human relationships 12 mark questions

Question 1

“Divorce is sometimes necessary” Evaluate this statement.

Answer 1

FOR:

• liberal christians - divorce = lesser of two evils. staying together cause more harm. domestic abuse, violence, etc. Jesus ‘show love to one another’, so divorce is most loving thing in this situation (fulfills agape).
• ‘anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her’ - not specific enough, doesn’t reject divorce entirely because people argue that it does, but rather it rejects remarriage. you could divorce and stay unmarried and this wouldn’t apply.
• if your spouse is being infidel and commits adultery, then there is no trust between you and so there will be no love.

AGAINST:

• the Church teaches forgiveness - try and repair relationship
• marriage is a sacrament - will never be dissolved in God’s eyes (unless by death). for example, a divorced Roman Catholic cannot get remarried whilst their ex-partner is alive.
• ‘the two will become one flesh’ - marriage is an unbreakable alliance, the relationship should be eternal and love be immutable.
• if the reason for divorce is falling out of love, there doesn’t need to be love for a marriage to work. love is only one reason for a marriage, you could also marry for procreation, financial support, etc.

CONCLUSION:

• divorce is right only in certain circumstances
• love and marriage should be eternal (‘till death do us part’). by breaking this sacred bond you are initially implying that you didn’t commit to your partner fully and the marriage service didn’t mean much.

Question 2

“People should live together first before they decide to get married.” Evaluate this statement.

Answer 2

FOR:

• fear of the relationship collapsing, and not committing until you know its going to work
• test-driving the relationship before fully committing to marriage -> creates an environment where you can really get to know eachother while learning how to share a living space and a life together`
• people may fear commitment, or because of witnessing failed marriages growing up, they may have a negative view toward marriage

AGAINST:

• marriage has mental and physical benefits over cohabitation. marriage provides financial stability, security and theres more commitment -> more likely to be fidel
• living together normally means youre having premarital sex -> forbidden in many religions ‘every sexual act must be within the framework of marriage’. ‘the only way to protect all within society is to maintain a society where only a man and his wife share the act fo sex’

CONCLUSION:
- as a muslim, i disagree with the statement - in cohabitation you are more likely to be tempted to have sex outside of marriage which is a sin. if its a sexual relationship they must be married first;