in the A ff lu en t S o c i e t y , p . 11.
26. For example, we have to look no further than the Left

Caucus of the New Democratic Pa r t y or the Communist
Party of Ca nada to find people c o m m i t t e d w h ol eh ea rt edl y
to the M ar xi an tradition.
27. Paulo Freire, The Politics of Education: Culture. Power

and Li be r a ti on (New York: Bergin & Garvey, 1985),
p p . 122-123.
28. Erik Dammann, Revolution in the A ff lu en t S o c i e t y , p . 114.
29. Ibid., p . 107.
30. John K e n ne th Galbraith, Culture of C o n t e n t m e n t , p . 17.
31. Mu rray Bookchin, Post-Scarcity A n a r c h i s m (2nd.ed.)

(Montreal: Bl a c k Rose Books, 1990), p.214.
32. M a r y Jo Leddy, "The winter of our discontent," p p . 7-9.
176
33. In Quintin Hoare, Selections from Political Writings.

1921-26 (London: Law rence and Wishart, 1978), p.443.
34. Gregory Baum, R e l i g i o n and Alienation: A Theological

Reading of S o c i o l o g y . (New York: Paulist Press, 1975),
p. 51.
35. Murray Book_hin, Po st -Scarcity A n a r c h i s m . (Montreal:

Black Rose Books, 1986), p.213.
36. Sidney Lens, "The R o a d to Power and Beyond." In C.

George Benello a n d Dimitrios Ro us sopoulos (eds.), The
Case for Pa rt i c i p a t o r y Democracy: Some Prospects for a
Radical Society (New York: Grossman Publishers, 1971),
p . 308. Italics mine.
37. For example, see Jose Revueltas, M6 x i c o 68: Juventud v

Revolucidn (Mexico, D.F.: Ediciones Era, 1978).
38. For example, see A l a i n Touraine, The M a v Movement:

Revolt and R e f o r m (New York: Ra n d o m House, 1971).
39. Michael Harrington, The Other America: Poverty in the

United States (Baltimore, Maryland: Penguin Books,
I n c . , 1963), p.xiv.
40. The practical nat ur e of the terms "social change" and

"lifestyle" will be discussed in chapter five.
41 . Sandra Postel, "Denial in the De ci si ve Decade." In

Lester Brown et al, State of the W or ld 1 9 9 2 : A
Worldwatch I n s ti tu te Report on Pr ocress Toward a
Sustainable S o ci et y (New York: W.W. Norton 4 Company,
1992), p.4.
42. Robert Bellah et al, Habits of the Heart: Indi^ ..alism

and Commitment in American Life (New York: Harper &
Row, Publishers, 1985), p . 143.
43. Paul W a c h t e l , P o v e r t y of A f f l u e n c e , p . 17.
44. Alan Durning, How Mu c h Is Enough?: The Consumer Society

and the Future of the Earth (New York: W.W. Norton 4
Company, 1992), p . 38.
45. Clive Beck, L e a r n i n g to Live the Good Life: Values 'n

Adulthood (Toronto: OISE Press, 1993), p.62.
46. Gregory Smith, Ed u c a t i o n and the Environment: Learning

to Live with Limi ts (New York: State University of New
York Press, 1992), p . 3.
47. Alan Brown, Mode rn Political P h i l o s o p h y , p . 171.
177
48. See Erik Dammann, Revolution ip. t h e Affluent Society,

p .155.
49. Alan Burning, How Much Is E n o u g h ? , p . 52.
C H A P T E R TWO
1. The Toronto S t a r , April 24, 1992, p.1.
2. I b i d . , p . 1.
3. I b i d . , p.1.
4. Fe w members of faith com mun iti es other than those of

Ju de o - C h r i s t i a n ori gi n w o u l d be c o m f o rt ab le wi t h the
term 'God.'I recog niz e that terms such as 'Brahman,'
'Transcendent,' and 'Allah' would also be acc ep ta bl e
here and I wish to a v o i d any sense of exclusivism, but
for simplicity sake a n d because my focus in this thesis
is primarily on the C a t h o l ic school system, I will
co nti nu e to use the term 'God.'
5. R e g i n a l d Bibby, F r a g m e n t e d Gods: The Pover ty and

Potential of Re l i g i o n in Canada (Toronto: Irwin
Publishing, 1987), p . 3.
6. S i g m u n d Freud, The Fut ur e of an Illusio n (New York:

Doubleday, 1962).
7. Peter Berger, A Rumor of Angels (New York: Doubleday,

1969), p . 7.
8. Cli ve Beck, Better Schools: A Values P e rs p e c t i v e (New

York: The Falmer Press, 1990), p . 158.
9. I b i d . , p .158.
10. J.A.T. Robinson, Hone st to God (Philadelphia: The

Westm ini st er Press, 1963), p. 9.
11. Paul Tillich, The Sh ak in g of the Fou nda tio ns (New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1948), p . 57.
12. Mi ch ae l Grimmitt, R e l i g i o u s Ed uc ati on a n d Human

Development (Essex: McCrinunon Pu bl is h i n g Co. Ltd.,
1987), p p. 79-80.
13. R e g i n a l d B i b b y F r a g m e n t e d G o d s , p . 233.
14. Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy (London: Oxfod

Un iv e r s i t y Press, 1923).
178
15. Ibid., p . 12.
16. I b i d . , p . 81.
17. Ibid., p . 81.
18. Robert Bellah, "Religious Evolution," American

Sociological R e v i e w . V o l . 39, N o . 3, pp.358-374. In fact,
Be lla h addr ess ed five specific stages by-
d i f f er en t ia ti n g be tw e e n what he called "early modern"
a n d "modern" religion. To simplify matters somewhat I
w ill collapse the two stages and refer to them together
as "modern."
19. I b i d . , p . 358.
20. Emi le Durkheim, The E le me nt ar y Forms of the Religious

Life (New York: The Free Press, 1915), p . 15.
21. Mich ae l Barnes, In the Presence of Mvsterv: An

Int roduction to the Story of Human Religiousness
(Connecticut: Tw ent y-T hir d Publications, 1984), p. 15.
22. See, for example, M u r r a y Bookchin, lie Ecology of

Freedom: The Emergence and Dissolution of Hierarchy
(Revised Edition) (Montreal: Black Rose Books, 1991)
a n d Urban iz at io n Without Cities: The Rise and Decline
of Citizenship (Revised Edition) (Montreal: Black Rose
Books, 1991).
23. Ria ne Eisler, The Chalice a n d the Blade: Our History.

Our Future (San Francsico: Harper & Row, Publishers,
1987).
24. M u r r a y Bookchin, Eco lo gy of F r e e d o m , p. 47.
25. Col in Turnball, The Forest People: a Study of the

Pygmies of the Congo (New York: Simon and Schuster,
1961).
26. I b i d . , p . 125.
27. I b i d . , p .154.
28. I b i d . , p . 92.
29. I b i d . , p . 88.
30. Mic ha el Barnes, In the Presence of M v s t e r v . p p . 23-24.
31. Fa rle y Mowat, People of the Deer (Boston: Little, Brown

an d Company, 1952).
32. I b i d . , p . 268.
179
33. I b i d . , p . 268.
34. I b i d . , p . 269.
35. I b i d . , p . 270.
36. I b i d . , p .45.
37. For example, see Leonardo Zalete, Taiin; Mister io v

Belleza (Papantla de Olarte, Ver.: Eon Editores, 1988).
38. Michael Barnes, In the Presence of M y s t e r y , p . 244.
39. Re gi na ld Bibby, Fragmented G o d s , p . 17.
40. I b i d . , p .210.
41 . I b i d . , p .155.
42. I b i d . , p .159.
43. I b i d . , p .161.
44. I b i d . , p .62.
45. I b i d . , p p .63-64.
46. I b i d . , p .67.
47. I b i d . , p . 69.
48. I b i d . , p .74.
49. I b i d . , p p . 74-75.
50. I b i d . , p .111.
51 . I b i d . , p .85.
52. Lester M i l b raith, E n v i s i o n in g a Sustainable Soc ie ty

(State Universit y of New Y or k Press, 1989), p . 16.
53. Alan D u r n i n g and Holly Brown, "Reforming the L i v e s t o c k

Economy." In Lester Brown et a l , State of the World:
1 9 9 2 . p . 68.
54. Time Magazine, June 1, 1992, pp.22-23.
55. Ronald Sider, Rich Christ ia ns in an Age of Hu n g e r

(London: Word Publishing, 1990), p.22. This sta ti st ic
includes the significant amount of grain that is
needed to feed livestock a n d fowl. It is int er es ti ng to
note that a steer in a feedlot gains one p o u n d of
180
edible meat for every thirteen po u n d s of grain
consumed.
56. Edmund Sullivan, Critical P s y c h o l og y and Pedagogy;

Interpretation of the Personal W o r l d (Toronto: OISE
Press, 1990), p . 208.
57. John Kavanaugh, Following Christ in a Consumer Society:

The Sp iri tua li ty of Cultural Resistance (New York:
Orbis Books, 1981), p p . 42-43.
58. Karl Mannheim, Ideolog y and Utopia: An Introduction to

the Sociology of Knowledge (London: Routledge & Kegan
Paul L t d . , 1938).
59. Clifford Geertz, "Ideology as a Cultural System,"

Ideology and D i s c o n t e n t . David Apter, ed. (New York:
Free Press, 1964), p p . 47-76.
60. Michael Grimmitt, Religious E d u c a t i o n , p . 34.
61. Sigmund Freud, Future of an I l l u s i o n .
62. For a d is cu s s i o n of Friedrich S c h l e i e r m a c h e r 1s view of

religion see Pete r Berger, The S a c r e d Canopy; Elements
of a So ci ological Theory of R el igi on (New York: Anchor
Books, 1969), p p . 159-160.
63. Gregory Baum, R e li gi on and A l i e n a t i o n . Even though it

would be well wor th studying and critiquing thoroughly
the works of e ac h of the authors to be discussed, I
feel that it is beyond the scope of this thesis to do
so.
64. G.W. Hegel, Ea r l y Theological W r i t i n g s , trans. T.M. K no x

and R. Kroner (New York: Harper a n d Row, 1948).
65. See Friedrich Jodi, Ludwig Fe u e r b a c h (Stuttgart, 1904),

p . 41. Ma ny a u t ho rs in the past u s e d exclusive language
which, for some people today, is read as sexist and
highly offensive. The common practice is to insert
'sic' wh e r e a p p r o p ri at e to indicate to the reader that
the current wr i t e r does not agree with such language. I
agree that we s ho ul d be careful w i t h our use of the
English languag e and we must avo id all degrees of
exclusivism. At the same time, I do not feel it
appropriate to disrupt the d yn am ic s of a quotation each
an d every time an author us ed sexist language.
66. T.B. Bottomore (trans. and edit.), Karl Marx: Selected

Writings in So ci ol og y and Social Philosophy (New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1964), p p . 43-44.
67. Gregory Baum, R e l i g i o n and A l i e n a t i o n , p p . 102-103.
181
68. G.W. Hegel, Early Theological W r i t i n g s .
69. L udw ig Feuerbach, op. cit.
70. Gr eg o r y Baum, Religion a n d A l i e n a t i o n , p . 110.
71. Reginald Bibby, F ra gm en te d G o d s , p.233.
C H A P T E R THREE
1. It is important to d? " * i e clearly be tw een the

terms "pedagogy'’ and a a c h i n g . T e a c h # «• refers to the
activity of integrating curriculum co*»* * , strategies,
techniques, and e valua ti on techniques rlto some kind of
dynamic whole. P e d a g og y incorporates teaching but moves
beyond it. Pedago gy includes explicit intentions about
the cultural politics of classroom activity. It moves
beyond teaching activities to a soc iocultural and
political vision of a n d movement toward the way the
worl d should be.
2. The eras have been s el ec te d somewhat arbitrarily. There

is no reason to suggest that other ca teg ori es m a y have
been equally suitable. The idea here is to present
workable categories w h i c h provide order a n d structure
to a rather complex in terrelationship of disciplines.
3. See Donal Dorr, Option for the Poor: A H u n d r e d Years of

Vatican Social T ea ch in g (New York: Orbir Books, 1983),
chapter 1.
4. I b i d . , p p . 57-75.
5. I b i d . , p.61.
6. The report was p u b l i s h e d as "Pour la resta ur at io n

sociale au Canada," in L'ecole sociale p p p u l a i r e . 232-
3: 18-37. For a t horou gh summary and critique, see
Gregory Baum, Cath oli cs and Canadian Socialism:
Political Thought in the Thirties a n d Forties (Toronto:
James Lorimer & Company, Publishers, 1980), p p . 99-118.
7. Jean Hulliger, L 1enseignement social des eveques

canadiens (Montreal: Fides, 1957), p . 192.
8. Greg or y Baum, Catholics and Canadian S o c i a l i s m , p p . 191-

204.
9. John Dewey, Demo cra cy an d Education: An I n tr od uc ti on to

the Philosophy of Edu ca tio n (New York: The Free Press,
1916), p. 76.
182
10. Franc isc o Ferrer, "L'Ecole Renovee," Mother Earth (Nov.,

1909), Vol.IV, N o . 9, p . 268.
11. George Counts, Dare the Schools Build a New Social Order
(New York: John Day, 1932), p . 8.
12. I b i d . , p . 6.
13. Ibid., p . 19.
14. I b i d . , p . 18.
15. See Michael Warren (ed.), S ou rce bo ok for Modern

Catechetics (Winona, Minnesota: Saint Mary's Press,
1983), chapter 10. It was so named because it resulted
from the T h i r d Plenary Council o f Baltimore. It was p
ubl is he d in 1885 and revised in 1941. The original
edition cont ain ed 421 q u e s ti on s and answers and the
revised edition cont ain ed 515.
16. George Coe, A Social Th eor y of Religious Educ ati on (New

York: Scribner, 1917), p . 55.
17. I b i d . , p . 102.
18. George Coe, What is Christian education? (New York:

Scribner, 1929), p.296.
19. See R.M. Rummery, Catechesis and Religious E d u ca ti on in

a Pluralist Society (Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor,
1975), p p . 12-14.
20. T ra ns la te d a n d published in Engl ish as Handing on the

Faith: A Manual of Catechetics (London: Burns & Oates,
1959). This approach to religious education was
in troduced in Canada by Emmett Carter. See Carter, The
Modern Challenge to Reli gio us Education (New York:
S a d i i e r , 1961 ).
21. Alfred He nne lly (ed.), Li be ra ti on Theology: A

D oc um ent ary History (New York: Orbis Books, 1990), p.1.
22. M a t e r et M a g i s t r a , May 15, 1961. In Joseph Gremillion,

The Goscel of Peace and Justice: Catholic Social
T eac hin g Sinr-c Pope John (New York: Orbis Books, 1976),
p p . 143-200.
23. G a u d i u m et S p e s , December 7, 1965. In Joseph Gremillion,

Peace and J u s t i c e, p.243.
24. Grego ry Baum, Compassion and Solidarity: The C hu rch for

Others (Toronto: CBC Ma s s e y Lectures, 1987), p . 25.
183
25. E.F. S her id an (ed.), Do Justice!: The Social Teachings
of the C an ad ia n Catholic Bishops (1945-1986) (Toronto:
Jesuit C e n t r e for Social Faith and Justice, 1987).
26. Gustavo Gutierrez, "Toward a T h e o l o g y of Liberation." In

Alfred Hennelly, Liberation T h e o l o g y , p.63.
27. This conference was attended 'ly approxim at el y 130

Catholic bishops. The first con fe re nc e of this ki nd
(CELAM I) was he ld in Rio de Janei ro in 1955. In Alfred
Hennelly, Liberation T h e o l o g y , p p . 89-119.
28. Second General Conference of Lati n A me ric an Bishops,

"The Church in the Present-Day Tr ansformation of Latin
America in the Light of the Council," (August 26 -
September 6, 1968), Document on J u s t i c e , n.7.
29. Ibid., n.25.
30. The Episcopal Commission for Social Action, L a bour D ay

Message - 1969: N e w Power, n.3. In E.F. Sheridan, Do
J u s t i c e ! . p p . 175-179.
31. Gustavo Gutierrez, A Theology of Liberation: History.

Politics, and Salvation (15th An ni versary Edition) (New
York: Orbis Books, 1988), p.xxix. Or ig i n a l l y pub li sh ed
as Teoloeia de la liberacion. P e r s p e c t i a s by CEP,
Lima, 1971.
32. Phillip Berryman, Teologfa de la Liberacidn: Los Hechos

Esenciales en Torno al Mo vimiento Revol uc ion ar io en
America Lat ina v Otros Lugares D.F., Mexico: Siglo
Veintiuno Editores, 1989), p.11. Tran sla tio n by author.
33. See Gregory Baum, Theology and Society (New York:

Paulist Press, 1987).
34. I b i d . , p . 16.
35. Synod of Bishops Second General Assembly, Justice in the

W o r l d . Novemb er 30, 1971, n.6.
36. Canadian Catholi c Conference, L a b o u r D a y Me s s a g e - 1975:

Northern Development: At What Cost?, n.21. In E.F.
S-jeridan, Do Justice! . pp.275-286.
37. Alfonso Lope z Trujillo, Libera ti on or Revolution?

(Huntington, Ind.: Our Sunday Visitor, 1977), p . 101.
38. Paulo Freire, "Education as the Practice of Freedom." In

Freire, E d u c a t i o n for Critical Consciousness (New York:
Continuum, 1973), p . 19.
184
39. Paulo Freire reminds us that action without reflection
is activism while reflection without a ct io n is
verbalism. To create social change b o t h components are
n eed ed in a dialectical relationship. See, Paulo
Freire, Pedagogy o f the Opp ressed (Twenty-Sixth
Printing) (New York: Continuum, 1987), p. 75. Translated
from the original Portuguese manuscript in 1968.
40. I b i d . , p . 58.
41 . I b i d . , p . 60.
42. John Elias, "Paulo Freire: Religious Educator,"

Religious E d u c a t i o n . Vol.LXXI, No.1, J a n u a r y - F e b r u a r y ,
1976, p . 54.
43. Ivan Illich, De sc hoo li ng Society (New york: Doubleday,

1971 ).
44. Paul Goodman, Compulsory Mis-Educr.îon and the Community

of Scholars (New York: Vintage Books, 1966), p.57.
45. Paul Goodman, "F re edo m and Learning: The Need for
Choice," in R. Ho ope r (ed.), The Curric ulu m (Edinburgh:
Oliver & Boyd, 1971), p . 109.
46. Michael Warren (ed.), S o u r c e b o o k , pp.65-70.
47. "General Con clusion s of the Medellin International study

Week 1968." In Michael warren (ed.), S o u r c e b o o k , p . 69.
48. Gravissimum E d u c a t i o n i s , October 28, 1965. In Austin

Flanne ry (ed.), V a t i ca n Council II: The Conciliar and
Post Conciliar Doc um ent s (Volume 1) (New York: Costello
Publishing Company, 1987), p . 727.
49. To Teac h as Jesus Did: A Pastoral Message on Catholic

Educat ion (Washington, DC: United States Catholic
Conference, 1973), n.14.
50. Third General Confer en ce of the Latin A me ri ca n Bishops,

"Evangelization in Latin America's Present and Future."
Puebla de los Angeles, Mexico, January 27 - February
13, 1979. Final Document, n.2.1. In Al f r e d Hennelly,
Liberation T h e o l o g y , pp. 225-258.
51. Gustavo Guttierez, The Power of the Poor in History

(Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1983), pp. 127-128.
Du ring a p r e s e n t a t i o n at the Un iv e r s i t y of Toronto,
March 19, 1991, G u s ta vo Gutierrez a d d r es se d the issue
of a "preferential option for the poor" directly. By
analyzing each w o r d individually, he stated: (1) the
word 'preferential' implies a personal preference
w h e re by "the last must be first", (2) the w o r d 'option'
185
suggests a free d ec is io n which is theocentric in
nature, in solidarity w i t h victims of racist, ethnic or
sexual oppression, and a universal challenge for every
Christian, and (3) the w o r d 'poor' includes all those
pe ople who experience social, political or economic
poverty.
52. Ph il l i p Berryman, T eo lo gf a de la L i b e r a c i d n . p . 61.

Translation by author.
53. While teaching and s tu dyi ng in Mexico I had the

op po rtunity to participate in various CEB's. During one
particular session, I was joined ar oun d a f i r e by six
elderly women and two students and we took turns
reading scripture passages related to the gospel
reading to be read in Ch urch the following Sunday. The
Bible was passed around the fire and most m e m b e r s read
a few verses (some mem be rs never had the op po r t u n i t y to
at t e n d school and learn h o w to read). For the next hour
or so we discussed how the scripture readings related
to our lives, and es pe ci al ly to the lives of the
m a j o r i t y in front of me who exp er ie nc ed severe forms of
oppres si on and injustice daily. Eventually, the
di scussion lead to some specific questions. One woman
asked, "If Jesus speaks about justice for all, why do I
have to live in a house where rain leaks through my
roof and forms puddles on the mud dy floor, a n d in an
area where my children play freely in open flows of
sewage, while those above us, on top of the hill, live
in beautiful mansions a n d send their ch il d r e n to
qua l i t y schools? Eventually, it was deci de d that after
the following Sunday's mass, community m e m b e r s wo u l d be
invited to help repair the damaged house so that rain
would no longer form puddles on the lady's floor. Other
projects were initiated in later sessions, including
the rechannelling a n d covering of raw sewage which ran
from the houses of the w e a lt hy on top of the hill and
the creation of literacy programs.
54. Final D o c u m e n t , n.1026.
55. Gregory Baum, The Priority of Labor; A C o m m e n t a r y on

Labo re m Exercens. Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul
II (New York: Paulist Press, 1982).
56. The Episcopal Commission for Social Affairs, "Ethical

Reflections on the Econo mi c Crisis," De c e m b e r 22, 1982.
In E.F. Sheridan, Do J u s t i c e ! . p . 405.
57. Du ring the past two decades, a substantial b o d y of

literature in critical p ed ag og y has surfaced. For
example, see: Michael Apple, Ideology and C u r r i c u l u m
(London: Rout ledge & Keg an Paul, 1979), Edu ca ti on and
Power (London: Rou tl ed ge & Kegan Paul, 1982), Teachers
186
& Text s (London: Routledge A Kega n Paul, 1986); Stanley
Aronowitz and Henr y Giroux, Edu cation Under Siege
(Massachusetts: Berger & Garvey Publishers, 1985),
Po stmodern Education (Minneapolis: University of
Min nes ot a Press, 1991); Eli za bet h Ellsworth, "Why
Doe sn' t This Feel Empowering?" Harv ar d Educational
R e v i e w . 59 ( 3):297-324; He n r y Giroux, Theory and
Resistance in Education (South Hadley, M A . : Bergin and
Garvey, 1983), Schooling and the Struggle for Public
Life (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press,
1988); Henry Giroux and Peter McLaren, "Teacher
Education a n d the Politics of Engagement," Harvard
Educational Review 56(3): 213-238, Critical P e d a g o g y ,
the State, and Cultural Struggle (edited), (New York:
State University of New Yo rk Press, 1989); David
Livingstone, Social Crisis and Schooling (Toronto:
Garamo nd Press, 1985), David Livingstone et al.,
Critical Pedagogy and Cultural Power (Toronto: Garamond
Press, 1987); Peter McLaren, Life in Schools (Toronto:
Irwin Publishing, 1989); Ira Shor, Freire for the
Classroom (Portsmouth, NH: Boynt on /C oo k Publishers,
1987); Will ia m Stanley, Curri cu lu m for Utopia (New
York: State University of New York Press, 1992).
58. Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in

Capitalist America: Educational Reform and the
Con tr adictions of Economic Life (New York: Basic Books,
1976).
59. Michael Apple, Ideology an d Curriculum (London:

Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979), p . 3.
60. See H e n r y Giroux, Theory and R es is ta nc e in Education: A

Pedagogy for the Opposi ti on (Massachusetts: Bergin &
Garvey Publishers, 1983), p . 99. Also refer to Paul
Willis, "The Class Significance of School Counter-
Culture." In The Process of S c h o o l i n g , ed. Ma rtyn
Hammer st ay and Peter Woods. London: Routledge & Kegan
Paul; Learning to Labor (Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath,
1977); "Cultural Produ ct io n is Different from Social
Reprod uc ti on ." In terchange 12(2), 1981; "Cultural
Production and Theories of reproduction." Mimeo. Center
for C on te mp or ar y Cultural Studies, University of
Birmingham, Birmingham, England, 1982.
61. See Mich ae l Warren, Youth and the Future of the Church:
Mi n i s tr y w ith Youth and Young Adults (Minneapolis:
Seabury, 1982); "Youth Politicization: A Proposal for
Edu cat io n Within Minist ry ," Religious Education 77:2
( M a r c h - A p r i l , 1982), p p . 179-196; Youth, Gospel.
Liber ati on (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987).
62. Michael Warren, Youth. Gospel, l i b e r a t i o n , p . 28.
187
63. Ibid., p p . 28-29.
64. S uz an ne Toton, W or ld Hunger: The Responsi bi li ty of

C h r i s t i a n Education (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1982).
65. W i l l i a m Kennedy, "A Radical Challenge to Inherited

Educational Patterns," H a r v a r d Educational Reviatf
( Wi nt er 1979).
66. Tho ma s G r o o m e , Chr istian Religious Education: Sharing

Our Storv and Vision (San Francisco: Harper an d Row,
1980), p . 184.
67. I b i d . , p .290.
68. Mi cha el Novak, "Liberation Theology and the Pope." In

A l f r e d Hennelly (ed.), Liberation T h e o l o g y , p . 273.
69. See A l f r e d Hennelly, "The Red-Hot Issue: Liberation

T he ol og y ." In Hennelly, Liberation T h e o l o g y , p . 513.
70. See Grego ry Baum, The olo gy and S o c i e t y , p . 93.
71. Ibid., p . 95.
72. S c a r b o r o M i s s i o n s , Feb rua ry 1993, p. 20. I had

di ffi cul ti es finding pu b l i sh ed articles on CELAM IV
at the time I was wr it i n g this chapter (the conference
was h e l d in November an d a rough draft of this chapter
was completed shortly thereafter) but the following
r e fe re nc es were available: "Brazilian delegates resist
V a t i c a n agenda" and "Bishops pledge to ac company their
pe o p l e " (Catholic New T i m e s . November 22, 1992);
"Fru st ra ti on and Hope: Latin American Bishops Meet in
S a n to D o m in g o" (ClIR N e w s . November, 1992); "CELAM
c on fe r en ce ends with no clear agenda" (Latinamerica
P r e s s . November 12, 1992); "Latin America: A Gospel
Agenda: The Issues for the Bishops in Santo Domingo"
(E xtracts from the W o rk i n g Document for CELAM IV).
In tr od uc ti on and tr an sla tio n by C l I R . 1992.
73. D a v i d Livingston et a l ., Critical Pedagogy and Cultural

Po we r (Toronto: G a ra m o n d Press, 1987), p . 12.
74. I b i d . , p . 55.
75. Ira Sh o r (ed.), Freire for the Classroom: A Sourcebook

for Liberatorv Te ac h i n g (Portsmouth, N H . : Heinemann,
1987).
76. Al ic e Evans, Robert Evans and William B. Kennedy,

Pedagog ie s for the No n-Poor (New York: Orbis Books,
1987).
188
77. Henry Giroux, Theory and Resistance in Education (South
Hadley, Mass.: Bergin & Garvey, 1983), p.293.
78. Stanley Aronowitz and Henry Giroux, Education Under

Siege: The Conservative. Liberal, a n d Radical De ba te
Over Scho oli ng (South Hadley, Mass.: Bergin & Garvey,
1985), p . 36.
79. I b i d . , p .36.
80. Roger Simon, "Empowerment as a P ed ago gy of Possibil ity ,"

Language A r t s . 64(4), April 1987, p . 374.
81. Henry Giroux, Schooling and the Struggle for Public

Life: Critical Pedagogy in the Modern Age (Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press, 1983).
82. Ibid., p . 73.
83. Michael Apple, Teachers and Texts: A Political Econ om y

of Class and Gender Relations in Education (New York:
Routledge, 1988), p.41.
84. Mary Eliz abe th Moore, Education for Continuity and

C h a n g e : A Ne w Model for Chr istian Religious Edu cation
(Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1983), p . 121.
85. Mary El iz abe th Mullino Moore, Te ach ing from the Heart:
Theology and Educational Me th od (Minneapolis: Fortress
P r e s s , 1991), p . 216.
86. John Elias, Studies in Th eol ogy and E ~ucation (Malabar,

Fla.: Krieger, 1986).
87. Wi ll iam Bean Kennedy, "Id eology and Education: A Fresh

Approach for Religious Educatio n," Religious Edu cation
80(3), Summer 1985, p p . 331-344.
88. Daniel Schipani, Religious Ed uc ati on Encounters

Liberation Theology (Alabama: Religious Educ ati on
Press, 1988).
89. Allen Moore, "A Social Theory of Religious Educ ati on. "
In Moore (ed.), Religious E d u c at io n and Social
Transformat ion (Alabama: Reli gio us Education Press,
1989), p p . 9-36.
90. Thomas G r o o m e , Sharing Faith: A Com prehensive Approac h

to Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry. The Wav
of Shared Praxis (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1991).
91. Ibid., p . 8.
92. I b i d ., p .30.
189
CHAPTER FOUR
1. Ha rol d Burgess, An Invitation to Rel igious Education

(Birmingham, Alabama: Religious Education Press, 1975),
p.21 .
2. R.M. Rummery, Catechesis and Reli gio us Education in a

Pluralist Soc ie ty (Huntington, IN.: Our Sunday Visitor,
1975), p . 18.
3. I b i d . , p. 5.
4. I b i d . , p.6.
5. I b i d . , p.23.
6. John Kavanaugh, "Capitalist Cult ur e as a Religious and

Educational System," Religious E d u c a t i o n . 78(1), 1983,
p .50.
7. See Anthony Giddens, The Con stitution of Society:

Outline of the Theory of Str ucturation (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1984); A Contemporary
Critique of Historical Materialism: Vol. 1 Power.
Property and the State (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1981); A Central Problem in Social
Theory: Action. Structure and Contradiction in Social
Analysis (London: Macmillan, 1979); New Rules of
Sociological Method: A Positive Critique of
Interpretative Sociologies (London: Hutchinson, 1976).
For a thorough review of Giddens's work, see Ian Craib,
Anthony Giddens (London: Routledge, 1992).
8. See Edmund Husserl, Ideas (London: George Allen and

Unwin, 1931); Alfred Schutz, The Phenomenology of the
Social Wo rl d (Evanston, 111.: Northwestern University
Press, 1932); Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann, The
Social C on s t r u c t i o n of Reality (Garden City, N.Y.:
A n c h o r , 1967 ) .
9. Talcott Parsons, The Structure of Social Action (New

York: McGraw -Hi ll , 1937); Robert Merton, Social Theory
and Social St ructure (New York: Free Press, 1968).
10. Anthony Giddens, Constitution of S o c i e t y , p . 16.
11. I b i d . , p . 17.
12. Anthony Giddens, Central P r o b l e m , p p . 69-70.
190
13. For example, see P. Belanger a n d G. Rocher, Ecole et
soc*ete au Quebec: Elements d'une sociologie de
1'educat ion (Montreal: Editions HMH Ltee, 1970);
Mortimer Adler, The Paideia Proposal: An Educational
Manifesto (New York: Collier Books, 1982).
14. Henry Giroux, Schooling and the Strugg le for Public

I i f e . p p . 123-124.
15. For example, see S. Bowles and H. Gintis, Schooling in

Capitalist America (New York: Basic Books, 1976);
Giulio Girarui, Por Una Pedagogia Revol uc id na ri a
(Mexico, D.F.: Hispanicas, 1987); Michael Apple,
Ideology and Curric ulu m (London: R o ut led ge & Kegan
Paul. 1979).
16. Stanley Aronowitz and Henry Giroux, Educ ati on Under

S i e g e . p p . 104-105.
17. Henry Giroux, Theory and Resistance in E d u c a t i o n , p . 44.
18. Ibid., p.58.
19. Thomas Groome, Sharing F a i t h , p . 102.
20. Ibid., p.98.
21. Albert Noian, "Contexual Theology: One Faith, Many

Theologies," Chancellor's Address VIII, Regis College,
Toronto, N o v . 12, 1950, p. 2.
22. Ibid., p.4.
23. Gregory Baum, Theology and S o c i e t y , p . 25.
24. Alfed North Whitehead, The Aims of Ed ucation and Other

Essays (New York: The Free Press, 1929), p . 36.
25. Thomas Bates, "Gramsci and the Theory of Hegemony,"

Journal of the History of I d e a s . 36(1975), p. 352.
26. See Raymond Williams, "Base a n d Super st ruc tu re in

Marxist Cultural Theory." In Roger Dale et al (eds.),
Schoolir.g and Capitalism: A Sociological Reader
(London: Rou tl ed ge & Kegan Paul, 1976), pp. 204-205.
27. Quintin Hoare and G eo ffr ey Nowell Sm i t h (eds.),

Select ions from the Prison No tebooks (London: Lawrence
and Wishart, 1971), p. 244.
28. Peter McLaren, Lif e in Schools: An Introduction to

Critical P ed ag ogy in the Foundations of Education
(Toronto: Irwin Publishing, 1989), p . 174.
191
29. Mi cha el Apple, Ideology and C u r r i c u l u m , p . 3.
30. Peter McLaren, Life in S c h o o l s , p . 176.
31. Daniel Schipani, R e l i g i o u s Education Encou nt ers

Liberation T h e o l o g y , p . 13.
32. I b i d . , p.48.
33. Ira Shor, Freire for the C l a s s r o o m , p . 211.
34. Ceorge Coe, What is Chr istian E d u c a t i o n ? , p. 296.
35. George Coe, A Social Theo ry of Religious Education (New

York: Scribners, 1917).
36. Allen Moore (ed.), Re li gi ou s Education as Social

T r a n s f o r m a t i o n . p . 19.
37. Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the O p p r e s s e d , p . 57.
38. It is interesting to note that before Freire introduced

his bankin g metaphor, John Dewey offered the metaphor
of "pouring in" to criticize the practice of filling
students with information and skills.
39. Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the O p p r e s s e d , p. 58.
40. I b i d . , p . 59.
41. Ibid., pp.72-73.
42. Ibid., p. 67.
43. Ira Shor, Empowe ri ng Education: Critical Teaching for

Social Change (Chicago: The University of Chicago
Press, 1992), p p . 32-33.
44. Ibid., p . 104.
45. The roots of this p e d a g o g y go beyond my teaching

experiences as a h i g h school religious educator.
Insights were also d e v e l o p e d while I was teaching
mathematics and E.S.L. and co-directing a teacher
education program in Mexico.
46. No pedagogy is successful all the time. Some days are

better than others but the key is to max im iz e the
teaching and learning opportunities when they exist.
Variables including the weather, time of day (after
lunch students appe ar mo r e energetic and disruptive!)
and sporting events (teaching during the Winter is far
easier than during the Stanley Cup playoffs) affect
signifi ca nt ly the e f fic ac iou sn ess of any pedagogy.
192
47. B e rn ar d Lonergan, Method in Th eology (Minnesota: Seabury

Press, 1972), p.4.
48. St. Augustine, The C o n f e ss io ns of St. Augustine

(Translated by John Ryan). (New York: Image Books,
1960), p p . 285, 291.
49. John Hull, Studies in Re li gio n and Education (London:

Falmer press, 1984), p . 125.
50. The terms ’e f f e c t i v e ’ and ’i n e f f e c t i v e 'are o f t e n used

am bi guously in educational theory. When I re fe r to
so me th in g as being ’effective' in the s c h oo li ng process
I me an that it somehow e m a n c i p a t e s the learner from
social, political and ec on om ic forms of oppression. Of
course, what Paulo Freire calls "banking ed uca tio n" is
also effective, but for what ends? It pr omotes and
reinforces oppression an d injustice effectively. Thus,
it is also effective but in a dehumanizing way.
51. Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the O p p r e s s e d , p.98.
52. I b i d ., p .100.
53. See Ira Shor, Empowering E d u c a t i o n , pp.55-111.
54. Quo te d in Ira Shor, Em po we ri ng E d u c a t i o n , p. 55.
55. Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the O p p r e s s e d , p.77.
56. Edmu nd Sullivan, Critical P sy cho lo gy and P e d a g o g y .

p p . 57-58.
57. St anl ey Aronowitz and Hen ry Giroux, Postmodern

Educat ion: Politics. Culture, and Social C r i t i c i s m
(Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1991),
p . 101.
58. Henry Giroux, S c h o o l i n g . p . 199.
59. Ira Shor and Paulo Freire, A Pedagogy for Liberation:

Di alogues on Transforming Education (New York: Bergin 4
Garvey, 1987), pp.98-99.
60. Of course, not all students will want to par ti ci pa te

verbally. But partici pa ti on implies more than verbal
interaction. Grappling w i t h ideas, listening to others,
and m a ki ng judgements can be achieved v e r b a l l y with
others or at an interior and perhaps more pe rsonal
level.
61. E l i z a b e t h Ellsworth, "Why Doesn't This Feel Em po wering?"

Ha rv ar d Educational Revi ew 59(3), p. 298.
193
62. Ibid., p . 305.
63. Ibid., p . 305.
64. Jaroslav Pilikar, The Vindication of Tradition (New

Haven, "T: Y a l e university Press, 1984), p.65.
65. Mary Boys, "Access to Traditions and Transformation." In

Padraic O' Har e (ed.), Tradition and Transformation in
Religious Ed ucation (Birmingham, Alabama: Religious
Education Press, 1979), p . 19.
66. I b i d . , p . 20.
67. See Da vi d Tracy, Blessed Rage for Order: The New

Plural ism in Theology (New York: The Seabury Press,
1975); Plurality and Ambiguity: Hermeneutics. Religion.
Hops (San Francisco: Harper A Row, 1987).
68. Qu ot eu in Leonardo Boff, Church: Charism A Power:

Liberation T heo lo gy and the Institutional Church (New
York: Crossroad, 1990), p . 34.
69. Malachi Martin, The Keys of This Blood: The Struggle for
World D o m i n i o n Between Pope John Paul II. Mikhail
Gorbachev A the Capitalist West (New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1990), p . 15.
70. Leonardo Boff, Church. Charism A P o w e r , p. 58.
71. For example, see Peter Kropotkin, Mutual Aid: A Factor

of Evol uti on (Montreal: Black Ro se Books, 1989).
(originally pub lished in 1914); Murray Bookchin, The
Ecology of Freedom: The Em er ge nc e and Dissolution of
Hierarchy (Montreal: Black Rose Books, 1991).
72. M urr ay Bookchin, The Modern Cr isis (Montreal: Black Rose

Books, 1987), p.26.
73. Ibid., p . 60.
74. Ibid., p . 61.
75. Ibid., p . 61.
76. See M ur ra y Bookchin, The Ph il o s o p h y of Social ecology:

Essays on Dialectical Na tu ra li sm (Montreal: Black Rose
Books, 1990).
77. Murray B o ok ch in uses the term 'naturalism' not only to

disting uis h dialectics from its idealistic and
m at er ia li st ic interpretations but, more significant, to
194
show how it enr ic hes our interpretation of nature and
humanity's place in the natural world.
78. Paulo Freire, Ped ag og y of the O p p r e s s e d , pp. 75-76.
79. St. Augustine, The Citv of God (New York: Image Books,
1958), p.467.
80. Quoted in Dermot Lane, Foundations for a Social

Theology: Praxis. Process and Sa lv ati on (New York:
Paulist Press, 1983), p.41.
81. Bernard Lonergan, Me t h o d in T h e o l o g y , p . 238.
82. I b i d . , p . 240.
83. Everett Reimer, School is Dead (H a r m o n d s w o r t h : Penguin,

1971), p.96.
84. Michael Apple, Ideology and C u r r i c u l u m , p . 3.
85. Paulo Freire, Ped ag og y of the O p p r e s s e d , p. 33.
86. Bruce Boston, "Paulo Freire: Notes of a Loving Critic,"

in Stanley Grabowski, Paulo Freire: A Revolutionary
Dilemma for the Adult Educator (New York: Syracuse
University Publications, 1972), p. 91.
87. See chapter one for a more extensive d is cu ss io n of this

topic. The quote is taken from Gregory Baum, Religion
and A l i e n a t i o n , p p . 218-219.
88. Gregory Baum, Re l i g i o n and A l i e n a t i o n , p p . 219-220.
89. Ira Shor and Paulo Freire, A Pedagogy for L i b e r a t i o n .

p . 37. Rather than e x pe ct ing teachers to swim against
the current, as Freire suggests, I believe that it
would be more realistic to invite teachers to change
the direction of the current.
C H A P T E R FIVE
1. The four components of the contextual pe da g o g y may be

used as a base for critical analysis over a one-hour
period or an enti re semester. For example, at times I
use thematic d i al og ue as a ten minu te "ice-breaker" as
a way to initiate cl as sro om dialogue a n d group
participation. This is followed by a twenty minute
presentation of historical facts, stories, customs,
and so on, and a twenty minute d i s c u s s i o n about how
differing positions may be unified. I often assign the
active /tr ans for mat io nal component of the lesson as a
195
h o m e w o r k assignment to be d i s cu ss ed and c o n t i n u e d the
f ol lo w i n g day. I have also used the four co mponents of
a contextual pedagogy over an entire semester. For
axample, while teaching a course on "World Religions,"
I often use the first few weeks of the course as a
m ea n s to explore the issues and concerns pertinent to
the lives of the students. These issues and concerns
are then used to generate themes such as equality,
power in society, religiousness, faith, injustice, and
so forth. These themes act as a base for the critical
an aly si s of the traditions, beliefs, customs, and
pr a ct ice s of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Taoism,
Judaism, and Christianity. The following two months are
u s e d presenting, discussing, and critiquing the various
rel igious traditions. This is followed by a few weeks
of exploring how the various traditions whic h may
appear very different in content and process m a y
incorporate some un de r l y in g common features. The last
few weeks of the semester can be used to change
attitudes, initiate dialogue with members of other
rel igious communities, and so forth.
2. The Roman Catholic Ar ch dio ces e of Toronto Catholic High

School Commission (1991), Curriculum Guide li nes for
Rel ig iou s Education: Secondary S c h o o l s , p . 123.
3. I b i d ., p .104.
4. Ibid., p . 123.
5. T e d Trainer, "Third W o r l d Poverty." In Andrew Dobson

(ed.), T he Green Reader (London: Andre Deutsch, 1991),
p . 65.
6. For example, during the period 1986-1988, more than

3656000 tons of waste (a great proportion toxic in
content) were shipped from the developed to the
d e v e l o p i n g part of the world. In addition, the rate of
e x t r a c t i o n is 10000 times the rate of renewal of the
earth's resources.
7. See L or ra ine Johnson, Gre en Future: How to Make a World

of Difference (Markham: Penguin Books, 1990).
8. See Karl Marx, C a p i t a l . 3 Vols. (Moscow), undated, 1961,

1962.
9. Dorn Helder Camara, Re vo l u t i o n Through Peace (New York:

H ar pe r and Row, 1971), p p . 142-143.
10. See Instituto del Tercer Mundo, Third W o r l d Guid e 93/94

(Toronto: Garamond Press, 1992), p . 75.
11. L o r r a i n e Johnson, Green F u t u r e , p . 70.
196
12. I b i d . , p .60.
13. Press Summary, Earth Summit: Uni ted Nations Confer en ce

on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
3-14 June, 1992, p p . 3-4.
14. Quoted in Carolyn Merchant, Radical Ecology: The Search

for a Livable Worl d (London: Routledge, 1992), p . 121.
15. Jee Eleanor MacLean, Between the Lines: How to Detect

Bias and Propaganda in the News a n d Everyday Life
(Montreal: Black Rose Books, 1981), p.48, 50, 125.
16. John Kavanaugh, Following Christ in a Consumer S o c i e t y .

p . 25.
17. Martin Lee and Norman Soloman, Unreliable Sources: A

Guide to Detectin g Bias in News Media (New Jersey:
Carol Publishing, 1992), p . 3.
18. Eleanor MacLean, Between the L i n e s , p . 118.
19. I b i d . , p .136.
20. The Toronto Star, Friday, M a y 20, 1994.
21. Eleanor MacLean, Between the L i n e s , p . 119.
22. Before the buy-out, Ma cl ea ns -H un te r owned 1 te levision

and 21 radio stations in Ontario, Alberta, and Eastern
Canada; 61.8% of The Toronto Sun (which also controls
The Financial Post); and p u b l i s h e d 200 pe ri odicals
including Ma c lean's and C h a t e l a i n e ; 15 printing units.
23. Michael Czerny a n d Jamie Swift, Getting Started on

Social Analysis in Canada (Toronto: Between the Lines,
1984), p . 103.
24. Quoted in Eleanor MacLean, Be tw e e n the L i n e s , p p . 120-

121 .
25. Martin Lee and Norman Solomon, Unreliable S o u r c e s .
p.xviii.
26. Russell Mokhiber, "Corporate Crime & Violence in Review:

The 10 Worst Corporations of 1991," Mu ltinational
Monitor (Dec. 1991), p . 14.
27. For a de t a i l e d di scussion ab o ut the propaganda model,

see E d w ar d He rma n and Noam Chomsky, Ma nu fa ct ur in g
Consent: The Political Ec on o m y of the Mass M e d i a (New
York: Pantheo n Books, 1988).
197
28. See Necessary Illusions, Ma nu fac tur ing Consent: Noam
Chomsky an d the Media (Parts 1,2).
29. Edward Herman a n d Noam Chomsky, Ma nu fa ct ur in g C o n s e n t .

p .2 .
30. Quoted in Ma rti n Lee an d Norman Solomon, Unreliable

S o u r c e s . p .53.
31. Ibid., p.53.
32. We contacted the director of the Taskforce on the

Churches a n d C o r p o r a t e R e s p o n s i b i l i t y in Toronto. The
ag ency was fou nd ed in 1975 by a coalition of Christian
churches and religious orders to address issues of
corporate responsibility. It undertakes research and
action relating to the social and environmental impact
of corporations, both public and private, and related
government policies.
33. The militar y government renamed Burma "Myanmar"

immediately after the brutal events of 1988. Human
rights groups cl a i m that the new nam e was introduced by
the illegitimate government in an attempt to wipe the
slate clean.
34. Qu ote d froma letter in the "PepsiCo" file of the

Taskforce on the Churches a n d Corporate R e s p o n s i b i l i t y ,
Toronto, Ontario.
35. Ibid.
36. Ibid.
37. See E. Sheridan, Love Kindness!: The Social Teaching of

the Canadian Catholic Bishops (Toronto: Editions
Paulines, 1991), p . 17.
38. Quoted in Michael Ryan, Solidarity: Christian Social

Teaching & Canadia n Society (London: The Divine Word
International Centre of Religious Education, 1986),
p . 101.
39. See E. Sheridan, Love K i n d n e s s ! . p p . 312-337.
40. Ibid., p.323.
41 . I b i d . , p . 324.
CO NCL US IO N
1. The New I n t e r n a t i o n a l i s t . N o .259 /September 1994, p . 16.
198
2. B er t r a m Gross, Friend ly Fascism: The New F ac e of Power
in Ameri ca (Montreal: Blac k Rose Books, 1980).
3. Peter Kropotkin, The Conquest of Bread (Montreal: Black

Rose Books, 1990), p . 15. Originally p u b li sh ed in 1906.
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Education, University of Toionto! , Tradition and

Transformation: A Contextual Pedagogy fo r Religious

The purpose of this thesis is to present a contextual

pedagogv for high school religious education. The aim of

this pedagogy is to help students from the broad middle

class to understand more fully the social, political, and

economic factors which define their reality and to seek a

qualitative transformation of their lives which will improve

their own general well-being as well as the well-being of

It is argued in this thesis that, there exists in

Canadian society distinct social classes. Religion serves

partly to reinforce prevailing socio-political and economic

conditions. While schools often support a status quo

hegemony, the praxis nature of a contextual approach to

religious education encourages students to reflect

critically on and transform social structures and agencies

that create an unequal access to well-being.

I would like to thank my thesis supervisor Clive Beck

for his encouragement, guidance, and valuable insights. I

would also like to express my gratitude to Malcolm Levin and

Edmund Sullivan for responding thoroughly* critically, and

diligently to rough drafts of my thesis. A special

acknowledgement is owing to my father whose humility,

gentleness, and authentic love of iearn *nS have inspired me

tremendous! r over the years;. Above all* 1 wish to express

sincere thanks to Rosa Maria Cepeda, the guiding light in my

composition of this thesis; onl y she k nows the depth of ray

1. A Social Context for the Fortunate Class 6

2. The Am biguity of Religiousness 26

3. Contextual Reli gio us Education: 55

4. A Contextual Pedagogy for Religious Ed ucation 82

5. A Contextual Pedagogy for Religious Education: 135

Practical Imp lications

Social conditions in Canada have deteriorated over the

past two decades.^ One child in four is now g r o wi ng up in

pov e r t y . “ Inequality has increased and society is becoming

wealth of the highest income group in Canada is over 200

times that of the lowest income group.-* Poverty has

increased significantly amo ng women. Between 1971 and 1986,

the number of working women living below the poverty line

increased five times more than raen.^ Dependency on social

a ss is ta nc e has reached record proportions. Signs of hunger

and h o me le ss ne ss are visible on urban street corners at

rates u nc om mo n in Canada since the Great Depression. In

1987, Canada 's homeless po pu l a t i o n was approximately one

mil li on ,^ including app ro xi ma te ly 84,000 people living in