Religion and Society

Rights and Responsibilities

The Bible:

Some Christians use the bible when making moral decisions. A moral decision is where a person has to decide whether an action is right or wrong, good or bad etc. Christians use the Bible as a guide in moral decision making because:

• It is the word of God
• It contains the Ten Commandments
• It contains Jesus' teachings, and the story of Jesus' life
• It contains the letters of St. Paul to TImothy that says that all scripture is inspired by God

Some Christians don't use the Bible because:

• They believe the Bible is the record of humans searc for God rather than God's exact words, so some bits need updating
• Catholics may think parts of the Bible are hard to understand, so the Church has to help them find out what it means
• Some believe their conscience is more important that following exactly what the Bible says

The Church:

Some Christians think the Church should be used alongside the Bible to make moral decisions. The Church is the Christian community, particularly the Pope. The believe this because:

• The Church is the Body of Christ
• Jesus said Peter would have the keys to Heaven and Peter was the first Pope
• Jesus said the Holy Spirit would lead Christians into all truth and this happens through the Church's teachings
• If everyone made up their own mind, there would be no clear teaching, so it is safer to follow the Church's guidance.

Conscience:

Some Christians believe conscience is the most important guide to moral decision making. Some Liberal Christians think it is best to follow your inner feeling about whether something is right or wrong. Some follow their conscience because:

• It may be God's way of speaking to indiviuals
• The Church teaches that we are all individually responsible for our actions
• The Bible and Church are indirect ways of learning God's will, but conscience may be God's voice directly

Some Christians disagree because:

• Mad people hear voices telling them to do bad things 
• If we follow the Bible and the Church we doing what all Christians believe is good
• If everyone did what they felt like then life would be chaotic

Situation Ethics:

This is a modern, more flexible approach to morality, invented by Joseph Fletcher in the 1960s. He said each situaton is different and you need to decide what the most loving things to do is in that situation. Christians use this because:

• It is based on Jesus' summary of the law
• Jesus broke the rules of the old testament - healing on the Sabbath
• Following sitiation ethics should produce good results

Some Christians disagree because:

• God put rules in the Bible for a reason
• The Church has authority to decide moral issues
• They claim that it is impossible to know all the facts about a given situation so it is impossible to decide what the most loving thing is to do

Human Rights in the UK:

In 1998 The Human Rights Act says that British…