authors: Oleksandr Brodetskyi, Iryna Horokholinska
Urgency of the research. The mental, ideological and social risks and hybrid ideological and geopolitical attacks that Ukraine is facing (and in which the religious factor is often used) confirm the advisability of understanding and using the security functions of religious studies (in particular, their educational importance justifying).
Target setting. The progress of society largely depends on the willingness to consciously relate to the issues of identity, freedom, responsibility, criticality and, at the same time, openness to dialogue and communication of identities. This is one of the prerequisites to anticipate a number of dangers. Religious studies play a special role here, although the level of awareness of this in Ukrainian society and in education management is still insufficient.
Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. The discourse of such authors is analyzed: V. Rubskyi; C. Ives and J. Kidwell; R. Ysseldyk, K. Matson, H. Anisman; A. Kolodnyi; R. Bicer; V. Khromets; Cyril Hovorun.
The research objective. The article purpose: argumentation of the religious studies security opportunities and their role in education and in the forming of individuals' reliable immunity against the risks of socio-ideological manipulation and the ability to implement harmonious, humanistic, responsible communication.
The statement of basic materials. The study consider a number of risks facing modern society (both globally and in Ukraine). It is analyzed the cognitive-methodological and value possibilities of religious studies and their ability to increase the security potential in society. The authors reveal the prerequisites for effective and heuristic realization of such potential through the functioning of religious studies in education (especially higher education).
Conclusions. A high-quality religious education is valuable, as it gives adequate picture of the socio-cultural dynamics of the values sanctified by religions; dialogism and, at the same time, the competition of various axiological visions of the society and its norms arrangement. Such a skill is a lever of adequate self-determination in the global public space. The value-based profitability and security functionality of religious education (or religious studies elements in education) largely depends both on the optimization of managerial strategies in education and on the religious studiers willingness to improve the methodological and heuristic effectiveness of religious studies educational content.
Key words: religious studies, theology, worldview sciences, security possibilities, identity, polyconfessionality, dialogue.
References:
1. Hovorun, K 2019. Politichne pravoslav’ya: doktrina, sho rozdilyaye Cerkvu (Political Orthodoxies: the doctrine that separate the Church), Kiyiv: Duh i litera, 152 s.
2. Kolodnij, A 2020. Fenomen religiyeznavstva (The phenomenon of religious studies), Kiyiv: Interservis, 248 s.
3. Rubskij, BM 2019. Svitoglyad yak model realnosti: funkcionalno-substitutivnij pidhid (Worldview as a model of reality: the functional-substantival approach), Odesa: KUPRIYeNKO SV, 427 s.
4. Khromec, V 2019. Bogoslovska osvita v Ukrayini: religijnij i svitskij kontekst (Theological education in Ukraine: secular and religious context), Kiyiv: Duh i litera, 312 s.
5. Bicer, R 2010. The Value of the Religious Knowledge in the Formation of Faith’, Kelam Araştirmalari, 8 (1), рp. 77-92.
6. Ives, CD & Kidwell, J 2019. ‘Religion and Social Values for Sustainability’, Sustain Sci, 14, pр. 1355–1362.
7. Ysseldyk, R, Matheson, K & Anisman, H 2010. ‘Religiosity as Identity: Toward an Understanding of Religion From a Social Identity Perspective’, Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14 (1), pp. 60-71.
8. Tony Blair Institute for Global Change 2020. Covid-19: Guide for Governments Working with Religious Leaders to Support Public-Health Measures. 15 p. Available at: <https://institute.global/sites/default/files/inline-files/Tony%20Blair%20Institute%2C%20Working%20With%20Religious%20Leaders%20to%20Support%20Public%20Health%20Measures.pdf> [19 July 2021].