Dealing with religious prejudices in ethics classes

Religious prejudices are widespread in our society and are sometimes even adopted by children. Especially in ethics classes, there should be room for students to reflect and question their attitudes. Three strategies for dealing with this (expanding knowledge, creating contact, breaking down categorizations) are explained and the important role of the teacher in this process is shown. In addition, the portrayal of religion and religious prejudice in current ethics textbooks is analyzed. It is shown that the reflection of the teachers' own prejudices is fundamental for the discussion in the classroom and therefore should be incorporated into the educators' training. Then, prejudiced representations of religion(s) in textbooks can be recognized and addressed more easily.