Religion and Equality

Christian Teachings
Christians believe in the value and equality of all people + believe humans are created in Gods image, this means characterisitcs of God are in humans therfore each individal has worth and value and therfore should be respected
Christians believe each individual is unique,valuable and created by God

Bible Quotes to support Christians beliefs about Equality
"Love your neighbour as yourself"
"As believers in Jesus Christ do not show favourtism"
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, Slave nor free, Male nor Female for you are all one in Christ"
"God created humans in his image"

Jesus himself didnt discriminate and was well known for assocciating himself with people society wouldnt approve e.g. Mary Magdaline (prostitiute)

Inter-Faith Dialogue (Denominations)
The Christian faith has many different denominations
Denominations is a sub-group within a religion which has different interpretations about certain aspect of the fatih and teachings

However Christians believe having many dencominations is important to promote unity and to recognise that Christians are called to be one church = Ecumenism
Another dimension to Ecumenism is inter-faith dialogue; Disussion between faiths to appreciate one and another perspective

Christians belive their faith requires them to accept othe people and accept people of other faiths

Why the Catholic Church only allow men to become priests and bishops
- God came to earth as a man
- All Jesus's disciples were male
- Catholic believe Jesus chose Peter to be head of the Church (Pope), therfore Pope = Male

The role of the women in the Bible
- Debrah is spoken of as a prophetess (someone who God has spoken to) and a leader
- Priiscilla is a woman that is involved in teaching
These examples show that the bible can be shown to support leadership

Jesus' treatment of woman
- Challanged many cultural stereotypes
- In biblical times women were treated with less respect and value than men, however Jesus gave them respect e.g. Mary Magdaline

Christian attitudes towards Racism
All denominations are united as they are all against racism
Church of England teaches that God loves all people, speaks out against racism through groups e.g. Comittee for minority and ethnic anglican concerns
This comittee aims to encourage involvement of their ethnic minoritys in the church
The Catholic Church want the church and society to "value, respect and celebrate the equality and dignity of all Gods people"

The role of individuals
-Martin Luther Kings(christian) faith led him to fight for equal rights for all equal citizens
-William Wilberforce was a politician who helped create laws to abolish slavery due to his christian faith

The Good Samaritan
"Love their neighbour as they do themselves" or "treat others how you want to be treated"

Christian views
- They believe god is merciful and once he forgives sins he forgets them
- Believe God forgives those who repent (sorry for what they have done and intend to change)
- Believe all humans will continuously make mistakes because they are not perfect, but because God is perfect he will continue to forgive those who are sorry for their actions

God reconciled himself to the people through the sacrafice of his son Jesus on the cross - his forgiveness of humans is possible because of Jesus death and ressurection.

Catholic Church
-A person can attend confession to recieve Gods forgiveness during this time a priest will hear the individuals confession (confidential)
- The priest acts on behalf of God to lead the confessor to penatence and forgiveness

Bible Quotes
In the Lords Prayer "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us" and "love you enemies and pray for those who make your life a misery"

Christian attitudes towards other religions
Anyone who believes Jesus death happened can have a connection with God, with this view accepting Jesus as a savior is the only way God can be known, for this reason Christians believe other religions are wrong (Exclusivists view)
Many Christians believe in Evangelism becase when Jesus was resurrected he told his disciples to "Go and make disciples of all nations"
When Christians try to promote their religion they can come off as overly pushy, potentially offensive however their intentions are noble as they would argue they are helping someone get to heaven.
Other Christians believe that Christianity is one of many ways to reach God (Inclusivists view) therefore do not try to convert others
Most Christians would say that people have to choose for themselves if they want to enter the Christian faith

Prejudice - Someone prejudging someone without knowing them
Discrimination- When a person is treated differently because they are different in some way
Racism - Treating a person differently because of their colour
Sexism - Treating a person differently because they are a man or woman
Ageism - Treating a person differently because of their age
Homophobia - Treating someone differently because they are gay
Equality - Means all people have the same worth and value
Justice - Means fairness, everyone having the same right and being treated in the same way
Multi-Faith - Many different religions groups living together in society. A pluralist view can imply that all religions are a path to God
Multi-Ethnic Society - Different races and cultures living together in one society
Inclusivist view - The Christian view that other religions have a partial truth and therefore other religious groups can go to heaven
Exclusivist view - Christan view that only Christian are guaranteed a place in heaven
Ecumenism - The movement to promote unity amongst Christian denominations
Repent -  To regret having done the wrong thing and to make a change so mistakes aren't repeated
Penitence - Feeling sorry for a wrongdoing and making amends through positive action