Religion and Equality

Religion and Equality Revision Notes

(Bible verses are written in italics for easy use, other important words/phrases are in bold)

Racism

Christians are against racism, they believe you should "love thy neighbour", whoever this is. Also, the Bible says that "God has no favouritism but accepts men from every nation". In addition, there is also the verse - "there is neither Jew nor Greek" which is used to show that in Christianity there is no difference between different races.

If individual Bible verses are hard to remember, the Parable of the Good Samaritan is a well known story that shows Jesus' ideas towards racism. The injured man is helped by another man from the rival Samaritan town. The Samaritan did not care that the injured man was an enemy, only that he should help him as that is the good thing to do - Christians try to do this in their own lives.

THE APARTHEID - in South Africa, the Dutch Reform Church enforced a segregated society that meant blacks were given no rights. To back this up, they used the story of Noah. He was drunk one night and fell asleep naked in a tent. One of his sons then saw him naked and because of this the son's son was cursed. This son of the son was supposedly black (although the Bible doesn't say this) so according to the Dutch Reform Church all blacks are cursed.

The Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a Christian who spoke out in South Africa against the apartheid regime - Christians will try to follow his example. 

Sexism

Example in modern society - lineswoman being criticised by commentators.

Generally, Christians are against sexism as they agree that woman are equal to men though they sometimes have different roles. "there is neither male nor female for all are one in Christ Jesus".

A Biblical figure who could be used to justify sexism is St Paul. In his letters to the Corinthians and Ephesians he says that "it is a disgrace for women to speak in church" and "women should stay silent in the churches". Modern Christians say that this was just the society of the time and that it is not relevant…