Unit 3.3-Community Cohesion GCSE RE

Before:

• Women weren't allowed to vote until 1918, and even then, it was only for over 30s, but men over 21 could vote.
• Few job opportunities-majority were in domestic service, shops or textile mills. Paid less than men in same jobs; believed to not be as efficient as men.
• Property became husband's when married.

Now:

• Equal access ro education and voting, law designed to protect women from sexism.
• Many men equally share the running of the household and childcare. Entitled to paternity leave. Increased financial pressures lead to them being a househusband.

Why attitudes have changed

• Suffragette and suffragists' campaigns.
• WWI and WWII-women took on men's jobs and did just as well as men.
• Equal rights for women in other countries-New Zealand was the first, and then it was difficult to say that equal rights were not needed in the UK.
• Social and industrial developments in 19502-60s-more women workers.
• UN Declaration of human rights.
• Labour governments of 1964-70 and 1974-dedicated to equal rights.

How attitudes changed

• 1975-Sex Discrimination Act-illegal to be sexist in grounds of workplace.
• 1882-Married Women's Property Act-women's property-separate from husband's.
• 1892-Local Government Act-women could stand as councillors.
• Suffragists-Millicent Fawcett-peaceful. Suffragettes-Emmeline Pankhurst-violent.

Catholics

• Genesis 1:27-"In the image of God he created them male and female."
• Catechism-only men can be priests; apostles were all men.
• Galations: "You are all of you, sons of God...male and femal"
• 1 Timothy: "I give no permission for a woman to teach or have authority over man."

Traditional Protestants

• Men and women-separate and different roles-no equal rights.
• 1 Timothy: "A woman ought to be quiet"
• Only men are church leaders and teachers.
• Ephesians 5: "Wives should be subject to their husbands as to the Lord."

Modern Protestants (Church of England, Methodist)

• Equal rights-women minister and priests.
• Jesus treated women equally-first appeared to them after death.

1. Has always been multi-ethnic-Celts, Romans, Viking and Normans.
2. Persecuted peoples have sought refuge here, like Huguenots and Jews.
3. WWII-people from all over the empire fought, then were later allowed to settle in the UK.
4. 2001 Census-7.9% of UK population were ethnic minorities.
Problems of discrimination and racism
1. Racist employers-might not give jobs to certain people.
2. Prejudiced landlords-refusing accomodation to certain groups.
3. Teachers-pupils might not achieve the results that they should.
4. Prejudiced police officers-could stop and search someone for no reason.
Effects
1. If groups feel as if they are being treated unfairly-could start working against society.
2. Some could turn to crime due to not getting good jobs due to discrimination.
3. Some young Muslims could turn to extremist Islamic groups; no success in prejudiced society.
4. Could lead to groups like the BNP stirring up hatred and violence.
Against having a multi-ethnic society
1. It could cause conflict if there is disagreement.
2. Culture could be lost in original group; non-Cornish people in Cornwall led to the loss of the Cornish language.
3. If every ethnic group has its own country, there would be no conflict.

Why community cohesion is important
1. Without it, different groups have different ideas on what society should be like.
2. We can see other countries where there is no community cohesion, like Iraq-violence.
3. Racist street rioting in 2001, in Oldham, Burnley and Bradford.
4. 7/7 bombings-British citizens lost their sense of allegiance to the UK.

Against community cohesion
1. forcing co-operation could lead to fighting and conflict.
2. UK always believed in multi-culturalism; avoids conflict.
3. It doesn't matter as long as the British laws are obeyed.

• Office for Refugee Policy (ORP)-represents bishops on immigration ssue nationally & internationally.
• Provide masses in foreign languages.
• Westminister Cathedral-Annual Migrants' Mass.
• SVP-provide help, support, advice, low-cost housing, discount furniture and clothing.

Why

• Matt 25:43: "I was a stranger and you did not invite me in"
• Matt 25:40 "Whatever you did for the least of the brothers of mine, you did for me."
• Common Good and Catholic Social Teaching-"Christ taught that our neighbour is universal...hence we must oppose all forms of discrimination and racism."
• Jesus was a refugee-the Holy family fled to Egypt to avoid Herod's slaughter.

• The Good Samaritan
• St. Paul-In Christ there is no Jew or Greek, no male or female-Galations.
• Jesus healed the Roman officer's servant, he respected the Romans too.
• He treated a Samaritan woman as his equal in John 4.
• Catholic church-has members from every race. In fact, 70% of the church is made up of non-white, non-european people.

Against Christianity being the best way to promote racial harmony

• Some Christian groups work against racial harmony, like the Ku Klux Klan.
• Politics is a better way of bringing about racial harmony, for example the USA has a black president but the church has no black Pope.
• Not everyone is religious so laws which give everyone equal rights is more likely to work.

Catholics-Inclusivism
1. People can come to God through different paths, but only Christianity has the full truth.
2. Everyone has the right to religious freedom-must be respected.
3. Members of other religions could even get into heaven.
3. Bible-true nature of God shown through Jesus.

Some Evangelicals-Exclusivism
1. Christianity is the only way to come to God so they try to convert as many people as possible.
2. Jesus "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
3. Jesus "go to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples"-Matt 28.
4. Bible-love your neighbour.

Some Liberals-Pluralism
1. All religions-equal; all different ways of finding God.
2. Bible-not the word of God. Muslims, Hindus etc have good lives.
3. Believe that God is a force like gravity which can be discovered in different ways.

Benefits
1. More community cohesion-increased tolerance of other religions.
2. Can learn and understand other religions, preventing conflicts like in Northern Ireland.
3. Can see what religions have in common.
4. Encourages them to practise religion more seriously when seeing others-Muslims pray 5x a day.
Problems
Interfaith marriages: parents and relations of the couple feel betrayed. Which wedding ceremony? Religion of children? Which religious community will they belong to? Death rituals?
Conversion: People trying to convert could lead to arguments and violence. Exclusivists believe in showig that Christianity has the answers, could be viewed as discrimination.
Children: multi-faith society-requires religioug freedom, but most teach that parents should bring up their child in the faith, and that those that don't follow the religion will have a bad life after death; parents don't want that for kids.
 Against multi-faith society:
1. Encourages conversion. 2. Encourages interfaith marriage. 3. Society can't be organised for every religion-different rules. 
Against children being brought up in one faith:
1. Religious freedom is a human right-should learn about other faiths before choosing. 2. Only brought up in one religion-don't know which is best. 3. A multi-faith society needs members to respect all religions-children need to learn about others to respect them.
For interfaith marriages:
1. Human right to marry whoever you want. 2. Encourages community cohesion as families become one. 3. Children have religios freedom-2 to choose from.

Groups:
1. National groups like the Inter-Faith Network in the UK.
2. Glasgow forum of faiths.

Upbringing of Children
1. Some Protestant churhces and Liberal/Reform Jewish synagogues encourages children in interfaith marriages to be brought up to both faiths.
2. Leaders from the Church of England, Hindy, Sikh, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish and Buddhists-agreed to teach main religions in school.s

Working out similarities in religions-Christianity, Islam and Judaism have prophets Abraham and Moses-so they work on living together without trying to convert each other.

Interfaith marriages
1. Protestand Churches & Liberal/Reform Jewish synagogues-special wedding service.
2. A website has been set up offering help and advice.

Religions aren't doing enough to promote community cohesion
1. All religions have groups teaching that other religions are wrong.
2. Few religious believers look at other beliefs to work out which one is true.
3. Most religious groups-too busy looking after their own follorwers to link to other faiths.

• The Simpsons
  • Shows a family dealing with interfaith marriage issues such as Marge's Christian faith.
  • Shows Homer treating his neighbour Ned Flanders in a prejudiced way due to his Christian faith.
• Songs of Praise
  • describes events in the lives of believers and their work in parishes, as well as dealing with issues such as conversion.