good and evil Flashcards
what are christian and islamic beliefs about punishment and justice?
- christians think we have free choice and there should be justice for sins. christians believe in punishment and forgiveness, with people allowed to reform themselves with god as the ultimate judge.
- people have free will and everything is allah’s will, seeing punishment as necessary for the ummah. he is compassionate but will be the final judge.
what is protection?
punishment often aims to protect more people from becoming victims of crime.
retribution
in simple terms, this means revenge.‘getting even’ with a person who has committed a crime means thatthe criminal suffers just as they have made others suffer.
deterrence, what is it?
for many people, one of the main aims of punishment is to deter or put
people off committing crime altogether.
what is reformation?
one of the main aims of modern punishment is to reform or rehabilitate offenders so that they can understand why they committed offences and attempt to ‘fix’ these problems. reform can take the shape oftherapy, counselling, education or training.
what is vindication?
through effective punishment the government and the law can prove that it deserves respect and should be followed.
what us reparation?
reparation simply means repairing thedamage done through crime.
what is a prison chaplain?
can be muslim or christian, attached to non-religious institutions. they provide pastoral care and counselling.
what are arguments for/against the capital punishment?
conservative christians believe in the death penalty and the old testaments teachings. liberal christians believe that all life is sacred and in forgiveness.
it is a deterrent but once someone is dead you cannot bring them back. the executioner is a murderer and it being a deterrent has technically failed.
describe beliefs about peace and conflict.
- christians believe war is not justified and are pacifists, with conscientious objectors refusing to fight. some believe in the just war theory, that a war has to hit a criteria for it to be legal.
- muslims believe that war is justified for the greater good and must be for a just cause. the lesser jihad gives instructions for war and the aim should be to restore peace and defend islam.
describe attitudes for good.
- genesis stated that god created good first. people have free will to choose but adam and eve both chose to eat from the tree. the ten commandments are instructions to live a good life and it is your duty to show love and compassion.
- muslims believe everyone has fitrah (instincts) to do right or wrong, with free will and doing good important and allah judging you on judgement day.
describe religious beliefs of evil.
- christians have a range of viewpoints. they believe in ‘soul-making’ to develop morality. st irenaeus said humans must grow to be perfect. st augustine said evil developed from free will and adam and eve. original sin is the tendency to sin because of adam and eve. life is a test, with the suffering of job as proof as he was eventually rewarded for his pain.
- muslims think everything is allah’s plan and life is a test to be answered to on judgement day. they must resist temptation.
what are the attitudes to suffering?
- suffering is a test to christians and god knows our limits.
- islam teaches everything is a part of the plan and life is a test, with muslims resisting temptation and should follow the prophet muhammad’s example.
what are the attitudes to the problem of good and evil?
- christians believe in free-will but are susceptible to sin because of adam and eve. christians don’t believe much in fate but that they make decisions along the way to pre-planned paths.
- muslims think that predestination is planned out by allah and humans are puppets. they think everyone can choose to follow or not follow allah with free will. muslims believe there is no fate in islams as this infers surrendering yourself helplessly. instead there is the idea of working to understand and cooperate with allah and bringing oneself to a unity with his will.
