RE - SHORT COURSE

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  • Created by: shekinah
  • Created on: 11-04-13 09:14

Keywords- Section 1

Agnosticism- not being sure if god exists

Conversion- when you change your life by giving yourself to god

Free will- the idea that humans are free to make their own choices

Miracle- something that seems to break the laws of science and the only explanation is that gog could have done it

Moral evil- actions done by humans that cause suffering 

Natural evil- things that cause suffering, but have nothing to do with humans

Numinous- the feeling of the prescence of something greater than you

Omni-benevolent- the belief that god is all good 

Omnipotent- the belief that god is all powerful

Omniscient- the belief that god knows everything that has happened and everything that will happen

Prayer- an attempt to contact god, usaually through words

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Religious Upbringing

Having a religious upbringing is likely to lead to belief in god because children are taught god exists and spend most of their time with people, who believe that god exists.

Main features of a Christian upbringing:

  • babies will be baptised, parents promise to bring up children believing in god
  • parents will teach their children to believe and pray to god
  • the children will be taken to worship god in church and may got to a church school

How a religious upbringing may lead to belief in god:

  • Their parents will have told them god exists and they will believe their parents
  • Seeing everyone worship god at church, makes them believe in god 

 For upbringing: It helps to keep families together, gives children an understanding what's right and wrong and gives them a sense of belonging (emotional stability)

Against upbringing: The children haven't chosen this religion, takes away the human right of religious freedom and can continue religious prejudices, which are harmful to society. 

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Religious Experience

Religious experience is when people feel god's presence and they make people feel that god is real and so they believe god must exist. This is due to experiences with god:

  • The numinous- a feeling of the presence of god. When people are in a religious building or a beautiful place, they may be filled with awareness that there is something greater than them, which feels to be god. Thus a belief in god.
  • Conversion- an experience of god, so great people want to change their lives to commit themselves to god, as they feel that god is calling them to do it.
  • Miracle- an event that breaks the laws of science and can only be explained by god and so a belief in god will start as its the only explanation
  • Prayers- religious believers think they can contact god through prays. If they feel that god is listening to their prayers or an answered prayer, will lead to a belief in god.

For: if you experience something that breaks the law of science, you will start to believe, if a prayer is answered they must believe god exists and a feeling of presence greater then you, can only be god.

Against: a numinous experience is caused by your surroundings, not god. All miracles can be explained and there are more unanswered prayers, than answered.

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Design and Belief in God

Design means making a plan to produce something. Many religious believers have looked at the world and seen that the way the universe works makes it look as if it has been designed and there is evidence suggesting that evolution has a design.

The argument from design:

  • Anything that has been designed needs a designer (the world needs a designer)
  • The only possible designer of the universe could be god
  • the appearance of design in the world proves that god exist

This argument supports belief in god and may lead to those who are not sure, to believe.

For: the universe has been deigned, anything designed needs a designer and so only god could of designed something as wonderful as the universe and therefore god exists

Against: no designer would have created natural hazard (volcanoes, earthquakes), science can explain design without god, it doesn't explain how the dinosaurs could have part of a design plan for the world and it only prove there could be designer, not god.

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Causation and Belief in God

Causation is the process of one thing causing another, it seems everything has a cause.

Arguement from causation:

  • cause and effect seems to be a basic feature of the world, everything has a cause and effect
  • this means that the universe, the world and human mustt have a cause
  • god id the only logical cause of the universe and therefore must exist

For: it makes sense as it explains how and why we are here and it fit in with our common sense because we cannot believe that somethingcan come from nothing and the argument shows that everything came from god. It also fits in with science about cause and effect, so the universe must have a cause, god. We belive thing must have started off, they must have a beginning and this explains that god started off the universe

Against: if everything needs a cause, god must need one! It's possible that matter itself is eternal and so was never created and just because everything inside the universe needs an explanation, doesn't mean the universe does, if could have been there forever. Even if there was a 'first cause' doesn't mean it has to be a god of a certain religion.

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Scientific Explanations of the World

Science explains that matter is eternal and that 15 billion years ago the universe began, when the matter of the universe exploded- 'Big Bang Theory'. The solar system then formed from this explosion and the nature of the earth allowed life to develop through evolution, about 2.5 million years ago. 

How the scientific explanation of the world may lead to atheism or agnosticism:

If science can explain the universe and human without god, it may lead to some people to be agnostic, as they no longer need god to explain why we are here.

Other people may become atheists because they believe they don't believe in god because if god existed, he must have made the world and god would have been the only explanation for it, but it's not. The way that science can explain the world and humans without god is proof to such people that god doesn't exist.

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Religious Response to Scientific Explanations

There are 3 Christian responses to scientific explanations of the world.

Response 1: many believe that scientific explanations are true and prove god created the universe because only god could of made the big bang form the universe, the law of gravity were needed, which god created and only god could make the gases on Earth to react in such a way to form life.

Response 2: all the evidence for the big bang and evolution can be explained in the bible (account of creation, Noah's flood and the apparent age theory. They believe science is wrong and the bible is correct; this response is known as creationism.

Response 3: some believe that science and the bible is correct, they claim that the main points of the bible fits in with science, but 1 of god's day could be billions of real years.

For: Christian responses above

Against: if god exists, it's the only explanation of the world and the fact science can explain life without god, doesn't prove god doesn't exist, the big bang was an accident and there is no evidence that god caused it and a omniscient/ omnipotent god wouldn't have the world in such a wasteful way (*This is FOR the scientific explanations of world)

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Unanswered Prayers

If people pray in a church or at home, but never feel the presence of god they may feel there id no god listening to them. The feeling that no one is listening to their prayers may lead to agnosticism or atheism.

Unanswered prayers are even more likely to lead to people to believe that no god exist. If someone prayers are no answered, they may stop believing in god. This is because they may think god couldn't exist, if god would let bad things happen e.g. a loved one dies. In this way, unanswered prayers can lead to a person to become an agnostic or an atheist.

For: Christians believe that god is their loving, heavenly father, who will answer their prayers, so if they are not answered god doesn't exist. Also a good god wouldn't answer only a few prayers, he would answer all, so it's unlikely god exists. If there was a god the prayers of all good religious people would be answer, so there wouldn't be wars or starvation. The prayers of such people are not answered, so clearly god can't exist.

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Religious Response to Unanswered prayers

Most Christians believe that god answers all prayers and what seems to be unanswered prayers can be explained by:

  • Selfish prayers are answered, just not how the person way want. For example, if you pray to pass an exam that you haven't worked for, god won't help you so you work harder next time.
  • Your prayer may not be answered in the way that you want, god has a plan for you.
  • Christians have faith that god will answer all prayers in the best way for each person, even if it's different from what they want or expect. 

For: your prayer may not be answered in the way you expect, but god has different plans and god may answer our prayer by giving us what we need, rather than what we want. Also Christians believe that god loves people and so they believe god's love will answer their prayers in the best possible way, even though it may not look like a direct answer. 

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Evil and Suffering

Evil and suffering can take 2 forms:

  • Moral evil- caused by humans using their free will, wars and crimes e.g. ****, murder burglary are all examples of moral evil
  • Natural evil- suffering that hasn't been caused by human. For example floods, earthquakes, volcanoes; they aren't caused by human, but cause a lot of suffering.

How is causes people to question or reject belief in god:

  • if god is omnipotent, he must be able to remove evil and suffering from the world
  • if god exist there shouldn't be evil or suffering in the world
  • for many religious believers evil and suffering is experienced in life, this can change their beliefs as they would think that god does not exist

Proof that god doesn't exist:

  • a good god wouldn't have designed a world with natural evil and so doesn't exist
  • an all powerful god wouldn't have allowed evil humans like Hitler or Stalin to cause so much suffering, so god doesn't exist
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Religious Response to Evil and Suffering

Christians use at least 2 responses to explain why god allowing evil and suffering. 

Response 1: Christians believe that there is a reason why god allowed evil and suffering, but can't understand why, so follow Jesus' teachings. Jesus fought evil and suffering by healing the sick, feeding the hungry and challenging the evil. People pray for help from god and become doctors and nurse to try and help reduce the amount of suffering

Response 2: many says that by giving humans free will, god created a world in which evil and suffering will occur, through the misuse of free will, so it's caused by humans, not god

Response 3: Christians believe that the evil and suffering involved in this life are not a problem because this life prepares us for heaven or hell. God decides were human will go as god is omni-benevolent and omnipotent

Response 4: some claim that god has a reason for not using his power to remove evil and suffering, but humans can't understand it; god id divine , so can't be understood properly

For: the Bible shows that god must have a reason for allowing evil and should follow Jesus' teachings on evil and suffering, evil is caused by human not god, god is divine and so has reason for not removing evil and suffering from the world.

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Keywords- Section 2

Abortion- the removal of a foetus from the womb, before it can survive (before 24 weeks)

Assisted suicide- providing a seriously ill person will the means to commit suicide

Euthanasia- the painless killing of someone, who is terminally ill

Immortality of the soul- the idea that the soul lives on after the death of the body

Near-death experience- when someone close to death has an out of body experience

Non-voluntary euthanasia- ending someone's life, when they are unable to ask, but with good reason (they would ask)

Paranormal- unexplained things which are thought to have spiritual causes e.g. ghosts, mediums

Quality of life- the idea that life must have some benefits for it to be worth living

Reincarnation- the belief that after death, souls are reborn into a new body

Resurrection- the belief that after death the body stays in the grave until the end of the while, when it is raised

Sanctity of life- the belief that life is holy and belongs only to god

Voluntary euthanasia- ending life painlessly when someone in great pain, asks to die

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Christian Beliefs About Life After Death

All christians believe in life after death:

  • Jesus rose from the dead, as it was recorded in the Gospels and the New Testament
  • St Paul teaches that people will have a resurrection like Jesus did
  • the major creeds of the church teach that Jesus rose from the dead and there is life after death
  • Christian churches teach that there is life after death
  • people believe in it, as it gives their lives meaning and purpose; people feel that they will be judged on how they live their lives, through rewards or punishment after death

How the belief of life after death affect the lives of Christians:

  • Christians believe they will be judged, so they try to live a good Christian life by following the bible and the church, so they will go to heaven after death
  • in the parable of the sheep and goat Jesus said Christians should feed the hungry, clothe the naked, befriend strangers and visit the sick and those in prison. Also he taught to 'love thy neighbour', these teaching affect Christians lives and explain why they work for some charities
  • They believe sins stop you from going to heaven, so they avoid committing sins
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Islamic Beliefs on Life After Death

Why Muslims believe in life after death:

  • the Qur'an teaches that there is a life after death and the Qur'an is the word of god and so the teachings are correct
  • Muhammad taught that there is life after death and he was the last prophet and the perfect example for Muslims, so his teachings are true
  • belief in life after death is one of the six fundamental beliefs in Islam, which all Muslims are expected to believe
  • they believe life is a test from god and there will be judgement on how they have done in life/test and there will be rewards if you pass, only happens if theres life after

How Muslim beliefs about life after death affect the lives of Muslims:

  • on the last day, all humans will be judged and those good will go to paradise and the rest to hell. This causes Muslims to try a lead the best life possible to go to paradise
  • living a good muslim life means keeping the 5 pillars of Islam, so their beliefs on life after death will have a big effect on them to reach these goals
  • they believe in resurrection, so nothing can be removed from the body and it must be preserved, so they avoid post-mortems and transplant surgery
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Non-religious Reasons for Believing in Life After

The paranormal provides non-religious reasons for believing in life after death.

Near death experiences: when someone is clinically dead (flatlined) for a period of time and the come back to life, some people say that they remember what happened. The main features are: the feeling of peace, floating above the body, seeing bright lights, entering a heavenly place where they may see the dead.

Evidence for a spirit world: ghost, Ouija boards and mediums are all evidence for this. A medium is a person who can contact the dead/ the spirit world. They claim the spirit world gives people a second chance at life; if mediums can contact the dead, there must be life after death.

Reincarnation: Many religions believe in this and have collected a lot of evidence for this happening. If reincarnation is true, there must be life after death.

For: Reasons above

Against: near death experiences have been challenged by science and it said to happen due to a chemical change in the brain, many mediums are frauds and they have never passed a fool-proof test and the mind can't live without the brain.

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No belief in Life After Death

Some people believe that there is no god, there is no spirit world for a life after death to happen and this life is all there is. This is because:

  • religions contradict each other, if life after death was true they would all say the same thing
  • most of the evidence is based on each religions holy book and there is no way of deciding which holy book and true and which are false
  • the evidence of the paranormal has all been challenged by scientists
  • most believe that the mind and soul can survive without the body, but science shows that the mind cannot live without the brain, so when the body die's, the mind does too
  • there is no place where life after death could occur, space journeys have shown heaven isn't above the sky
  • people who have been brought up by atheists also won't believe in life after death, as they do not believe in god or anything related to religion 
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The Nature of Abortion

Abortion is allowed in the UK if 2 doctors agree that there is a medical reason for it:

  • the mother's life is at risk
  • the mother's physical or mental health is at risk
  • the child is very likely to be born severely disabled or special needs
  • there would be a serious effect on other children in the family

An abortion cannot be carried out after 24 weeks of pregnancy, unless the mother's life is at rick or the the foetus has a severe disability

Why abortion is a controversial issue:

  • many people believe that life begins at the moment of conception, so it's taking a life
  • others believe life begins when the foetus can survive outside the mother, so it's not taking a life
  • women should have the right to do whatever she want with her own body
  • some say the unborn child's life is more important, than the mother's rights
  • there is arguments on whether medical staff should have to carry out an abortion
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Christian Attitudes to Abortion

The catholic church and evangelical churches teach that all abortion is wrong. 

It is thought to be wrong because:

  • life belongs to god, so only god has the right to end a life
  • life starts at conception and taking a life is murder; this is banned in the ten commandments
  • counselling, help and adoption are alternatives to abortion for **** victims 

Other liberal christians disagree with abortion, but allow it in certain circumstances. 

Why they sometimes allow abortions:

  • life doesn't start at conception
  • the sanctity of life is broken for just wars, so why not just abortions
  • mothers should be allowed an abortion, if the child would be born with serious medical problems
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Islam and Abortion

Many Muslims allow allow abortion up to 120 days (17 weeks) of a pregnancy for reasons such as health of the mother or problems with the baby's health. The effect on the present family of the new child, may be taken into consideration up to 120 days.

They have this attitude because:

  • the Hadith say a foetus doesn't receive its soul until 120 days of pregnancy
  • the shari'ah says that the mothers life must always take priority

Some Muslims believe abortion should never be allowed because they believe life begins at conception and the Qur'an says murder is wrong and they think abortion is murder. Also they believe the Qur'an bans abortions

Some Muslims believe that an abortion can only happen if the mothers life is at risk.    They believe this because:

  • the death of the unborn child is a lesser evil, than the death of the mother and the shari'ah says that the mothers life must always take priority
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The Nature of Euthanasia

Euthanasia is normally thought of as providing a gentle and easy death to someone suffering from a painful, terminal illness and who has little quality of life. This can be done by: assisted suicide, voluntary or non-voluntary euthanasia. 

British laws says that all these methods of euthanasia are murder: illegal. The law now agrees that stopping artificial feeding or not giving treatment to someone is legal.

Many people want euthanasia to remain illegal because: 

  • is it what the person really want?
  • there many be a cure found and it could become treatable
  • it is doctors jobs to save lives, not to end them

Many people want euthanasia to become legal because:

  • people should have the right to die and suicide is allowed so why not help someone who wants to die, but is just too weak to do it themselves
  •  doctors can turn of life support, if there is no chance of survival, so euthanasia is already legal, partially
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Christian Attitudes to Euthanasia

Catholics and liberal christians believe that euthanasia is wrong, but switching off life support, stopping distressing treatment or giving dying people painkillers are allowed.   This is because :

  • life is created by god and is sacred
  • euthanasia is regarded as murder, which is forbidden in the 10 commandments
  • if painkillers kill a dying person, this isn't murder as the intention was to stop their suffering, not kill them (double effect)

Some christians believe that any form of euthanasia is wrong.                                     They have this attitude because:

  • they take the bibles teachings literally and the bible forbids suicide
  • life cannot be ended by human, only god as all life is sacred

A christians few accepted euthanasia in certain circumstances because:

  • medical advances mean it hard to know god wishes about someones death
  • Jesus taught 'love thy neighbour' this can be used to justify it, as it's the living thing
  • a basic human right to have control over your body and why not ask for euthanasia
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Islam and Euthanasia

All Muslims are against euthanasia because they believe life is sacred, but there is 2 different attitudes.

They are against all forms of euthanasia because:

  • the Qur'an bans suicide and so assisted suicide is wrong
  • they believe voluntary euthanasia is the same as assisted suicide, so it's wrong
  • it makes you equal to god, which is the greatest sin
  • it is murder, which is banned by the Qur'an
  • life is a test from god and so euthanasia is cheating to speed up death

Some Muslims believe euthanasia is wrong, but think that switching off life support machines is allowed. 

This is because:

  • some muslim lawyers have agreed to life support being switch off, when they is no signs of life
  • if someone is brain dead, god has already taken their life
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Media and Matter of Life and Death

Why the media shouldn't be free to criticise religion on matters of life and death:

  • this may stir up religious hatred, which is banned by the racial and religious hatred act of 2007
  • it may criticism religious attitudes and could be offensive to religious believers  
  • criticising religion it close to the crime of blasphemy
  • religious people feel that religious statements are based in what god says and so it's beyond human criticism

Why the media should be free to criticise religion on matters of life and death:

  • a free media is a key part of democracy 
  • if religion uses the media to make statements about life and death, they must be prepared to face criticism
  • in multi-faith societies, there must be freedom of religious beliefs and expression and so the media has the right to question and criticise what is says
  • if religion put forward views that no one could criticise, no one would 
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Keywords- Section 3

Adultery- a sexual act between a married person and someone else

Civil partnership- a legal ceremony giving a homosexual couple the same rights, as a husband and wife

Cohabitation- living together without being married

Contraception- intentionally preventing pregnancy from occurring

Faithfulness- staying with your marriage partner and only having sex with them

Homosexuality- sexual attraction to the same sex

Nuclear family- mother, father and children living as a family unit

Pre-marital sex- sex before marriage

Procreation- making a new life

Promiscuity- having sex with a number of partners without commitments

Re-constituted family- where 2 sets of children become one family when their parents re-marry

Re-marriage- marrying again after being divorced from a previous marriage

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Changing Attitudes to Marriage and family Life

1960's UK- young people only have sex after marriage, have a family and homosexuality was an offence, this has now changed and there were many reasons for this change:

Cohabitation/ marriage-

  • effective contraception made sex safer before marriage and fewer people went to church, so weren't encouraged not to have sex before marriage
  • media and celebrities made cohabitation acceptable and sex before, is now normal 

Divorce-

  • higher divorce and is now easier/ more accepted to get divorced

Family life-

  • roles of women changed, more independent & divorce increase, less nuclear family

Homosexuality- 

  • laws have changed so it's now accepted in society, due to research/ media coverage
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Christian Attitudes to Sex Outside Marriage

Most Christians believe sex before marriage is wrong because:

  • the Bible says that it's sinful and Christians should follow the teachings of the bible
  • all Christians are against adultery because it breaks wedding vows and it's banned in the ten commandments, which all should follow
  • adultery is condemned by Jesus

Some Christians believe that couples may live together before marriage, but only in a long term relationship leading to marriage.

For sex before marriage:

  • sex is a natural result of 2 people being in love, why do they need to wait until marriage
  • contraception means people can have sex, without getting pregnant

For marriage over cohabitation:

  • statistics show that married couples are more likely to stay together, than others
  • the Bible teaches that sex should only take place in marriage  
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Islam and Sex Outside Marriage

Muslims believe that sex outside of marriage and adultery is wrong because:

  • sex before marriage is forbidden by the Qur'an and it's the word of god
  • shari'ah says that sex should only take place once married
  • islam teaches that sex is for the procreation of children, who should be raised in a family where the mother and father are married
  • adultery is condemned by god in the Qur'an, as it breaks the marriage contract
  • adultery is likely to harm the family and harming the family is condemned by the Qur'an and the shari'ah
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Christian Attitudes to Sex Divorce

The Catholic Church does not allow divorce or remarriage. The only way a marriage can end is by death of a partner. A civil divorce is allowed if it's better for the children, but they still can't remarry.

Catholics have this attitude because:

  • jesus taught divorce is wrong, as couples make a binding agreement to god, which can't be broken and a religious divorce is impossible as marriage can't be dissolved
  • there is no remarriage as there can be no religious divorce, so it would be bigamy

Catholics can have an annulment, if they can prove the marriage was never true.

Non- catholic Churches allow divorce because:

  • jesus allowed divorce in Matthew 19:9 for a partners adultery
  • if a marriage has really broken down then the effect of the couple not divorcing would be a greater evil than the evil of the divorce itself ('the lesser of two evils')
  • if Christians repent and confess their sins they can be forgiven
  • these churches believe it's better to divorce than to live in hatred and quarrel 
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Islam and Divorce

Some Muslims don't allow divorce because:

  • Muhammed said that divorce is the most hated of lawful things
  • many marriages are arranged, so there is family pressures against divorce
  • many muslims believe that they will be sent to hell if they harm their children 
  • the Qur'an teaches that families should try and rescue the marriage, before a divorce

Most muslims believe that divorce should allowed because:

  • the Qur'an permits divorce and sets out the terms for custody of the children and care for divorced wives
  • most muslims believe divorce is a lesser evil, than forcing a couple to live in hatred
  • marriage is a contract in islam and the contract says what is to happen if a couple divorce, so it must be allowed as there wouldn't be instructions if it wasn't allowed
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Christians and Family Life

Family life is important for Christians because:

  • main purpose of marriage is to have children and bring them up in a Christian environment, so they become good Christians
  • the family was created by god, as the basis of society and the only place for the upbringing of children
  • teachings on divorce shows that family is too important to be broken 
  • without family, children wouldn't learn the difference between right and wrong
  • the family is very important for Christianity to continue and grow

However Jesus taught that there are more important things than the family (priests, nuns and monks leave their families, so they can serve god)

Against family life being more important for religious people, than non-religious people:

  •  non-religious people see family as the most important thing, whereas religion is
  • they still have a good family life
  • they can respect their children more, as they don't force them to be religious
  • religion doesn't make a difference to how much you love you children/parents
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Islam and Family Life

Family life is important in Islam because:

  • muslim parents will be judged by god on how well they have brought up their children- it decides whether they go to heaven, which is very important
  • the Qur'an teaches that that the family was created by god, as the basic unit of society and the only place in which children should be brought up
  • prophet Muhammad married and raised a family, so muslims should too
  • without the family, children wouldn't learn what's right and wrong
  • the family is very important for Islam to continue and grow, as it is the family that brings children into the faith 
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Christian Attitudes to Homosexuality

The Catholic attitude:

They believe that there is nothing wrong with being homosexual, but homosexual sexual activity is a sin this is because the bible condemns homosexual sexual activity. Also sex was traditionally for procreation. Discriminating people for what they can't control is sinful, as it's similar to racism

The Evangelical Protestant attitude:

Many believe that homosexuality is a sin and they can be changed by the power of the holy spirit. This is because the bible says homosexuality is a sin, all churches have taught that it is wrong and they believe that the salvation of Christ can remove all sins

The liberal Protestant attitude:

Many liberal protestants welcome homosexuals into the Church and accept homosexuals, some also provide blessings for civil partnerships. They have these beliefs as they feel the major Christian belief in love and acceptance, means that homosexuals are accepted. Also the believe that the Bible is outdated and are the word of that time, rather than the words of god

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Islam and Homosexuality

Most Muslims believe that homosexuality is wrong because:

  • it's condemned by the Qur'an
  • prophet Muhammad condemned homosexuality in several Hadith
  • the Qur'an says marriage between a man and women is the only lawful time for sex
  • all muslims families should have a family, but homosexuals can't have biological kids

The minority of muslims believe that homosexuality is acceptable because:

  • islam is a religion of tolerance, not hate
  • they believe that god created and loves all people whatever their sexual orientation
  • they believe that scientific evidence about homosexuality means that god must have made some people homosexual
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Christian Attitudes to Contraception

The Catholic Church teaches that using artificial methods of contraception to stop a baby from being conceived, is wrong.

Catholics believe this because:

  • popes have condemned all forms of artificial contraception and they could use natural methods, but the aren't very reliable or safe.
  • sex was created by god to bring a couple together and to make a new life
  • the Church believes artificial contraception leads to promiscuity, broken family and STD's

Almost all non-catholic Christians believe that all forms of contraception are allowed because:

  • christianity is about love and justice
  •  contraception improves women's health and raises the standards of living
  • the Bible doesn't forbid contraception
  • the church said that contraception can be used to limit the family size
  • they believe that using condoms is the best way to combat STD's, HIV/AIDS
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Islam and Contraception

Some muslims believe that contraception should not be used at all because:

  • 'you should not kill your children for fear of want'- Qur'an, this means contraception is banned
  • god created sex for having children and is the duty of muslims to have large families 
  • they are opposed to abortion and wouldn't allow contraception that act as abortifacients

Some muslims believe that contraception is allowed to be used to limit the family because:

  • many prophets permit the use of 'coitus interruptus' (withdrawal) as a means of contraception
  • the Qur'an says god does not place extra burdens on followers and contraception stops the extra burden
  • if pregnancy risks a mothers health, contraception must be allowed because islam puts the mothers life first
  • contraception is different from abortion, so should be permitted
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Islam and Contraception

Some muslims believe that contraception should not be used at all because:

  • 'you should not kill your children for fear of want'- Qur'an, this means contraception is banned
  • god created sex for having children and is the duty of muslims to have large families 
  • they are opposed to abortion and wouldn't allow contraception that act as abortifacients

Some muslims believe that contraception is allowed to be used to limit the family because:

  • many prophets permit the use of 'coitus interruptus' (withdrawal) as a means of contraception
  • the Qur'an says god does not place extra burdens on followers and contraception stops the extra burden
  • if pregnancy risks a mothers health, contraception must be allowed because islam puts the mothers life first
  • contraception is different from abortion, so should be permitted
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Keywords- Section 4

Community cohesion- a common vision and shared sense of belonging for all groups in society

Discrimination- treating people less favourably because of their ethnicity/gender/sexuality/age/class 

Ethnic minority- a member of an ethnic group, which is smaller than the majority group

Interfaith marriages- marriages where the husband and wife are from different religions 

Multi-ethnic society- many different races and cultures living together in one society 

Prejudice- believing some people are inferior or superior without even knowing them (having a prejudgement)

Racial harmony- different races living together happily

Racism- the belief that some races are superior to others, this normally leads to discriminating against them 

Religious freedom- the right to practise your religion and change your religion

Religious pluralism- accepting all religions as having an equal right to coexist

Sexism- discriminating against people because of the gender (male or female)

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Changes to men and women's roles in the UK

How attitudes have changed:

  • in the 19 century it became accepted that married women should stay at home and look after the children
  • between 1882-1975 women gained the right to keep their property seperate from their husband, vote in elections and receive the same pay as men
  • 1975 the Sex Discrimination Act made it illegal to discriminate in employment, due to gender or because they the are married or not

Why attitudes have changed:

  • the suffragette movement showed that women weren't prepared to be treated, as 2nd class citizens
  • during WW1, women took over mens jobs as they fought in the war, showing they can do the jobs as well as men
  • the development of equal rights in other countries man if difficult to claim that they weren't needed in the UK
  • the UN declaration of human rights and the development of the feminist movement meant equal rights had to be accepted 
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Christian Attitudes to Equal Rights for Women

The traditional attitude of protetant christians:

 They teach that men and women had seperate/ diferent roles in life, so can't have equal rights in religion. Women shouldn't speak in church an only men can be religious teachers/ leaders, because:

  • Adam was created first, St Paul taught that women should't speak or teach in church 

The modern attitude of protestant christians:

They believe in qual rights and let women be ministers and priests, because:

  • Genisis 1 says that god created men and women at the same time- Equal

Catholic attitudes:

They believe that men and women should have equal rights in society, but women can't be priests, minister, etc. This is because:

  • Jesus' 12 apostles were men and priests are successors of them, so it's men only
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Islam and Equal Rights for Women

Some Muslims believe that men and women have different roles in life and religions, so can't have equal rights. They believe women should perform their religious duties at home and men should worship god in the mosques and lead the religion.

They have this attitude because:

  • the Qur'an says that men should support women, as god gave men a stronger body
  • the Qur'an teaches that women were created to bear children and men provide for them, and men need more money so that they can provide for the family

Other Muslims believe that men and women should be completely equal and a few would accept women religious leaders.

This is because:

  • the Qur'an teaches that men and women are equal in religion and education
  • there's evidence that Muhammad encouraged both men and women to worship
  • there were women leaders during the early stages of Islam 

British Muslims mix these 2 attitudes together and agree women are equal, not religion

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The UK as a multi-ethnic Society

Britain has many ethnicity's, so is a multi-ethnic society. It has always believed in human freedom and offers asylum to those suffering persecution.

Benefits:

  • the country will advance quicker, because they will have a greater variety of ideas
  • life is more interesting with greater variety of food, music, fashion and entertainment
  • it helps people live and works in a world of multi-national companies and economic interdependence between all nations

Problems:

  • prejudice and discrimination cause many problems in society, as everyone isn't treated equally. For example: in employment, accommodation, education and police officers

Effects of the problems:

  • certain ethnic groups may start to be against society
  • people may turn to crime or extremist views, as they believe they will be discriminated
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UK Government Promote Community Co

A multi-ethic society needs to promote community cohesion, to remove the problems of prejudice, discrimination and racism. The UK Government promotes community cohesion by:

  • making community cohesion part of the curriculum
  • appointing cabinet ministers from ethnic minorities
  • establishing the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which works to get rid of discrimination

Why community cohesion is important for multi-ethnic/faith societies:

  • different groups would have different ideas about what the society should be like and this could lead to violence
  • 7/7 bombings were British citizens, who lost their sense of allegiance to Britain
  • violence would become a way of life
  • without it, it would be impossible for people to co-operate in the way modern civilised living needs

Cohesion is to avoid prejudice and discrimination, encourage different groups to work together and ensure respect for others and building the society.     

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Religions Promoting Racial Harmony

Christians should try to bring about racial harmony because:

  • parable of the good samaritan- Jesus showed that races that hated each other should love each other, as neighbours
  • Jesus treated people of different races equality 
  • St. Paul taught that all races are equal, as god created all races in his image
  • all christian churches have recently made statements condemning any form of racism or discrimination 

Why Muslims should try to promote racial harmony: 

  • the Qur'an teaches that god created the whole of humanity from one pair of human, so everyone is related, so nobody can be superior
  • Muhammad said that every Muslim is a brother to every other Muslim, so there must not be any racism among Muslims
  • Islam teaches that all Muslims are from one brotherhood
  • Islam is against any form of racism and Muslim leaders work with various groups to promote racial harmony in the UK
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UK Multi-Faith Society

Britain is a multi-faith society because several religions are practised in the UK and everyone is free to practise their religion.

Benefits of living in a multi-faith society:

  • people can learn about other religions and what they all have in common
  • people may practise their religion more seriously than other, then making other people think about how they practise their own religion
  • it may be understood why religions believe what they do and this will make the religion more accepted
  • people will be more understanding and respectful of each others religion
  • religious freedom will exist 
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Issues from a Multi-faith Society

For a multi-faith society to work, people need to have the same rights regardless of their religion (religious pluralism), the society can't accept one religion as being the true one and the people within the society must be free to choose or reject any religion. This can raise many religious issues:

  • Conversion
    • many people may see it as their duty to convert everyone, as they believe that their religion is the true religion, for people to get to heaven they must convert and their holy books teach them to convert non-believers
    • conversion can cause many problems, as this could be seen as discrimination to other religions, trying to convert people can lead to arguments and violence
  • Bringing up children
    • multi-faith societies gives everyone religious freedoms, so people can follow or reject any religions. Children are taught different religions in society, so children may leave their parents religion
    • this causes problems as religions encourage parents to bring up their children in their religion, social and peer pressure make parents put pressure in there children to remain in the parents faith
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Multi-faith Issues- Continued

  • Interfaith marriages
    • in a multi-faith society, people of different faiths are going to meet, fall in love and want to get married
    • this can be a problem because to have a religious wedding ceremony, normally the couple must be from the same religion. Also there is the question of which religion the children would be brought up in and parents/relatives often feel betrayed 
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How Religions Work Together for CC

Different religions in the UK are working together to promote community cohesion by:

  • working together to find out what is the same in their religions and from this, work out ways of living together without trying to convert each other (Pope met with Muslim envoys and said that the future depends on the 2 religions working together)
  •  inter-faith marriage
    • many religions have special wedding services for mixed faith couples
    • Church of England has 'guidelines for the celebration of interfaith marriages in church'
  • bringing up children
    • many religions encourage mixed faith parents to bring their children up in both faiths
    • religions have agreed to follow the national curriculum, so children in faith schools will be taught the main religions practised in the UK
  •  promoting community cohesion by working together in special groups
    • national groups promote good relations between people of different faiths within the country
    • there are individual places of worship
    • most towns/cities have groups that bring different religions together in an area
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How Religions Work Together for CC

Different religions in the UK are working together to promote community cohesion by:

  • working together to find out what is the same in their religions and from this, work out ways of living together without trying to convert each other (Pope met with Muslim envoys and said that the future depends on the 2 religions working together)
  •  inter-faith marriage
    • many religions have special wedding services for mixed faith couples
    • Church of England has 'guidelines for the celebration of interfaith marriages in church'
  • bringing up children
    • many religions encourage mixed faith parents to bring their children up in both faiths
    • religions have agreed to follow the national curriculum, so children in faith schools will be taught the main religions practised in the UK
  •  promoting community cohesion by working together in special groups
    • national groups promote good relations between people of different faiths within the country
    • there are individual places of worship
    • most towns/cities have groups that bring different religions together in an area
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How Religions Work Together for CC

Different religions in the UK are working together to promote community cohesion by:

  • working together to find out what is the same in their religions and from this, work out ways of living together without trying to convert each other (Pope met with Muslim envoys and said that the future depends on the 2 religions working together)
  •  inter-faith marriage
    • many religions have special wedding services for mixed faith couples
    • Church of England has 'guidelines for the celebration of interfaith marriages in church'
  • bringing up children
    • many religions encourage mixed faith parents to bring their children up in both faiths
    • religions have agreed to follow the national curriculum, so children in faith schools will be taught the main religions practised in the UK
  •  promoting community cohesion by working together in special groups
    • national groups promote good relations between people of different faiths within the country
    • there are individual places of worship
    • most towns/cities have groups that bring different religions together in an area
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How Religions Work Together for CC

Different religions in the UK are working together to promote community cohesion by:

  • working together to find out what is the same in their religions and from this, work out ways of living together without trying to convert each other (Pope met with Muslim envoys and said that the future depends on the 2 religions working together)
  •  inter-faith marriage
    • many religions have special wedding services for mixed faith couples
    • Church of England has 'guidelines for the celebration of interfaith marriages in church'
  • bringing up children
    • many religions encourage mixed faith parents to bring their children up in both faiths
    • religions have agreed to follow the national curriculum, so children in faith schools will be taught the main religions practised in the UK
  •  promoting community cohesion by working together in special groups
    • national groups promote good relations between people of different faiths within the country
    • there are individual places of worship
    • most towns/cities have groups that bring different religions together in an area
50 of 51

How Religions Work Together for CC

Different religions in the UK are working together to promote community cohesion by:

  • working together to find out what is the same in their religions and from this, work out ways of living together without trying to convert each other (Pope met with Muslim envoys and said that the future depends on the 2 religions working together)
  •  inter-faith marriage
    • many religions have special wedding services for mixed faith couples
    • Church of England has 'guidelines for the celebration of interfaith marriages in church'
  • bringing up children
    • many religions encourage mixed faith parents to bring their children up in both faiths
    • religions have agreed to follow the national curriculum, so children in faith schools will be taught the main religions practised in the UK
  •  promoting community cohesion by working together in special groups
    • national groups promote good relations between people of different faiths within the country
    • there are individual places of worship
    • most towns/cities have groups that bring different religions together in an area
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Comments

Miss KHP

Report

Full of so much information for this topic. Ideal revision information covering terms, debates and facts. Great use of highlighted information. Well done! 

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