Rights and Responsibilities Religion and Society Paper Rights

Rights and Responsibilities Religion and Society Paper

Rights and Responsibilities - Keywords • • • • Bible – the holy book of Christians Decalogue – The Ten Commandments Church – the community of Christians church – Christian place of worship Conscience – an inner feeling of the rightness or wrongness of an action Situation Ethics – the idea that Christians should base moral decisions on what is the most loving thing to do Human Rights – the rights and freedoms to which everyone is entitled Democratic Processes – the ways in which all citizens can take part in government (usually through elections) Electoral Processes – the ways in which voting is organised Political Party – a group which tries to be elected into power on its policies (e. g. Labour, Conservative) Pressure Group – a group formed to influence government policy on a particular issue Golden Rule – the teaching from Jesus that you should treat others as you would like them to treat you Social Change – the way in which society has changed and is changing (and the possibilities for future change) Genetic Engineering – the deliberate modification of the characters of an organism by the manipulation of the genetic material

See this unit in 2 parts… • Part 1 – How Christians make moral decisions (arguments for and against each method) • Part 2 – Some miscellaneous material – human rights, democracy and genetic engineering/cloning

Using the Bible YES – use only the Bible • Believe it is the word of God – God’s guidance so has absolute authority • Contains God’s teachings on behaviour (e. g. Decalogue) • Contains Jesus’ teachings (e. g. Sermon on the Mount) • Records details of Jesus’ life – follow his example. NO (although all Christians would accept it has some authority) • Bible was written by humans and inspired by God • Attitudes reflect social situation at the time • Use Church to tell them what Bible means today • Use their own conscience

Reasons to use the Church • Bible needs explaining to be used in life today and only the Church can do this • The Church is the Body of Christ - same authority as Christ • God speaks to the world today through the Church • The Church is guided by God in making decisions on today’s moral issues • No confusion about what to do – can be sure they are doing the right thing • (Arguments against using the Church would be the arguments for using one of the other methods)

Using the Conscience YES • Believe the conscience is the voice of God telling them what they should/should not do • Church says Christians should follow their conscience • St Paul and St Thomas Aquinas – Christians should use their conscience as the final part of moral decision-making • Teachings of Bible and Church not directly from God, but conscience is God speaking directly to people. NO • People have been mistaken – Yorkshire Ripper claimed God told him to kill prostitutes. • If they follow the Bible instead – they are doing what all Christians agree is the Christian thing to do • If they follow the Church instead – they know other Christians will think what they do is right • Life would be chaotic –society needs agreement on right and wrong.

Situation Ethics • Joseph Fletcher • Rules can be broken if it is the most loving thing to do – “love thy neighbour”

Using Situation Ethics YES • Jesus sometimes over-ruled the Old Testament when it seemed more loving – e. g. healing a man on the Sabbath • Wrong to ignore consequences of actions - we should only do what produces good results • Jesus said the only laws are to love God and ‘Love thy neighbour as thyself’ • Christianity is a religion of love and forgiveness • “He without sin, cast the first stone” – Jesus (When a woman was being stoned for adultery) NO • God would not have given laws in Bible if they weren’t meant to be followed • Should follow agreement from Christians rather than own ideas • Church knows better than individuals • Can never know all of the circumstances

Human Rights • After the horrors of WWII the world was in agreement that such things should never be allowed to happen again • 1948 – many countries across the world signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) – a promise to respect human rights • 1950 – many European countries signed The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) – Enforceable by members of European countries in the European Court of Human Rights • 1998 – The UK signed the Human Rights Act – Enforceable by UK citizens in British Courts.

Examples of Human Rights • Right to education • Right to vote • Right to Marry (and civil partnerships) • Freedom from Torture • Right to Life • Freedom of Expression • Right to family life

Christian Views on Human Rights FOR (all Christians) • Sanctity of Life – life is special and should be treated as such • "So God created man in His own image. . " – God created us all equally • Parable of the Sheep and Goats – treat everyone as if they were Jesus – wouldn’t abuse Jesus’ human rights • ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus’ – we are all equal • ‘Love thy neighbour as thyself’ – the loving thing to do is respect human rights Why Human Rights can cause problems for Christians • Many Christians against civil partnerships and gay marriage • Some Christians against the right to marry someone from a different faith • Some Christians against the right of gay couples to raise a family • Catholic Church – no women priests

Democracy • Our Rights (over 18) • • • Vote for MPs, Local Councillors, MEPs Be a candidate Join/form a political party Join/form a pressure group Meet with MP, councillor or MEP • Why People Should Vote • Government sets the rate of taxes (e. g. income tax and VAT) – voting gives you control on how much you pay • Government can pass new laws which will affect your life • Government responsible for many services – e. g. police, NHS, schools – voting gives you a say on how they are run • Our ancestors have fought for our democratic rights so we should use them • Countries which do not have these rights often treat their citizens badly. If we don’t all use our right a small number may elect a government which took away our rights and treated us badly.

Christian Teachings and Democracy • Golden Rule – “Do to others what you would have them do to you” • Christians should look at policies of candidates and work out if the policies would affect people the way they would want to be affected • Parable of the Sheep and Goats – Jesus taught it was the duty of Christians to feed the hungry, clothe naked, visit the sick and help those in prison. • These teachings should affect how a Christian votes • Am I my brother’s keeper? – God created people to be their brother’s keeper (i. e. look after each other) • The duty to look after everyone should be Christian’s main principle in democracy

Genetic Engineering and Cloning • Genetic engineering – modifying malfunctioning cells – to cure genetic illnesses • Stem cell research – uses cloning processes to grow healthy cells to replace malfunctioning ones and cure disease • Uses cells from embryos left over from IVF or from adult bone marrow/blood

Christian Views on Genetic Engineering and Cloning YES – But not using embryos YES • Mainly Liberal Protestants • Jesus = healer • Stewardship – have a duty to make the earth a better place • Creating cells and creating people is different – creating people by science is wrong (taking over God’s role), creating cells is working with God • Embryos - not potential human life until they are 14 days old • “When you enter a town…heal the sick who are there…” • • Mainly Catholics • Same 1 st 3 reasons as above for agreeing with genetic engineering • Disagree with use of embryos because: NO to all • Life begins at conception • Killing an embryo is killing human life (Decalogue, Sanctity of Life) • Embryos are produced by IVF – something which Catholic Church disagrees with “Made in the image of God” Sanctity of Life Wrong to try and make the earth perfect – only heaven is perfect.