RE Environmental & Medical Issues

Causes:

• Greenhouse effect - human activity of causing carbon dioxide, trapping heat.
• Natural Climate Change - global warming is a natural process & the earth has always been getting warmer, and nature produces more carbon dioxide than humans.
• Solar activity - temp change is caused by radiation from the sun. High solar activity = less clouds = more sun comes through = heats up the earth.

Possible Solutions:

• Use alternative sources of electricity - wind, solar, wave .....
• Manufactre cars that ue ethanol, biodiesel, hydrogen and electric batteries.However, these need crops which can cause starvation.
• Increase use of public transport
• Improve efficiency of cars and electrical goods

Acid Rain = burning of fossil fuels going into the atmosphere & changing the pH balance of rain. Stop using fossil fuels in power stations & create electricty from renewable sources.

Human Waste = waste produced by humans in the form of sewage, refuge and litter. Use a combination of recycling, not dropping litter, using sewage to produce methane to provide fuel for power stations, reduce human waste. Drawbacks: resusing glass bottles uses more energy, litter can only be reduced by people chosing not to drop litter.

Eutrophication = lack of oxygen in rivers, killing fish, casued by fertilisers, sewage polution, lack of trees to soak up nitrogen. Improve sewage treatments, use less phosphates in detergents, less nitrates in farming fertilisers.

Radioactive Pollution = Nuclear power stations produce nuclear waste. Reprocess any nuclear waste that can be processed (97%). The other 3% can be stored.

Arguments against possible solutions:

• Any action is only likely to limit the rise rather than stop it, Recycling is not working, Nuclear waste is going to be a problem for 1000s of years as it does not decay.

• Christians were given the right ti rule over the Earth but only as stewards.
• Must treat animals and land kindly.
• Have a responsibility to leave the Earth a better place than they found it.
• Will be judged on whether they have been good stewards of God's Earth.

How beliefs effect behaviour:

• Christians should try to reduce pollution & reserve resources .
• Show stewardship by working to share Earth's resources more fairly.
• Belief in judgement day
• Christians should judge what they do by the standards of Christian stewardship.

Agree:

• One purpose of Christian marriage is to have children
• The baby will be the biological offspring of parents
• The discarded embryos are not feotuses so a life is not being taken.

Disagree:

• Life is given by God, no-one has the right to children.
• God intended procreation as part of sex
• IVF involves fertilising several eggs, some of which are thrown away - believes is the same as abortion.
• Encourage to adopt

Agree:

• The egg and sperm are from the husband and wife
• All Muslims should have a family
• The unused embryos are not foetuses so life is not being taken

Disagree:

• They deny a childs right to know its natural parents
• Egg or sperm donation is like adultery
• They are the same as adoption, which is banned in Islam

Agree:

• Donating organs is a way of 'loving your neighbour'
• God will not need the organs to raise the body - resurrection
• Leaving your organs is treating others as you would like to be treated
• Immortality of the soul = the body is not needed after death

Disagree:

• Believe it ignores the sancity of life
• Believe it is playing God = a great sin
• Paying for an organ is exploiting the poor which is banned in the Bible
• Organs from dead = organs such as heart are essential part of the body, created by God.

Most Muslims disagree:

• The Shari'ah teaches nothing should be removed from the body after death.
• It is playing Allah, which is the greatest sin.
• The Quar'an teaches only Allah has the right to give and take life.
• They believe they need al rgans for resurrection on the last day.

Some Muslims agree from close family:

• Islam claims to do good and help people
• The Muslim Law Council says that Muslims can carry a donor card and have transplants
• Some Muslim lawyers have said it is allowed