Original Research
Narratives and counter-narratives as ways of creating religious tolerance
Submitted: 20 June 2024 | Published: 30 August 2024
About the author(s)
Maryke Strydom, Department of Religion Studies, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South AfricaJaco Beyers, Department of Religion Studies, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Abstract
This article explored the utilisation of counter-narratives in tertiary education settings with regard to pseudo-events connected to big world events. The occurrence that this article focused on was the pseudo-events connected to the Israel–Hamas war that started in October 2023. These pseudo-events refer to a surge in Islamophobic and anti-Semitic hate crimes in countries outside the warzone. Two narrative examples are given that can be utilised within education settings; however, educators can look beyond the given examples and utilise other counter-narratives. Creating awareness of surges in discriminatory occurrences with the use of counter-narratives may increase humanisation and intersectional awareness in students.
Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article was written from a religious studies perspective, with the aim of increasing religious tolerance within societies. This article is based on a quantitative literature review and narrative theories.
Keywords
Sustainable Development Goal
Metrics
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