RE Unit 8.1: Rights and Responsibilites

Christians and the Bible
1. Christians use the Bible to make moral decisions
  1. The DECALOGUE
    1. (10 commandments)
2. Christians believe the Bible is the word of God
  1. His direct teachings on how to live
  2. Suitable for guiding moral decisions
3. The Bible has authority from God about what Christians should believe and how they should live
  1. The Bible therefore should also guide important moral decisions
4. Some Christians believe only the Bible should be used to dictate what is right and wrong
  1. It is from God and so is the only thing that can be trusted
  2. Handed down for hundreds of generations
  3. God's truth does now change even if society does
    1. Counter argument as to whether the Bible is outdated or not
5. Some Christians have different views on the Bible's authority
  1. Some believe it is direct from God
    1. Doesn't need to be interpreted
  2. Some believe the Chruch needs to interpret it
  3. Some believe the Bible needs to be adapted for modern life
Christians and the authority of the Church
1. The Church guides Christians by:
  1. Talking to other Christians
  2. Praying and worshipping together
  3. Listening to the priest of vicar
  4. Accepting the authority of the Church to explain and teach God's word
2. Some Churches discuss in an assembly containing elected members of the Church. They decide on how members should respond.
3. Some Churches look to only the leaders of the Church to make decisions on moral issues
  1. Pope
4. Reasons Christians believe the church has authority:
  1. God speaks to Christians through the Church
  2. Only the Church fully understands the Bible and knows how to interpret and apply its teachings
  3. The Church is the body of Christ. Christians should follow the teachings of the Church as they are the teachings of Jesus.
  4. The Church provides rules so everyone knows what they should do
Christians and conscience
1. What is conscience?
  1. The inner feeling of what is right or wrong
  2. Christians believe it is God's voice within us
  3. It is the way both religious and non-religious people can judge their moral actions
  4. It make us feel guilty if we do things that are morally wrong
  5. Some Christians believe that conscience is the most important guide when making moral decisions
2. Some Christians believe they should consult the Bible when making decisions, or the Church, but ultimately following their conscience
3. Conscientious objectors are Christians who use their own conscience as their main guide when making moral decisions
  1. Objections to being deployed in war, believing God's telling them not to
Christians and Situation Ethics
1. Situations Ethics is the belief that Christians should make moral decisions based on what's the most loving thing to do in that situation
2. Love should be the only consideration in making moral decisions
3. A good action is one which aims to do the most loving thing
4. A person should only obey the rules of the Bible or teachings of the Church if it results in the most loving action
5. Why use Situation Ethics?
  1. It is similar to the Golden rule taught by Jesus
    1. "Do unto others what you would have them do to you"
      1. (Matthew 7:12)
  2. Jesus seemed to follow Situation Ethics
    1. He ignored the teachings of the Bible and acted in a most loving way
      1. When a woman was being accused of adultery (John 8:1-11)
6. Reasons FOR using Situation Ethics:
  1. Every situation should be judged individually
  2. As love is the main principle, it follows a genuine Christian action
  3. Love is an easy principle to apply in all situations
  4. Doing the most loving thing will appeal to people as a positive idea
7. Reasons AGAINST using Situation Ethics:
  1. It is impossible to predict what will happen in every example, which is what this requires
  2. In theory, anything a person felt was the 'most loving thing' could be justified including adultery and murder
  3. It is not so easy to apply Situation Ethics in everyday cases where we are used to having rules
Christians and the variety of moral authorities
1. Four types of moral authorities:
  1. Law and teachings of the Bible
  2. Teachings and guidance of the Church
  3. The conscience
  4. Principles of Situation Ethics
2. Why use a variety of moral authorities?
  1. Christians believe they must live life according to God
  2. Different Christians believe difference sources of authority contain advice and help on what God wants
  3. They may use one source of authority or refer to a combination
3. Some Christians believe the Bible is literally true and decide to use it as their main source of authority of moral decisions.
4. Other Christians may believe the Bible contains important truths but feel it shouldn't be followed exactly as written, and so they might decide to mainly use other authorities when making moral decisions
Human rights in the UK
1. All UK citizens are entitled to:
  1. Life
  2. Food
  3. Liberty of speech
  4. Racial, sexual and religious equality
  5. Education
  6. Health care
  7. Privacy
2. The Human Rights act, established in 1998, is a law which protects people from being treated unfairly, and if they feel their rights have been infringed they can appeal to the European Court of Human Rights
3. The Human Rights Act has faced criticism because it allows criminals to get away without suitable punishment
Why human rights are important to Christians
1. Human rights are important to Christians because:
  1. They believe every human being is created by God in his image and deserves respect
  2. They believe God loves everyone equally so all should be treated equally
  3. The teachings of the Bible, for example the Ten Commandments (The Decalogue) support most human rights laws
2. The Bible and human rights:
  1. The Parable of the Sheep and the Goat teaches that it is a Christian's moral duty to help people in need (Matthew 25:40)
  2. Jesus taught the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12) showing all humans are worthy of value and respect
  3. However, the UK is a multi-faith and multi-ethnic society, which is run in a secular and not religious way. So, some Christians believe that Christians values should not be imposed by the government.
The importance of democratic and electoral processes
1. Democracy is the political system used in the UK. It is important to take part in democratic and electoral processes because these give all citizens a say in who runs the country.
2. There are three main political parties:
  1. Labour
    1. The state should help the poor and provide hospitals and school for all
  2. Conservative
    1. The state should encourage people to look after themselves and only provide what people cannot pay for themselves
  3. Liberal democrat
    1. Green issues are important and the government and individuals need to work together to help everyone
3. Why is it important to take part?
  1. Voting allows citizen to have a say about how runs the country
  2. People elected through voting are responsible for making important decisions that affect everyone in the country
  3. Issues include taxes, benefits, rubbish collection, health treatment, schools and the armed forces.
  4. Change can only be brought about through the democratic process
4. How else can people take part?
  1. Write to meet MPs to discuss issues of concern
  2. Lobby - which means to influence government decisions. This could be writing letters or taking part in public demonstrations/petitions
  3. Become members of political parties which support their views
  4. Stand for election themselves
Christian teachings on moral duties and responsibilities
1. Christians believe that God gives them moral duties and responsibilities which they must carry out. Christianity stresses the importance of faith and good works.
2. Christian teachings of moral duties and responsibilities:
  1. The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats
    1. Jesus taught through this story that God will at the end separate his people into those who have helped others (The sheep) and those who have not (The goats). Christians have a duty to help those in need when they can (Matthew 25:31-46)
  2. Am I my brother's keeper? St Paul
    1. St Paul taught that Christians should not stand by while others suffer.
      1. He used the example of Cain and Abel to warn Christians that they have a moral duty to actively care for others.
        Cain killed his brother Abel then denied he had anything to do with it, saying it was not up to him to care for others.
  3. The Golden Rule
    1. The Golden Rule, followed by all Christians and taught by Jesus, states "...Do unto others what you would have them do to you..." meaning that Christians should treat others as they would wish to be treated (Matthew 7:12)
The nature of genetic engineering
1. Genetic engineering is the precess where characteristics of genes are changed artificially.
2. Genes can be added, replaced or taken away.
  1. Genes for genetic disorders can be removed or improved
3. The UK government has strict guidelines on genetically modified crops.
4. Cloning:
  1. Cloning is the exact copy of something.
  2. Reproductive cloning is a technology used to create an animal or plant with an identical genetic makeup to another
  3. Therapeutic cloning is the cloning of embryos to harvest stem cells.
5. What could you do with it?
  1. Genetic disorders may be cured
  2. Hormones and proteins can be produced, for example insulin for diabetics.
  3. Genes can be inserted to grow human parts on animals for organ transplants
  4. Inherited disorders like cystic fibrosis could be removed from embryos
  5. It could be used to grow crops that are resistant to pests and disease, or that grow in harsh climates or in infertile land.
6. Concerns:
  1. Nature is complex and we do not know the exact long-term effects of genetic engineering and cloning.
  2. These technologies could be dangerous in the wrong hands
  3. Who makes decisions over what is defective and what is not? There is currently no guidance about this.
  4. This could lead to 'designer babies' with people wanting certain characteristics for their children.
Christian attitudes to genetic engineering
1. A very controversial topic.
2. All Christians believe life is sacred (SANCTITY OF LIFE)
3. For:
  1. God gave humans dominion over the world. Christians believe that as long as it does not cause harm, some forms of genetic engineering, such as GM crops, would be acceptable.
  2. The Golden Rule; for some Christians this could mean genetic engineering to cure diseases and disorders is acceptable.
  3. Jesus healed people and Christians believe they should follow his example
  4. Some Christians believe that God has given us the gift of knowledge and we should utilise it
4. Against:
  1. Only God can create life and humans should not play God
  2. Life is sacred and special and created by God so humans should not be doing anything against this
  3. Some Christians, such as Catholics, believe life begins at contraception and since genetic engineering often involves killing embryos, it could be counted as murder.
  4. Most Christians would be against genetic engineering curing 'genetic defects' that don't cause suffering, such as being short sighted.
  5. Disrupting God's plan

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RE Unit 8.1: Rights and Responsibilites

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