RE Unit 4 - Religion and Community Cohesion

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How and why attitudes towards men and women have c

  • Women can keep their property seperate from their husbands = Married Women's Property Act.
  • Women can vote in elections and become MP's = 1928 Electoral Reform Act.
  • Recieve equal pay as men for the same work = Equal Pay Act 1970.
  • Women can not be discriminated for being women = 1975 Sex Discrimination Act.
  • The work of the Suffragettes showed the power of women.
  • The UN declaration of Human Rights
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Christian Attitudes to equal rights

Catholic = men and women should have equal rights

  • God created men & women at the same time (Genesis creation story)
  • Catechism teaches men and women are equal
  • Only men can be priests as apostles were men and Jesus was a man.

Modern Protestant = agree with equal rights

  • Genesis creation story = men and women created at the same time
  • St Paul teaches that men and women are equal in Christ
  • Evidence that Jesus treated women as his equals
  • Evidence that there were women priests in the early church

Traditional Protestant attitude = men and women are seperate and different

  • Taught in the New Testament of the Bible
  • St Paul teaches women should not speak or teach in church
  • Adam and Eve shows men were given more rights as Adam was created first
  • Jesus only chose men to be his 12 apostles
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Multi Ethnic Society

Problems:

  • Prejudiced employers = not give jobs to certain ethnicities = certain groups will feel they are treated unfairly = more likely to turn to crime if they cant get a well paid job.
  • Prejudiced landlords = refuse accomodation = more likely to start working against society (terrorism)
  • Prejudiced teachers = these pupil may not achieve the results they should = feel they have no chance of success and turn to hate.
  • Prejudiced police officers = stop and search = can lead to groups stirring up hatred and violence like the BNP.

Benefits

  • Different ethnic groups and nationalitites get to know eachother and intermarry.
  • Life more interesting = more variety of food, music, fashion & entertainment.
  • MNC's and economic interdependence = people live and work together.
  • More progress will be made as people bring new ideas and skills.
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Community Cohesion

Why community cohesion is important:

  • Without it, different groups in society would have a different idea on what society should be like which can lead to violence.
  • Countries without community cohesion violence becomes a way of life.
  • Lack of it makes it impossible for people to cooperate in the way modern civilised living needs.

How the gov. promotes community cohesion:

  • Making community cohesion part of the National Curriculum.
  • Appointing cabinet ministers/judges from ethnic minorities.
  • Passing the Race Relations Act = illegal to discriminate
  • Passing the Crime & Disorder Act = more severe crimes for racial/religious hatred
  • Passing the Racial & Religious Hatred Act
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Christians & promoting Racial Harmony

They should promote racial harmony:

  • Parable of the Good Samaritan = Jesus showed races who hated eachother should love eachother like neighbours
  • God had no favourite among races
  • St Paul taught that all races are equal in Christ
  • The Christian Church has member from every race
  • Jesus treated people of different races equally

Some believe Christianity isnt the best way to bring about racial harmony:

  • Not everyone is religious
  • Some Christian groups work against racial harmony
  • Politics is a better way of bringing about racial harmony
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Christian Church help assylum seekers and immigra

How:

  • Help provide refugees with basic necessities of life
  • Provide services in other languages so immigrants can maintain their faith
  • Set up legal advice clinics - lawyers with language skills help immigrants with legal issues about settling in the UK.
  • C of E campaigns for the justice of refugees through Church Action on Poverty

Why:

  • The Bible teaches that God is a God of justice
  • The Church teaches that nobody should be oppressed & Christians should seek justice for the oppressed.
  • The Parable of the Sheep and the Goat = teaching of Jesus
  • Jesus himself was a refugee & aslum seekerThe
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Multi Faith society

  • Learn about other religions - help to see what religions have in common
  • People may practise their religion more seriously
  • People are more likely to be repsectful and understanding of other religions
  • Religious freedom & understanding will exist in a multifaith society - may help to stop religious conflicts.
  • Issues raised in a multifaith society:
  • Conversion = Treating people different because of their religion is discrimination, Its impossible to say all other religions are wrong unless you have studied them, Trying to convert others can lead to violence or even violence,
  • Bringing up children
  • Interfaith marraiges = Both must be of the same religion to have a religious ceremony, question of which religion the children are bought up in, problem of what will happen to the couple after death, which religious ceremony to chose. It is a human right to be able to marry who you want, interfaith marriages encourage community cohesion, children will have religious freedom.
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Christian attitudes towards other religions

Catholics 

  • believe that people can come to God through different religions, but only Christianity has the full truth.
  • Believe that other religions should be respected but they have a duty to evangelise.
  • Bible teaches that Christianity has the full truth & salvation comes through believeing in Jesus. 

Evangelical Protestants

  • believe Christianity is the only way to come to God and so they should try to convert everybody to Christianity
  • Jesus said Christains have to convert all the nations

Liberal Protestants

  • believe that all religions are equal & there are different ways of finding God
  • They believe God is like a force of gravity whoch can be discovered in many ways.
  • They believe there is room for other religions in heaven as Jesus said there are many rooms in heaven.
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Ways religions promote community cohesion

  • Many Protestant Churches &  Jewish synagogues have special wedding services for mixed faith couples
  • Websites available to offer help & advice to couples
  • National groups which promote good relations between interfaith marriages
  • Individual places of worship work together
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