Community Cohesions

Question 1

Changing attitudes towards the roles of women

Answer 1

• Married women’s property act 1882
• Electoral reform act 1928 – women can be MP’s
• Equal pay act 1970
• Sex discrimination act 1975 – equal jobs

Question 2

Christian arguments in favour of women being treated equally

Answer 2

• God created man and woman equally
• Jesus had women disciples eg Mary Magdalene, Susanna, Joanna
• Women were present at the crucifixion and resurrection
• Evidence of women priests in the early Church

Question 3

Christian arguments against women being priests but promote equality

Answer 3

• Jesus was a man and the priest represents Jesus in the Mass
• Jesus chose men to be his closest disciples – first Pope was a man
• God created men and women equally
• The Catechism condemns discrimination – women can have other roles in Church e.g. teachers in Catholic colleges

Question 4

Evangelical Christian arguments against women being equal

Answer 4

• St Paul taught that women should not teach or speak in Church
• Eve was created from Adam
• Jesus was a man and his disciples are men
• It has always been the tradition within Christianity to have men as leaders

Question 5

Problems caused by racism and discrimination

Answer 5

• Employers will not give jobs to certain racial or ethnic groups
• Landlords of houses, hotels and B&B’s could refuse accommodation to certain ethnic or racial groups.
• Teachers may discriminate against certain pupils which mean they do not achieve
• Police officers may discriminate against certain ethnic or racial groups

Question 6

Government promoting community cohesion

Answer 6

• Offering financial support to certain groups for work for community cohesion.
• Making all schools in the country teach young people about community cohesion.
• Encouraging people to become MP’s from all ethnic and racial backgrounds.
• Giving the police and courts more power to deal with people who are working against community cohesion e.g. ‘Race Relations Act’ and ‘Racial and Religious Hatred Act’.

Question 7

Christian arguments in favour of promoting racial equality

Answer 7

• The parable of the Good Samaritan teaches that Catholics should treat everyone equally
• The Bible teaches that God created everyone equally and in His image.
• Jesus treated everyone equally e.g. a Samaritan woman and a Roman centurion’s servant.
• St Paul taught that everyone is equal through baptism
• Jesus taught the ‘Golden Rule’

Question 8

Christian arguments in favour of helping asylum seekers and immigrant workers

Answer 8

• Christians follow the Golden Rule
• Jesus taught in the Parable of the Good Samaritan
• Jesus taught the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats
• The Pope and the Catechism teaches that no one should be oppressed
• Jesus himself was a refugee and asylum seeker when Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt

Question 9

How the Catholic Church helps asylum seekers and immigrant workers

Answer 9

• Providing masses in different languages
• Welcoming immigrants and asylum seekers into the parish
• ORP – office for refugee policy set up by the Church, influences policies set up to assist asylum seekers
• Providing advice, education, leaflets and websites for migrants

Question 10

Benefits of a multi-ethic society

Answer 10

• Strengthens economy e.g. foreign business
• New food and fashion
• Reduces chance of war as countries work together
• Improves community cohesion – different groups living together

Question 11

Benefits of a multi- faith society

Answer 11

• It can help to stop conflicts between religious groups such as Catholic’s and Protestants or Muslims and Christians.
• People can learn about other religions and gain a better understanding of what it teaches.
• People are likely to become more respectful of other religions as they will meet and work with people of different faiths.
• People can learn about other religions from their friends and neighbours, and this can help them see what religions have in common.

Question 12

Catholics- inclusivist (non- Christians have some truth but Christianity is the whole truth)

Answer 12

• This is the teaching of the Pope and the Catechism.
• They believe Jesus is the Son of God who shows the truth about God.
• The Bible teaches that Christianity reveals the full truth about God.

Question 13

Evangelical Christians - exclusivist (Christianity is the whole truth and we should try to convert others)

Answer 13

• Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life” which means only Christians go to heaven.
• Jesus said “love your neighbour” and the best way to do this is to give people the chance to get to heaven.
• Jesus’ final words to his disciples were “go and make disciples of all nations”.

Question 14

Liberal Christians - pluralist (all religions are equal paths to God)

Answer 14

• They believe the Bible can be interpreted in different ways.
• Jesus said “In my Father’s house there are many rooms” which means heaven is for everyone.
• God is something that can be discovered by people in different ways.

Question 15

How religions work together to improve community cohesion

Answer 15

• Having services which invite leaders from different religions
• Having special wedding services for inter-faith marriages
• Allowing schools to visit different places of worship
• Setting up groups to discuss community cohesion eg “Council of Christians and Jews”

Question 16

Problems of multi-faith societies for children

Answer 16

• Interfaith marriage – where to marry / what religion for children / where to bury after death
• Conversion – can cause violence / shows that one religion thinks it better than the other
• Bringing up children – forcing religion on them / children choosing different religion to parents

Question 17

Media portrayal of equality- Vicar of Dibly

Answer 17

• It was fair to Catholic and many other Christian beliefs because it addressed their arguments as to why they only allow men to be priests. One of the characters mentions that Jesus only chose men to be his disciples.
• It was fair to Liberal Christians because it showed that women have equal rights and can become Church leaders.
• It was also fair to Evangelical beliefs because their views are addressed through the character of David Horton who puts forward the arguments that as Jesus was a man, the priest should also be a man.
• Some may believe that the presentation wasn’t fair to religious people because ‘The Vicar of Dibley’ is a comedy programme. Some Christians may think that the programme is making jokes about their beliefs.

Question 18

Community cohesion

Answer 18

Common vision and shared sense of belonging for all groups in society

Question 19

Discrimination

Answer 19

Treating people less favourably because of their ethnicity/gender/colour/sexuality/age/class

Question 20

Ethic-minority

Answer 20

A member of an ethnic group (race) which is much smaller than the majority group

Question 21

Interfaith marriages

Answer 21

Marriage where the husband and wife are from different religions

Question 22

Multi-ethnic society

Answer 22

Many different races and cultures living together in one society

Question 23

Multi-faith society

Answer 23

Many different religions living together in one society

Question 24

Prejudice

Answer 24

Believing some people are inferior or superior without even knowing them

Question 25

Racial harmony

Answer 25

Different races/colours living together happily

Question 26

Racism

Answer 26

The belief that some races are superior to others

Question 27

Religious freedom

Answer 27

The right to practise your religion and change your religion

Question 28

Religious pluralism

Answer 28

Accepting all religions as having an equal right to coexist

Question 29

Sexism

Answer 29

Discriminating against people because of their gender (being male or female)