Matters of life and death

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Why Catholics believe in life after death and how

Catholics believe in life after death because:

  • Jesus rose from the dead, it is recorded in the Gospels and proves their is life after death
  • St paul teaches that people will have a resurrection like Jesus
  • The teaching of the Church says that Jesus rose from the dead and there will be life after death
  • It gives many catholics meaning and purpose

The belief of life after death can affect the lives catholics in the following ways:

  • They belive oinly if you have lived a good life they will be allowed into heaven. Good life and follow teachings of the church
  • Try to live a life of love- Love God and love your neighbour
  • To show love to God go to mass every Sunday
  • Parable of te sheep and goats teaches they will be judged on how they have looked after the less fornuate. Catholics work for charites such as CAFOD and SVP
  • Work hard to avoid sin in their lives
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Non religois reasons for believing in life after d

Three main points that provide non religous resons for believing in life after death. They are called the paranormal:

  • Near Death experiences:Somone is clinically dead for some time and then comes back to life and can often remember what hapend. Described as peace and floating above the body, seeing a bright light.
  • Evidence for a spirt world: Ghosts and medians. Medians claim to be able to communicate with the spirt world where the dead live. People claim to have seen ghosts
  • Evidence of reincarnation: Hindus, Sikhs and Budhists all belive in reincarnation and collected evidence. Once you die your soul is reborn in another being.

Against non religous reasons for life after death:

  • Near death have been challenged by many scientists, claim it is the brain's procust of shutting down.
  • Medians are very suspect and many have been proved fakes
  • Science shows that the mind cannot live without the brain, when the body dies the mind must die too, so live cannot go on.
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Why some people do not belive in life after death

Some people do not belive in God and that this life is the all there is.They believe this because:

  • If there is no God, there is no spirt world for life and death to happen
  • The differnet religions condtradict each other on life after death, if life after death was true they would all say the same thing
  • Evidence is based on holy books but they condradict each other, no way of deciding which are true or false
  • Evidnece of paranormal has been challenged by scinetists
  • Science shows mind cannot surrive without the brain. When the body dies so must the mind
  • No place where life after death could take place. Space journeys shown no heave above the sky
  • Brought up atheists will not believe in life after death.
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The nature of abortion

Law says abortion is only allowed if:

  • Two doctors agree
  • The mothers life is at risk
  • The mothers physical or mental health is at risk
  • The child is very likely to be born severly handicapped
  • There would be a serious effect on the other children in the family

Abortions cannot be carried out after 24 weeks of pragnancy, unless the mother's life is at risk or the fetus has sever handicaps.

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Abortion is a controverial issue

Abortion is a contorvertial issue becuase:

  • Many believe life begins at conception- abortion is taking away a human life.
  • Whereas some people believe that life only begins when the foetus is outside the womb- not taking a life
  • Non religous beleive a woman should have the right to do what she wants with her own body
  • Wheras others believe that the unborn childs life is greater than the mothers

Some people argue that the time limit should be reduced to 18 or 20 weeks because of medical advances.

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Different christinan attitudes to abortion

Christians have two differnt attitudes to abortion

The Catholic church teaches that all abortion is wrong whatever the circumstances:

  • Life belngs to God, so only God has the right to end a pregnancy
  • Life begins at conception so abortion is taking life and this is banned in the commnadments
  • They should follow the Catechism that all abortion is murder
  • Councilling and abortion are alternatives as a  result of ****. are encouraged for something good to come out of evil in the new form of a new life.

Other christians disagree with abortion but think it must be allowed in certain situations:

  • Life does not begin at concetion
  • Jesus' command to love means itis the duty of christians to remove suffering, which is what abortio does
  • The sacncity of life can be broken in sch things as a just war, so why not abortion (when the mothers life is at risk
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The nature of euthanasia

Euthanaisa is providing a gentle and easy death to someone suffeirng a painful deadly disease and has little quality of life. It can be done by assisted suicide, voluntry euthanaisa or non-voluntry euthanasia. British law does not allow any of these and says they are murder. however the law no agrees that stopping artifical feeding or not giving treatment are lawful (passive ethanasia).

Many people are against euathanasia:

  • Doubt as to wheather it is what the person really wants
  • Cure might be found for the disease in the future
  • Job of doctors to save lives not end them
  • People may change their mind and it might be too late.
  • Might want it because they feel they are being a burden.

Many people are in favour of ethanasia:

  • Discoveries in medicine, people who should of died are kept alive, shoudn't live in agony
  • Doctors have a right to switch of life support if no chance of recovering
  • Right to comit suicide, ask doctor if too weak to do it themselves
  • Peoples own bodies and so they should decide
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Chritian attitudes to euthanasia

All christians believe euthasia is wrong. Three slightly differnt attitudes.

Catholics belive all euthanasia is wrong:

  • Belive in the sancity of life. Life is holy and only God can take away life.
  • Euthasia is murder which is againast the ten commandments
  • So
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