Religion and Society - Rights and Responsibilities - Mindmap in GCSE Religious Studies

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Created on: 21-04-17 06:50

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RE - Rights Responsibility
- Christian Morals and Ethics
  - A persons idea of moral truth is what they believe to be right and wrong
  - Christians look for moral guidance from The bible, the church, their ow conscience and situation ethics
    - The Bible
      - The bible offers directions for living a moral life
      - Different groups of people interpret the bible in different ways
        Fundamentalism
        They believe the bible is the direct word from god, so it is wrong to question anything it says
        
        Many base their judgements wholly on the teaching of the bible.
        
        Conservative View
        Believe that the bible was inspired by god but not dictated.
        
        They believe readers must use their intelligence, their conscience and the guidance of the holy spirit to help them interpret the bibles moral teachings.
      - Positives about the bible
        They are easily available for christians and it is clearly set out in writing.
      - Negative about the bible
        The bible was written hundreds of years ago meaning the actions will be different to this day and age
        The bible is a large book and is not easy to understand, also a christian may not find an example of the same moral problem
      - The ten commandments state the ways to show respect to god, and other people
        You shall have no gods before me
        
        You shall not bow down before idols
        
        You shall not say the lords name in vain
        
        Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy
        
        You shall not murder
        
        You shall not lie
        
        You shall not commit adultery
        
        You shall not covet
        
        You shall not steal
    - Conscience
      - An inner feeling of what is right and what is wrong
      - Some christians believe that it is the voice of God and therefore always listen to it and trust what it is saying
      - Others say that your conscience is a result of your upbringing e.g. your parents opinions and therefore can be influenced by that.
      - The advantage about using your conscience
        Everybody has a conscience and there is a general agreement about what is right and wrong
      - The aim of ur charge is love that issues from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith
      - Holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made a shipwreck of their faith
      - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us, our sins and to cleanse us from our righteousness
    - The Church
      - Christians regard the Church as the body of christ alive in the world today, meaning the Church has the same authority as Jesus
      - The answers given from the Church is the same answer as Christ
      - A Priest will have spent several years training and studied the bible. Meaning they can help members of their community if they ask for advice on a moral problem
    - Situation Ethics
      - Situation ethics is a principle that when making a decision we should choose to do the most loving thing. It follows the golden rule
        What are the disadvantages of using this principle
        Someones opinion may be different to your own
        Using this principle usually aims to cause less harm possible
        Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offences. Proverbs 10:12
- Human Rights
  - In 1948 the United nations published the Universal declaration of human Rights
    - It states that all humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights
      - The rights of the wider community are put before the rights of one individual
      - Most rights in the Human rights act are limited, meaning someones rights can be restricted to prevent crime or protect the rights of others
    - At first they were not enforceable but just gave an example of what things ought to be like
      - In 1953 the rights became part of the European convention on human Rights and became enforceable by the European court of Human rights
        In 1998 these rights became part of the Uk domestic law under the Human rights act.
        This act protects the Human rights of UK citizens under UK law
- Democracy
  - The UK is a democratic society, the people select representatives to run the country
  - In a democratic society, people can speak out or take part in protests if they want something changed
    - Democratic process is any way in which citizens can take part in the running of a country
      - Democratic Processes invclude
        Voting
        
        Protesting
        
        Joining a political party
        
        Pressure group
        
        Strike
        
        Petitions
        
        Democracy can bring out a real social change, in the structure, the behaviour and attitudes of society
        
        Allow you to influence decisions that effect your life
        
        By getting involved you get a say in how the country is run
        In the UK everyone over the age of 18 has the right to vote (unless you are in prison)
        
        Why vote?
        Suffragettes campaigned and fought to win women the right to vote
        In those days there was no King in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes
        
        Men fought and died for a free country
        
        If you don't vote you have to right to complain
        
        you wont get a say in how the country is run
      - Religious people will always choose the most loving thing to do
      - Important t religious people as they have a say in how the country should be treated and their views are influenced by Gods teachings, therefore they will influence the vote to be more inline with God
- Christians Teaching on responsibility
  - The Golden Rule
    - So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets - Matthew 7:12
      - which means Christians should always think about others, not just themselves
        Love your neighbour as yourself
        Christians have the a responsibility to out this love into practise
        This can be shown by offering support, shelter, food or clothing to someone in need.
        
        At the end of a service most christians are reminded to "go out to love and serve the Lord"
        
        For God so loved the world
        Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none and anyone who has food should do the same
  - The parable of a good samaritan demonstrates how christians should act
    - It is a story who is stripped of clothing, beaten and let half dead alongside a road. A priest and a Levite pass him and do nothing. Finally a Samaritan, who was meant to be an enemy to the man helped him
    - The message of the good samaritan is to have compassion for your enemies and that it is possible for enemies to be good neighbours
      - Jesus says that helping any other person is just as good as helping him
    - The story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4:1-10 is the story of a brother, cain who commits three sins, when god asks him where his brother is he replies "am i my brothers keeper?"
      - John saying that its not enough to go around talking about love and charity and claiming to be Christian. A true Christians acts to help people who need it.
- Genetic Engineering
  - Manipulating genes e.g moving genes from one organism to another to make an organism with more useful feature
    - These technologies have the potential to solve many problems
      - For example, genetically modifying crop plants to increase nutrition value and yield could mean we can produce enough food for everyone
      - Animals can be engineered to produce medicines in their milk to treat diseases
  - Cloning = producing offspring that are genetically identical to the parent
    - It allows an organism with the right characteristics to be produced many times
    - However there are practical issues with biotechnology
      - Reduction in biodiversity if crops are genetically engineered
        Also the crops may not be safe to eat
      - Some people believe we don't have enough knowledge on genes to tamper with them and doing so could have unforeseen problems
      - Cloning produces problems like reducing the gene pool in a population meaning they are more susceptible to disease
        Also cloning animals is hard and problems cause the animals produced to have health problems and die young
      - There are also Moral issues with Biotechnologies
        Some believe it is wrong to change the characteristics of an organism just for human benefit
        
        Some people worry that the genetic engineering will stretch to changing the characteristics of children
        
        Some methods of genetic engineering involves destroying old embryos for stem cells, this goes against the sanctity of life
It is easy to consult
Peoples conscience may lead them astray
- What are the negatives about using your conscince
  - Some situations are too complicated for people to be sure if their conscience is correct
  - Getting outside help can open your eyes to a solution
The Church
- Christians regard the Church as the body of christ alive in the world today, meaning the Church has the same authority as Jesus
- The answers given from the Church is the same answer as Christ
- A Priest will have spent several years training and studied the bible. Meaning they can help members of their community if they ask for advice on a moral problem
There are two types of churches, one with a capital "C" means the community and one with a lower case 'c' means the building
What are the advantages of going to the Church for advice
- The Church has many centuries of experience and tradition, meaning their guidance will be inline with Christ's teachings
- Some Christians prefer to seek help form a professional clergy
What are the disadvantages of seeking help from the Church
- Some Christians do not have clear access to a clergy
- There is no flexibilty
- Some Christians may disagree with the Churches rulings
What are the advantages of using this principle
- It follows Jesus' teachings
  - It is a simple rule to apply and it takes into account all aspects of the situation.
    - The end justifies the means
    - We love because he first loved us
- Situation ethics is a principle that when making a decision we should choose to do the most loving thing. It follows the golden rule
  - What are the disadvantages of using this principle
    - Someones opinion may be different to your own
      - Using this principle usually aims to cause less harm possible
        Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offences. Proverbs 10:12
In 1948 the United nations published the Universal declaration of human Rights
- It states that all humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights
  - The rights of the wider community are put before the rights of one individual
  - Most rights in the Human rights act are limited, meaning someones rights can be restricted to prevent crime or protect the rights of others
- At first they were not enforceable but just gave an example of what things ought to be like
  - In 1953 the rights became part of the European convention on human Rights and became enforceable by the European court of Human rights
    - In 1998 these rights became part of the Uk domestic law under the Human rights act.
      - This act protects the Human rights of UK citizens under UK law
The government and charities protect peoples rights
- The government provides all UK citizens with free health care and free education up to the age of 18 and support to help find a home or job
  - Some charities like Amnesty international and Liberty challenge the decisions to limit peoples right
    - They say any limitations on freedom of speech are dangerous and they can restrict debate on important issues
- Charities like Bernardo's and Shelter are also there to help people stay alive and healthy if they fall through the gaps of the system
- The government will limit rights like freedom of expression and freedom from imprisonment for the good of the community
There are two electoral processes
- In the UK everyone over the age of 18 has the right to vote (unless you are in prison)
- First-past-the-post
  - The country is divided into voting areas called constituencies (for general elections) and wards (for local elections). The candidate with the most votes in each constituency or ward, will represent that area
- Proportional representation
  - This is only used in European elections, and int elections to northern Irish, Welsh and Scottish assemblies
  - each person votes for a political party, the number of representatives elected from that party is proportional to the total number of votes they got
Christian views on genetic engineering
- Believe that a clone who lives to adult hood wont have a soul
- Its playing God
- God created human life and we should not interfere
- We should try and make people perfect because only God is perfect
- God has already decided on every humans genetic makeup so we have no right to change it
- Some christans agree with it and say if god have given us these scientific ability we should use it
- Other accept it because it can heal people, which is what jesus did and taught
- So God created man in his own image, in the image of god he created him, male and female he created them
- He is God, it is he who made us and we are his, we are his people, and the sheep to his pasture

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