8.1 Religion: Rights And Responsibilities

Question 1

How do people make moral decisions?

Answer 1

People sometimes may need advice when making moral decisions so they turn to friends and family for guidance while a Christian may turn to the bible and read through the advice and rules in there to help them make the right choice.

Question 2

Explain why some Christians use only the bible to make moral decisions

Answer 2

• They believe that they bible is the word of God. This means that the bible is God’s guidance to humans so it has authority in Christian decision making
• The bible contains the teachings of Jesus on how to live. Christians believe he is the son of God and that they should follow his example.
• Jesus said “I am the way of truth and life”
• The bible contains the 10 commandments/Decalogue which gives Christians clear moral guidance
• Jesus’ 2 commandments
• Jesus/teacher

Question 3

Why would people struggle when making a moral decision?

Answer 3

Mostly people have to make a choice between what they want and what they feel they should do.

Question 4

Why do some Christians believe they should follow their conscience when making a moral decision?

Answer 4

• Christians believe that God speaks to Christians. Their conscience is like a voice in people’s heads telling them what they should or should not do. The voice of conscience seems to be the same as the voice of God, therefore Christians should follow it.
• The church says that Christians should follow their conscience as if it was the voice of God and Christians are expected to follow the teachings of the Church.
• St Paul and St Thomas Aquinas taught that Christians should use their conscience as the final part of moral- decision making. Some Christians believe that if such great Christian thinkers say Christians should follow their conscience then they should follow their conscience.
• The teachings of the bible and the church do not come directly from God. The bible has been translated and often needs to be interpreted. The teachings of the Church come through the pope, bishops, ministers, conferences, etc. However conscience is God speaking through to individuals and so should be followed.

Question 5

Why some Christians think they should not always follow their conscience?

Answer 5

• People have been wrong about the voice of God e.g. Yorkshire Ripper claimed that God told him to kill prostitutes. If you can be mistaken about the voice of God then you can definitely be mistaken about the voice of conscience.
• If Christians follow the teachings of the church, the they would know other Christians will think that what they are doing is right.
• If Christians follow the teachings of the bible they are doing what all Christians believe is the right thing to do.
• If everyone followed their conscience rather than laws, life would become chaotic and no one would know what sort of behaviour to expect from each other- society need to agreements on what is right and wrong to work properly.

Question 6

What did Jesus reply when he was asked “what is the greatest commandment?” ?

Answer 6

He replied “To love your neighbour as yourself”. This means that is a situation you should do the most loving thing for everyone who is in need. Some Christians place this commandment over the 10 commandments, therefore their decision in a certain situation may go against the church/bible teaching.

Question 7

What is the one rule of situation ethics?

Answer 7

The rule of agape- unconditional love. This love is not merely an emotion but involves doing what is best for the other person, unconditionally.

Question 8

Why would some Christians place situation ethics above the bible or the church?

Answer 8

The 1.1 bible or the 1.2 church focus their moral guidance on the action, which means that regardless of the outcome or intention, certain actions are always considered to be wrong e.g. abortion. Where as with 1.4 situation ethics, it is the consequence of your actions which is the focus. This means that an action is not always morally wrong, it depends on what the outcome of the decision is.

Question 9

protestant usually use the authority of the Bible because…

Answer 9

It is straight forward to use the teaching such as the 10 commandments when deciding on issues such as stealing. However when it comes to modern issues such as contraception it is difficult to use the bible only. The bible says nothing about contraception, so they would have to look elsewhere for guidance such as the teachings of the church or their conscience.

Question 10

A catholic would normally follow the authority of the church, as the Magisterium applies the teachings of the bible and the apostles to modern life. However…

Answer 10

Although the has artificial contraception, a catholic may well supply situation ethics to the issue of supplying condoms to African states with a high rate of AIDS

Question 11

A Christian who usually follow their conscience might turn to the authority of the church or the bible if what their conscience tells them goes against what they knew was accepted as Christian teaching. A good example would be…

Answer 11

If a Christian heard the voice of God telling them to kill all the doctors who preform abortion. The Bible and the Church says that it is wrong to murder for whatever reason- so they would use the authority of the bible or the church to reject the voice of their conscience because, although they might feel the purpose of stopping abortion may be a good one, that does not justify killing people to achieve it.

Question 12

Christians who usually use situation ethics…

Answer 12

might decide that the issue was so complicated and the effects of the choice so uncertain that the safest thing would be to follow either the authority of the church or the authority of the bible because they are more likely to gibe the right choices than an individual trying to work it all out for themselves.

Question 13

My human rights are..

Answer 13

• We should all be treated the same
• Nobody has the right to send us away from our country
• we all have the right to do what we want
• the right to an education
• male/female equality
• no one should be held to slavery
• right to not be discriminated against
• right to a fair trial
• to have our own thoughts and ideas
• to have the right to belong to a country
• we are all born free

Question 14

When was the human right written?

Answer 14

1948

Question 15

Do all countries accept the human rights?

Answer 15

No

Question 16

What do human right do for us?

Answer 16

Human rights protect the innocent or the vulnerable from exploitation.

Question 17

Why are human rights important?

Answer 17

Human rights are important because with them everyone can live in peace and have justice and equality. Without them children as young as five are forced to work in mines and shops and even slavery. A lot of people are executed in China because they don’t have a lot of human rights and for reasons such as tax avoidance which in the UK you are barely even sent to prison for it.

Question 18

Some Christians believe that human rights are important because…

Answer 18

• The rights to life is a basic Christian belief because of the belief in sanctity of life- life is holy and belongs to God and should only be taken away by God
• Christians believe that all people are made in the image of God and so are one Human family. The equality and dignity of the human life is shown in the teachings of Jesus and the Church. Also the teachings such as the parable of the sheep and Goats encourage Christians to treat everyone as they were Jesus. Therefore it is important to Christians that everyone is treated fairly and equally and so they have the right to: not be tortured, freedom from slavery and forced labour, liberty, a fair trial, not to be punished for something that was not a crime when they did it, own property, an education and to participate in free elections.
• Freedom of thoughts conscience and religion, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association are an essential part of being Christian. Christians must have the legal right to have processions (legally the same as demonstration) to celebrate festivals such as Easter and Pentecost.
• The right to not be discriminated against in respect of these rights and freedoms is another essential human right for Christians because it ensures that Christians will not be disadvantaged compared to others. Employers can’t discriminate against Christians over jobs and pay. E.g.g employers cannot refuse to employ Christians because they themselves are non-religious and don’t want religious people in workplace.
• Human rights are also important to Christians because Christians believe in justice and many human rights are a fundamental part of justice and a just society.

Question 19

Although human rights are important top Christians, some Christians DO NOT approve of all the human rights because:

Answer 19

• Many Christians are against the right to from the civil partnerships because they believe that homosexuality is against God’s will as shown in the bible. They also believe that they have the right to discriminate against homosexuals by refusing to allow them the same sort of church blessing they give to divorced couples who have had a civil wedding.
• Some Christians are against the right to marry a person from a different faith. They believe that Christians should only marry Christians so that the children are bought up as Christians. They would also discriminate against inert-faith (e.g. Atheist and Christian) couples by refusing to allow them to marry in the church.
• Some Christians are against the right of homosexuals to raise a family. They believe that the children should be brought up by a mother and a father. Some churches have opposed the adoption laws which makes it illegal for adoption agencies to discriminate against homosexual couples when approved for adoption.
• There might also be a problem for the church if a catholic women who wanted to be a priest used human right laws against the catholic church, or if a catholic priest used the human right laws to defend the right to marry.

Question 20

What is democracy?

Answer 20

Democracy is the way that all citizens can be involved in the running of a country. Elections are the way that democracy is carried out, as all citizens over the age of 18 can vote for who they want to run the country.

Question 21

what is an electoral process?

Answer 21

Elections are when different political parties, like labour or the conservatives in the UK try to persuade the public that they should be in charge of the country and thus win votes. They will usually give speeches and hand out leaflets telling people their vision for the future of the country.

Question 22

How does politics affect our daily lives?

Answer 22

Transport, laws, food, money, roads, buildings, education, employee rules are enforced, etc.

Question 23

Why is it important to take part in electoral and democratic processes?

Answer 23

• The national government sets the rates of tax and collects the taxes (you pay income tax on your earnings and VAT on what you buy, the government usually sits the rates for these) so voting gives you some control over this
• Local councils set the level of the council which all residents have to pay accordantly to the value of their homes- so voting gives you some control over this
• The European parliament has some control over EU spending, which effects how much tax the UK government needs to collect so it is important to vote in the European Elections
• The national government is responsible for many important things (e.g. the police, prison service, immigration, armed forces, etc) and taking part in electoral and democratic processes gives you a say in how these are run.

Question 24

Why are Christians motivated to vote?

Answer 24

Most Christians think that they should take part in elections, but how they take part should be determined by Christians teachings on moral duties and the responsibilities of Christian people. Many believe that it is the moral duty of Christians to bring about social change, so that society becomes truly Christians. This idea coupled with certain key passages from the Bible, can influence who Christians decide to vote for.

Question 25

The golden rule when voting…

Answer 25

When voting Christians will look at policies and see how they will affect other people and see if they would be happy being treated that way e.g. a party wants to cut benefits for the disabled. A Christian would ask if thy would be happy if that happened to them and if they were in that situation.

Question 26

The parable of the sheep and the goats

Answer 26

“Whatever you do for the least of my brothers, that you do unto me” Jesus said that it was a Christian duty to help the poor, feed the hungry, visit those in prison and clothe the naked. Again this would force a Christian to look at the policies of a candidate. If they wanted to imprison a homeless people they would not vote for them as it is not helping them.

Question 27

The story of Cain and Abel - Am I my brothers keeper?

Answer 27

Cain is jealous of his brother Abel, and so murders him because he felt that God favours Abel more even though he was the youngest as God like Abel’s offering more than Cain’s. God asked him “Where is Abel?” to which he replied with “I know not, am I my brothers keeper?” God punishes Cain by making him become a homeless wanderer. This shows that God wants us to look after each other. (be ‘My brothers keeper’) The story of Cain and Abel shows Christians that they have a duty to look after everyone in need as the main principle in Human rights and political processes.

Question 28

What is IVF and what is the process of it?

Answer 28

1- People have difficulty trying for a baby so they decide to do IVF.
2- This involves the women taking different drugs so she can produce lots of eggs. These eggs are then harvested and combined with the man’s sperm to create embryos.
3- Many eggs are taken so that lots of embryos can be created. This is to make sure that there is a choice so that only the best quality embryos are implanted.
4- The embryos which are not implanted can then be used in stem cell research.
5- Cells are taken from unused embryos and implanted into the diseased cells to try and find the cures for currently incurable conditions

Question 29

What is Genetic Therapy?

Answer 29

This enables changes to be made to cells that pass on faulty information from one generation to the next, allowing permanent changes to be made.

Question 30

What is PGD (Pre-implanting Genetic Diagnosis)?

Answer 30

This removes the faulty genes from the embryos so women at risk of passing on the disease can produce healthy babies

Question 31

What is cloning?

Answer 31

Because stem cell research have no set nature of their own, they are manuplated with chemicals to take on the charactersitics of a certain cell type. E.g.g If a person needed lung cells, stem cells would be changed used chemicals to ‘clone’ or to ‘copy’ all of the properties of that liung cell.

Question 32

What is stem cell research?

Answer 32

Stem cells can be taken from bone marrow or blood. They are also harvested from embryos who were created for IVF treatments, but are no longer needed. Stem cell research is the most recent form of genetic research. Stem cells are ‘the building blocks of life’. Stem cell research can also be used to create or clone new organs to completely replace diseased or damaged ones.

Question 33

What does stem cell research do?

Answer 33

• Changing God’s plan for us (Playing the role of God- Christianity)
• Risk (Affect you emotionally and physically)
• Things could go wrong (nothing to guarantee)
• Advancement in scientific technology

Question 34

What are the disadvantages of Genetic engineering?

Answer 34

• Loss of human life (embryos)
• Some Christians are against IVF
• Goes against human (inhuman)
• No in-dependence
• No idea of the consequences

Question 35

What are the advantages of Genetic engineering?

Answer 35

• Humans can convert the beta-carotene from rice into vitamin A. This helps people who rely on rice but lack vitamin A.
• Insulin can be made cheaply and quickly by bacteria to treat diabetic.
• Get rid of disability

Question 36

Give some non-religious arguments against genetic engineering

Answer 36

1- There is too little information about the long term consequences
2- It has effects that would be irreversible, so if anything went wrong it would be permanent.
3- It places too much power in the hands of scientists who could use genetic engineering to act like Dr Frankenstein to produce scientifically create human beings
4- It treats the human body as a commodity no different from plants
5- It offers the possibility of people having to be genetically screened before getting life insurance, senior job, etc… with anyone likely to develop an illness or likely to die young losing out.

Question 37

Give some non- religious arguments in favour of genetic engineering

Answer 37

1- It offers the prospect of cures for currently incurable diseases
2- It is being done in other countries and so available to those rich enough to travel and pay for treatments
3- Cloning processes have been used to grow healthy cells to replace malfunctioning ones and so cure diseases
4- Cloning using animal eggs, as cybirds, does not involve any loss of human life
5- Genetic research is an integral part of medical research and it is bound to include some genetic research
6- Genetic research is closely monitored by the law but has vast potential benefits

Question 38

Why do Liberal protestants support Genetic Engineering?

Answer 38

1- Jesus was a healer who showed that Christians should do all they can to cure diseases (Catholics agree with this)
2- Discovering the genetic make-up of humans and using those discoveries to improve human life is part of what God wants us to do as stewards of his creation. It is no different from researching into drugs, which can be used to improve human life (Catholics agree with this)
3- There is no difference between creating cells and creating people. Creating people by science rather than sex would be wrong because it would be taking over God’s role in the creation of life, but creating cells is working with God (Catholics agree with this)
4- As far as using embryos for genetic research is concerned, embryos cannot be regarded as potential human life until there are 14 days old (This is the time limit set by human fertilisation and embryology authority for genetic research.)
5- They accept most of the non-religious arguments in favour of genetic engineering.

Question 39

Why do Catholics support genetic engineering but are against the use of embryos? (They agree with the first 3 reasons of the Liberal Protestants)

Answer 39

1- Life begins at the moment of contraception whether is a womb or in a glass dish
2- Killing an embryo is killing human life, which is banned by the bible and the church
3- Embryo fro research have been produced by methods which the catholic church disagree with (IVF and AIH)

Question 40

Why do some Christians oppose any form of Genetic research?

Answer 40

1- They believe that God has created the genetic make-up of each human being at the moment of contraception and people have no right in interfere with God’s will.
2- They believe that genetic engineering is playing God and this is a great sin
3- They believe that it is wrong to try and make earth perfect as only heaven is perfect. This life is a pre-preparation for heaven and should not be used to try and make heaven on earth
4- They accept most of the non-religious arguments against genetic engineering