Religion and Life

Christians believe God created the world and everthing in it in six days and then rested one- as recorded in Genesis.

'God said let there be light, and there was light' 

Fundalmentalists- iterpret the bible litrally- believe it was created in seven days.

Liberalists- interpret the bible sybolically, and so could believe that God created the earth through the Big Bang (the universe began from a small dense region which was flung apart). This could also mean the earth was created in six periods of time- instead of days. eg. solves the problems like dinosaurs. 

However both types of christians will agree this shows how God is all powerfull, and made the perfect world for us to live and flourish in- which is why we should cherish it. 

Dominion- some christians feel God gave humans the power over the world and it is their own to use. 'have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth' 

Stewardship- some christians fel they have a duty to look after the environment on behalf of God as he created for them so they should sustain it. 'the lord God took the man and put him in the garden of eden to work it and care for it' 

Responsibility- Christians who believe in stewardship believe that god gave them the responsibility of looking after the world. 

Wonder- many people religious or not feel wonder at the world as it is such a wonderful place to live. 

Non-religious people may also believe in these opinions. 

Use- humans use many natural resources such as: Crops, Fuels (coal), Materials (coal). Many people think it is okay to use natural resources as they are given to be used- however despite this our environment hs been abused and so we should work to increase sustainable resouces to try and repair damage done.

Abuse- We have abused our environment as we have polluted it, by deforestation increasing global warming, polluting water, land and air with chemical and oil or fumes, littering pollutes. 

Christians believe we should live more sustainably (in a way that can be maintained and is not harmful) by Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling. 

Eg. using less recources, developing renewable energy, planting more trees. 

Are animals equal to humans?

Yes:

- everything is created equal

- we live in the same world and share resources 

- we depend on each other, we are just different species 

- god trusts us to look after animals, stewardship 

No:

- humans are more concious and clever 

- god gave humans dominion 

For:

- god allowed humans to eat all animals in the new testament 'the weak in faith do not eat meat' 

- animals are not created in gods image and do not deserve the same respect 

- its more natural to eat meat

Against:

- Animals have to be rightously slaughtered in Islam, however these killings are said to be unjust 

- religion teaches non-violence 

- chrisians sometimes dont eat meat on fridays when jesus died, muslims have times of fasting.

For:

- Christianity, humans are more important than animals as they were made in gods image so to help them is the most compassionate thing to do'so God created human kind in his image, male and female he created them all' 

- Islam, it is important to save human lives

Against:

- Christianity, humans would not want to be experimented on without consent 

- Islam, the Qu'ran teaches that animals are important to Allah 

Christians think god created life as it is, this is shown in genesis when god created humans in his own image. 'then the lord god formed man from the dust of the ground'. this ca be interpreted litterally (God created people as they are now- dissagree with science) or symbolically (God created life but it could have been done through evolution and so the biblial account is not literal).

Sanctity of life- all life is holy as it was created by God and we were made in his image, and should not be abused. it is shown that life is sacred in the ten commandments 'you shall not murder' so people should not destroy life. 

Quality of life- the general well being, health and happiness of a person, and there is a theory that a person's value of life depends on how good it is. Quality of life could be reduced because of mental and physical health, poverty   

Legal reasons for abortion:

- mothers life is at risk 

- physical danger to woman or her existing children

-risk of mental harm to the woman

- probability of having a child with a disability 

Abortion was made legal in 1967 in the UK. 

For:

- the foetus is a silent victim and cannot decide its fate 

- life is sacred and god has planned every life 

- you should put the child up for adoption to make another family happy 

- it is selfish to put the mothers needs first 

Against:

- the mother should not have to sacrific their life for someone else 

-life does not begin until the child is born, and it is wrong to bring an unwanted child into the world

- its the womans choice to do what she want with her body

Roman Catholic- 

It is a grat moral evil to abort a child, it is wrong to take away a life as god has a plan for everyone they will only allow it in a state where otherwise the mother will die, and in this situation it is classed as the lesser of two evils.

Methodists-

believe there are times where abortions are neccecarry, as they understand that an unwanted child can bring a lot of risks to the mothers life. however they say that if an abortion is nessecary it must be done at the earliest possible stage.

'Do not commit murder'

'Before i formed you in the womb i knew you , before you were born i set you apart' 

God gave life and should be the one to remove it. Euthanasia is when is deleberatly chosen by the person or people close to them if they cannot make the decision themselves.

For: may be more compassionate to allow people to die, people deserve their dignity. 

Against: Someone might recover, life is sacred, you should not murder, allah shoud be responsible for when someone dies. 

Christians believe in Palliative care, where they try to offer patients the best quality of life until they die naturally. 'those who become vulnerable through illness or disablity deserve special care and protection' 

Christians believe that suicide is morally wrong, and that it is a sin. roman catholics believe those who commit suicide will not be allowed to go to heaven. Dispite this they try to understand the situation and not judge- and try to be more compassionate and help people with problems