The collective monograph is devoted to the study of understanding and realization of human rights in different cultures and especially their connection with religious aspects. The aim of this work is to analyze the role of religions in pluralistic societies based on respect for human rights. At the same time, they proceed from different religious and non-religious perspectives in education issues and from understanding the differences in cultural and political backgrounds.

The monograph opens with the introductory part " Human rights, religion and education. Theoretical framework", written by M. L. Pirner. Based on the ideas of J. R. R. Tolkien, Rawls and Yu. According to Habermas, Pirner advocates a reasonable balance between the universal normativity of human rights, on the one hand, and the values of various religions, on the other, opposing the limited secularist understanding of human rights that excludes and marginalizes religion. Rawls 'concept of public reason as a common ground for consensus on human rights appears to Pirner to be less productive than Habermas' idea that religious people are best supported to recognize human rights by beliefs based on their own religion. As an example, Habermas, followed by Pirner, cites Catholics and Protestants in Germany who have reached an absolute consensus on the universality of human rights. It seems, however, that extending this approach to other religions and cultures need not necessarily lead to equally positive results.

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results. At the same time, Pirner notes the importance of the "complementary learning process" proposed by Habermas (who, being an agnostic, repeatedly emphasized his openness to religion) between religious and non-religious people.

The second part of the monograph is devoted to general issues of the relationship between human rights and religion. Warning of possible criticism of Pirner's position, Z. Mir-Hosseini considers in her article "Human rights and the Islamic legal tradition: prospects for a general consensus" the prospects for successful translation of the religious value of ideas about human dignity into the Islamic legal system, which, from her point of view, has both theological and political implications nuances. Mir-Hosseini argues, among other things, that Musawah, a women's movement within Islam whose name translates as "equality," is working all over the world to achieve this goal.

The Protestant theologian Fr. F. Lohmann in his work "Human Rights between Universalism and Religious Particularism" demonstrates the ambivalence of religions in relation to human rights, since they can be not only a driving force in promoting the latter, but also, on the contrary, an obstacle to their observance, speaking from obscurantist positions. This is due to the traditional but contradictory ideas of one's own exclusivity, on the one hand, and self - relativism, equality and tolerance, on the other. The solution offered by Lohmann is to understand enlightenment and education as fundamental tasks facing religious communities.

H. H. N. Bielefeldt continues this theme in his work "Freedom of Religion or Belief: a Test case", considering the issue of freedom of religion and belief as a kind of test, a test of the universality of human rights. He notes that restrictions on human rights often stem from religious communities themselves, not only from Muslim ones, but also from national ideologies (for example, in China), and from radical secularists who exclude religion from the public sphere.

M. Rohe, in his article "Religion in Schools from a Legal Point of View," considers the following issues:-

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Roche also highlights the issue of religious education in Germany, where religion is widely represented in the public space and where controversial issues are constantly raised regarding both Christian fundamentalism and Islamic traditions (wearing hijabs in schools, separate swimming lessons for boys and girls, etc.). peaceful resolution of conflict situations can serve as a good example for the legal systems of Europe and the whole world.

G. Negele, in his article "The struggle for Religious Freedom at the UN: The Baha'i Contribution", largely illustrating Pilner's theory, describes the example of the Baha'i religious community, which, despite pressure against it, promotes human rights, since ideas about human dignity are key to its religious beliefs. The monograph is followed by two articles on Muslim countries: Y. Hassan Bajwa in his work" Religious Freedom and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community: A Study of the Persecuted Community "describes the situation in Pakistan, where the rights of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community are violated, and S. Edalatnejad in his article "Development of human rights and Muslim communities". society " offers an example of constructive interaction between Islam and human rights, speaking about the flexibility of the Islamic legal tradition, especially in matters of religious freedom. This flexibility, in his opinion, should lead to peaceful coexistence not only of various trends within Islam, but also of other religions in Islamic countries.

A. Nehring, in his work "Human Rights in the context of Buddhism", emphasizes the importance of ideas about human dignity for both Buddhism and human rights education. He cites the activities of the Dalai Lama and the "socially and politically engaged Buddhism" movement as examples of social responsibility in Buddhism. In addition, Nehring notes that the Buddhist concept of universal interconnectedness and codependency also underlies the concept of human rights.

The third part of the monograph is devoted, first of all, to the issues of peda-

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gogiki, opens with the work of W. A. J. Meijer "The relationship between human rights in education and human rights education". She notes that UN documents related to education are focused more on the discourse about third world countries and globalization than on issues of pedagogy. Thus, instead of focusing on children's needs, education becomes part of the political agenda, and children themselves are held hostage to adult conflicts. As a result, Meyer comes to the conclusion that it is necessary to distinguish the discourse on human rights from a political and pedagogical point of view.

A. Scherb, in his article "Human rights education from the perspective of pragmatic policy didactics", is based on the concept of J. R. R. Tolkien. Dewey is not talking about democracy as a form of government, but rather as a form of life. In this regard, education in the field of democracy always turns out to be education in the field of human rights. F. Schweitzer (F. Schweitzer) in the work " The human right to religion. Religious education as a human right? " proves that the right of a child to religious education is an integral part of human rights and stems from article 26 of the Declaration of Human Rights, which proclaims the right of parents to choose the education for their children. It also highlights the need for further research on children's religious rights in a multi-religious world and recalls the importance of interfaith education.

H.-G. Ziebertz (H.-G.Ziebertz's "Attitudes to the Human Rights of Christian and Muslim Youth: Empirical Findings" presents the results of a study conducted in 12 countries to examine how ten-to eleven-year-olds of Christians and Muslims view human rights. The data obtained refute many stereotypes about Islam, as there is an even greater consensus among Islamic youth on the importance of many fundamental human rights (children's rights, women's rights, freedom of speech, assembly, demonstrations, protection from torture, separation between state and religion). Unfortunately, the article does not list the countries in which the study was conducted. This raises the suspicion that

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these could be exclusively Western European countries, which deprives the experiment of purity.

The next two articles are devoted to confessional Christian education. T. Schlag, in his work "Human Rights Education and Religious Education: A Protestant Perspective", describes the place of human rights in Protestant education in Germany, proving that it is based on the central Christian idea of the value of human dignity, and B. Grumme In the article "Human rights education and Religious education: a Catholic perspective," he offers similar arguments about the importance of human rights for Catholic education, emphasizing that they are based on Christian ideas about the "rights of the Other".

Reinhold Boschkis, in his work "Human rights education in the context of a "culture of memory"," considering that modern ideas about human rights were formed as a result of the memory of the terrible events of the XX century, formulates the concept of "culture of memory". From his point of view, the potential of religious education can be aimed at combating indifference and fostering solidarity and empathy. This theme is continued by Z. Gross, who concludes the third part of the monograph with the work "Human Rights Education from a Jewish Perspective: Principles and Methods". She emphasizes that Jewish spirituality and religious pedagogy can make a significant contribution to the overall culture of memory. She considers the religious and didactic meaning of the book of Exodus, embodied in the Seder meal, as one of the means of expanding and explaining the concept of human rights.

The fourth and final section of the book, "Human Rights Education and Religious Education: International Perspectives", opens with the work of H. Simojoki " Clash of Contexts? Human rights and international learning in a globalized world". The author examines how religious education can contribute to the formation of ideas about human rights. He emphasizes the importance of the "new contextuality" - the existence of religion in the new globalism.-

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in a modern world where mass media mostly reinforce the stereotypes of "clash of civilizations", thereby defining the scenario of dialogue between different religions and cultures. In his opinion, to solve this problem, a didactic approach is needed that would use local potential for dialogue, and not just exclude controversial topics. To achieve this goal, Christian and Islamic religious education must learn how to interact with each other. In addition, he notes that it is necessary to be critical of the way religion is presented in the mass media, to clearly distinguish between the religious and political components of the discourse on human rights, and, finally, to develop sensitivity to the diversity of contexts in which the identity of modern young people is formed, whose socialization no longer proceeds according to traditional religious models.

B. Grelle shares his experience in the field of human rights and religious education in the United States in his work "The First Amendment and the Three Principles of Religious Freedom: a North American Approach to Religious education and human rights". He emphasizes that the conversation about religion in public American schools is based on the First Amendment to the Constitution and three fundamental principles: right, responsibility, and respect. Understanding both the strengths and weaknesses of this approach, Grelle argues that it promotes respect for human rights and provides academically high-quality education in the field of religion, while at the same time not going beyond the framework of the US Constitution. E. Owens (E. Owens) in the article "Religious freedom and civic education in the United States". American Public Schools " develops the same topic in a legal way. He points out that the U.S. public must now more than ever be prepared to defend the religious freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment, and that the exercise of this civic duty, as well as peaceful coexistence in such a pluralistic society as the American one, will require people to learn much more about religions than is currently available to them from the curriculum of American schools.

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Author of the article "European institutions, human rights and interreligious education" P. Schreiner Notes that European institutions, which have long been concerned with the protection of human rights, have only recently and far from fully begun to pay attention to religious education. However, there is a growing awareness of the importance of interfaith education in promoting an understanding of human rights and a culture of respect for them.

F. Barnes (Ph. Barnes) in his work "Human rights, religious education and the challenge of diversity: the British view" argues that the dominant phenomenological approach in British education to date, with its "insignificant desire" to promote religious tolerance, is no longer sufficient. This position is controversial, since it is the phenomenological approach that demonstrates the closeness of different religions, revealing not contradictions between them, but common ideas and ideas. N. Richardson (N. Richardson) in his work "Issues and dilemmas in religious education and human rights: prospects for applying the "Golden Guidelines" to a divided society " describes The Northern Ireland experience. There, most schools still provide separate religious education, which, in his opinion, only contributes to further religious separation. Meanwhile, the OSCE's Toledo Guidelines on the Teaching of Religions and Beliefs in Public Schools put forward a fundamentally different, inclusive approach, emphasizing the role of religious education in overcoming prejudice.Roux), in his work" Interlocutors, Human rights education and Interreligious Dialogue: A South African Perspective", describes an empirical study of South African youth, the generation" born free " (i.e. after 1994), which revealed a growing understanding of cultural differences and the need for different cultural groups to be represented in a multicultural space. In this regard, religious education faces new challenges, but at the same time, it also receives new opportunities.

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J. J. Lahnemann, in his article "The contribution of interfaith initiatives to human rights education", shows that work and education in the field of human rights represent a fundamental task in the coexistence of different religions. He claims that concrete results in promoting tolerance, ideas of equality and respect for human dignity were achieved on the basis of the adoption of human rights values, in which not the least role was played by the activities of various religious organizations and communities.

In the final part of "Foundations and Conceptual Perspectives", M. Pirner returns to the concepts of Habermas and Rawls, suggesting on their basis that religious education can promote a general culture of human rights in three ways: supporting young people in their right to freedom of religion, transmitting the ethical foundations for a culture of human rights, and putting human rights issues on the agenda. dignity and human rights.

It is obvious that the authors of the monograph were able to present a new perspective for understanding the importance of education in the field of religion. Both religious education and human rights are interpreted by them in philosophical, theological, legal and pedagogical aspects. The authors aim to demonstrate how seriously religious and interreligious education should be considered as a favorable factor for the recognition of human rights, promoting tolerance, intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding. It is difficult to disagree with this, but the reader has a number of legitimate questions.

First, the monograph mainly deals with Christianity and Islam, while much less attention is paid to other religions and the lack of religiosity. Secondly, when reading the book, one sometimes gets the feeling that, while recognizing the importance of human rights in general, the authors often highlight the right to freedom of religion and religious education, avoiding more complex topics in the context of discourse on religious education that can cause significant contradictions in society. For example, nothing is said about the right of a child to receive a quality education, which is guaranteed by the Law.,

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It seems that it is not always provided by the curricula of religious schools, where the teaching of scientific and natural disciplines may be limited. Finally, one of the main points of the book - namely, that ideas about the value of human dignity for various religions are central and thus offer a strong foundation for recognizing human rights and the rights of Others-seems somewhat unrealistic. However, this is also recognized by the authors themselves, who note the exclusivist nature of religion and express the hope that such a contradiction can be overcome in the future, as was achieved by Catholics and Protestants in Germany.

Undoubtedly, modern secular values were largely formed on the basis of religious ethics, and the struggle for freedom and equality was often conducted in the vein of the struggle for the right to free religion, thanks to which many civil rights were achieved, but the contribution of secular disciplines to this process, for example, philosophy and science, should not be underestimated. We know many examples of peaceful coexistence of different cultures and religions, and yet the number of religious conflicts we know is even greater. It seems obvious that high-quality education in the field of religion is indeed capable of preventing such conflicts. As early as the 1950s, G. Allport demonstrated 1 (and many other studies in the field of psychology later supported his conclusions)2 that religious and cultural intolerance is based primarily on ignorance, on numerous stereotypes and myths that could be debunked by high-quality religious education, thus making a significant contribution to the universal recognition of human rights and intercultural and interreligious dialogue. On the other hand, this is not possible without the presence of an open, unbiased and non-exclusivist position of various religious organizations and figures in relation to other religions.

1. Allport, G.W. (1954) The Nature of Prejudice. MA: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co.

2. Dovidio, J. F., Click, P., Rudman, L.A. (eds) (2005) On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years after Allport. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

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