Teaching to the converted: Religious belief in the seminar room

It is not unknown for participants in discussions of ethics to prefix their claims with a profession of their religious faith - to say, for instance, "Well, I'm a Christian/Muslim/whatever, so I think that...". Other participants in the debate may well worry about how to respond without the risk of giving offence or appearing ad hominem. Within a teaching environment, the worry may be even more acute. Nevertheless, it is suggested in this paper that such worries should not be allowed to impede debate; moreover, a teacher who let such prefixes pass without critique would be considered a poor teacher. In fact, a kind of duty for a teacher of ethics is to be contrary and to play the apostate.