8.1 Religion: Rights And Responsibilities Flashcards
(40 cards)
How do people make moral decisions?
People sometimes may need advice when making moral decisions so they turn to friends and family for guidance while a Christian may turn to the bible and read through the advice and rules in there to help them make the right choice.
Explain why some Christians use only the bible to make moral decisions
- They believe that they bible is the word of God. This means that the bible is God’s guidance to humans so it has authority in Christian decision making
- The bible contains the teachings of Jesus on how to live. Christians believe he is the son of God and that they should follow his example.
- Jesus said “I am the way of truth and life”
- The bible contains the 10 commandments/Decalogue which gives Christians clear moral guidance
- Jesus’ 2 commandments
- Jesus/teacher
Why would people struggle when making a moral decision?
Mostly people have to make a choice between what they want and what they feel they should do.
Why do some Christians believe they should follow their conscience when making a moral decision?
- Christians believe that God speaks to Christians. Their conscience is like a voice in people’s heads telling them what they should or should not do. The voice of conscience seems to be the same as the voice of God, therefore Christians should follow it.
- The church says that Christians should follow their conscience as if it was the voice of God and Christians are expected to follow the teachings of the Church.
- St Paul and St Thomas Aquinas taught that Christians should use their conscience as the final part of moral- decision making. Some Christians believe that if such great Christian thinkers say Christians should follow their conscience then they should follow their conscience.
- The teachings of the bible and the church do not come directly from God. The bible has been translated and often needs to be interpreted. The teachings of the Church come through the pope, bishops, ministers, conferences, etc. However conscience is God speaking through to individuals and so should be followed.
Why some Christians think they should not always follow their conscience?
- People have been wrong about the voice of God e.g. Yorkshire Ripper claimed that God told him to kill prostitutes. If you can be mistaken about the voice of God then you can definitely be mistaken about the voice of conscience.
- If Christians follow the teachings of the church, the they would know other Christians will think that what they are doing is right.
- If Christians follow the teachings of the bible they are doing what all Christians believe is the right thing to do.
- If everyone followed their conscience rather than laws, life would become chaotic and no one would know what sort of behaviour to expect from each other- society need to agreements on what is right and wrong to work properly.
What did Jesus reply when he was asked “what is the greatest commandment?” ?
He replied “To love your neighbour as yourself”. This means that is a situation you should do the most loving thing for everyone who is in need. Some Christians place this commandment over the 10 commandments, therefore their decision in a certain situation may go against the church/bible teaching.
What is the one rule of situation ethics?
The rule of agape- unconditional love. This love is not merely an emotion but involves doing what is best for the other person, unconditionally.
Why would some Christians place situation ethics above the bible or the church?
The 1.1 bible or the 1.2 church focus their moral guidance on the action, which means that regardless of the outcome or intention, certain actions are always considered to be wrong e.g. abortion. Where as with 1.4 situation ethics, it is the consequence of your actions which is the focus. This means that an action is not always morally wrong, it depends on what the outcome of the decision is.
protestant usually use the authority of the Bible because…
It is straight forward to use the teaching such as the 10 commandments when deciding on issues such as stealing. However when it comes to modern issues such as contraception it is difficult to use the bible only. The bible says nothing about contraception, so they would have to look elsewhere for guidance such as the teachings of the church or their conscience.
A catholic would normally follow the authority of the church, as the Magisterium applies the teachings of the bible and the apostles to modern life. However…
Although the has artificial contraception, a catholic may well supply situation ethics to the issue of supplying condoms to African states with a high rate of AIDS
A Christian who usually follow their conscience might turn to the authority of the church or the bible if what their conscience tells them goes against what they knew was accepted as Christian teaching. A good example would be…
If a Christian heard the voice of God telling them to kill all the doctors who preform abortion. The Bible and the Church says that it is wrong to murder for whatever reason- so they would use the authority of the bible or the church to reject the voice of their conscience because, although they might feel the purpose of stopping abortion may be a good one, that does not justify killing people to achieve it.
Christians who usually use situation ethics…
might decide that the issue was so complicated and the effects of the choice so uncertain that the safest thing would be to follow either the authority of the church or the authority of the bible because they are more likely to gibe the right choices than an individual trying to work it all out for themselves.
My human rights are..
- We should all be treated the same
- Nobody has the right to send us away from our country
- we all have the right to do what we want
- the right to an education
- male/female equality
- no one should be held to slavery
- right to not be discriminated against
- right to a fair trial
- to have our own thoughts and ideas
- to have the right to belong to a country
- we are all born free
When was the human right written?
1948
Do all countries accept the human rights?
No
What do human right do for us?
Human rights protect the innocent or the vulnerable from exploitation.
Why are human rights important?
Human rights are important because with them everyone can live in peace and have justice and equality. Without them children as young as five are forced to work in mines and shops and even slavery. A lot of people are executed in China because they don’t have a lot of human rights and for reasons such as tax avoidance which in the UK you are barely even sent to prison for it.
Some Christians believe that human rights are important because…
- The rights to life is a basic Christian belief because of the belief in sanctity of life- life is holy and belongs to God and should only be taken away by God
- Christians believe that all people are made in the image of God and so are one Human family. The equality and dignity of the human life is shown in the teachings of Jesus and the Church. Also the teachings such as the parable of the sheep and Goats encourage Christians to treat everyone as they were Jesus. Therefore it is important to Christians that everyone is treated fairly and equally and so they have the right to: not be tortured, freedom from slavery and forced labour, liberty, a fair trial, not to be punished for something that was not a crime when they did it, own property, an education and to participate in free elections.
- Freedom of thoughts conscience and religion, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association are an essential part of being Christian. Christians must have the legal right to have processions (legally the same as demonstration) to celebrate festivals such as Easter and Pentecost.
- The right to not be discriminated against in respect of these rights and freedoms is another essential human right for Christians because it ensures that Christians will not be disadvantaged compared to others. Employers can’t discriminate against Christians over jobs and pay. E.g.g employers cannot refuse to employ Christians because they themselves are non-religious and don’t want religious people in workplace.
- Human rights are also important to Christians because Christians believe in justice and many human rights are a fundamental part of justice and a just society.
Although human rights are important top Christians, some Christians DO NOT approve of all the human rights because:
- Many Christians are against the right to from the civil partnerships because they believe that homosexuality is against God’s will as shown in the bible. They also believe that they have the right to discriminate against homosexuals by refusing to allow them the same sort of church blessing they give to divorced couples who have had a civil wedding.
- Some Christians are against the right to marry a person from a different faith. They believe that Christians should only marry Christians so that the children are bought up as Christians. They would also discriminate against inert-faith (e.g. Atheist and Christian) couples by refusing to allow them to marry in the church.
- Some Christians are against the right of homosexuals to raise a family. They believe that the children should be brought up by a mother and a father. Some churches have opposed the adoption laws which makes it illegal for adoption agencies to discriminate against homosexual couples when approved for adoption.
- There might also be a problem for the church if a catholic women who wanted to be a priest used human right laws against the catholic church, or if a catholic priest used the human right laws to defend the right to marry.
What is democracy?
Democracy is the way that all citizens can be involved in the running of a country. Elections are the way that democracy is carried out, as all citizens over the age of 18 can vote for who they want to run the country.
what is an electoral process?
Elections are when different political parties, like labour or the conservatives in the UK try to persuade the public that they should be in charge of the country and thus win votes. They will usually give speeches and hand out leaflets telling people their vision for the future of the country.
How does politics affect our daily lives?
Transport, laws, food, money, roads, buildings, education, employee rules are enforced, etc.
Why is it important to take part in electoral and democratic processes?
- The national government sets the rates of tax and collects the taxes (you pay income tax on your earnings and VAT on what you buy, the government usually sits the rates for these) so voting gives you some control over this
- Local councils set the level of the council which all residents have to pay accordantly to the value of their homes- so voting gives you some control over this
- The European parliament has some control over EU spending, which effects how much tax the UK government needs to collect so it is important to vote in the European Elections
- The national government is responsible for many important things (e.g. the police, prison service, immigration, armed forces, etc) and taking part in electoral and democratic processes gives you a say in how these are run.
Why are Christians motivated to vote?
Most Christians think that they should take part in elections, but how they take part should be determined by Christians teachings on moral duties and the responsibilities of Christian people. Many believe that it is the moral duty of Christians to bring about social change, so that society becomes truly Christians. This idea coupled with certain key passages from the Bible, can influence who Christians decide to vote for.
