Religious reasons in the public sphere: an empirical study of religious actors' argumentative patterns in Swiss direct democratic campaigns

The ‘going public' of religious actors is taking central stage both in religious studies and political philosophy. But this ‘going public' of religious actors is controversial. The debate revolves around the question of whether religious actors must frame their religious convictions in terms of secular reasons or whether they should be allowed to introduce religiously grounded beliefs into public political argument without constraints. Despite vigorous and ongoing debate, there is little systematic and empirical research on this question. This article focuses on the public statements of religious actors in the context of Swiss direct democratic votes on abortion and immigration. Our empirical findings reveal an interesting gap: while many political philosophers and religious thinkers have moved to a position where religious actors can - and even should - openly employ religious arguments, the practice of religious actors in Switzerland is different. The larger denominations of Catholics and Protestants especially have a tendency to use a great amount of secular vocabulary. In addition, our findings also reveal that the use of religious or secular reasons varies considerably according to different issues, different media types (religious vs. secular press), different religious traditions, different alliance structures, and different media genres, while there is no clear time tren

Representations and concepts of professional ethos among Swiss religious education teacher trainers

Over the past two decades, the organisation of religious education classes in Switzerland has undergone profound reforms. Amid the increasing secularisation and pluralisation of the religious landscape, many cantons have introduced a compulsory course that falls under the responsibility of the state and is aimed at teaching basic knowledge about a variety of religions. These reforms have enabled a harmonisation of the syllabi for religious education across the country and have prompted the adaptation of teacher training programmes. Because of the many diverse social expectations surrounding these new courses and the diverse academic tra- ditions in the field of religious education, however, a unified conception of these courses is still absent. In this article, we discuss the ongoing construction of religious education teachers’ professional ethos within this fluid context. In particular, we discuss the perspective of teacher trainers on pragmatic questions concerning religious plurality and the place of teachers’ and pupils’ personal (religious) experiences in the classroom, and pay attention to different representations of ‘religion’ and distinct ideas regarding the purpose of these courses as they have a major impact on the professional attitudes expected from teachers. Keywords: professional ethos; teacher trainers; Switzerland; concepts of religion; impartialit

Patterns of Religious Education Policy in Switzerland. The Long Arm of Distanced Christians?

In spite of its different cantonal jurisdictions and traditions, the development of religious education in Switzerland over the past decade has taken a common direction: the state has assumed a more active role in the field of religious education in public (state-run) schools. In this article, we ask the question: How do key social actors interpret these reforms and how do these interpretations relate to the social structure of religion in Switzerland, in particular with respect to the majority category of the so-called distanced Christians? Drawing on qualitative interviews with members of the schools’ teaching staff, school administrators, and church representatives, the article highlights a dominant interpretative pattern that frames the socially accepted representation of religion in public schools. Thus, rather than addressing the pedagogical dimension of religious education, we discuss the significance of this pattern for the debate on the public presence of religion in Switzerland and Europe

Religious reasons in the public sphere: an empirical study of religious actors’ argumentative patterns in Swiss direct democratic campaigns

The ‘going public’ of religious actors is taking central stage both in religious studies and political philosophy. But this ‘going public’ of religious actors is controversial. The debate revolves around the question of whether religious actors must frame their religious convictions in terms of secular reasons or whether they should be allowed to introduce religiously grounded beliefs into public political argument without constraints. Despite vigorous and ongoing debate, there is little systematic and empirical research on this question. This article focuses on the public statements of religious actors in the context of Swiss direct democratic votes on abortion and immigration. Our empirical findings reveal an interesting gap: while many political philosophers and religious thinkers have moved to a position where religious actors can – and even should – openly employ religious arguments, the practice of religious actors in Switzerland is different. The larger denominations of Catholics and Protestants especially have a tendency to use a great amount of secular vocabulary. In addition, our findings also reveal that the use of religious or secular reasons varies considerably according to different issues, different media types (religious vs. secular press), different religious traditions, different alliance structures, and different media genres, while there is no clear time trend