Pathology of Religious Education Discourse in the System of Formal Education of Iran

Religious education with its concomitant attempt at shaping a single, uniform identity among the younger generation has always been the concern of our educational system over the past thirty years.To deal with this matter, the aim of this study is, first, to survey the dominant discourse of religious education with its subsidiary discourses of campaign against cultural invasion and the localization of sciences in post revolutionary Iran and, second, to investigate the pathology of the above discourse, particularly from the perspective of religious education. To achieve this purpose, the present investigation, using an analytical approach, surveying the history of the above discourse and categorizing the data thus obtained, attempted to review the Islamic education discourse over the past thirty years and critically evaluate its consequences. The results of the survey point to the fact that excessive emphasis on social engineering and attempt at forming a single uniform religious identity, the inculcation of an attitude for imitation through indoctrination, formalism, and a “quarantined” education are the dire consequences of the above discouse.