Relgion and Equality Flashcards
What does Dignity mean?
x people should be allowed to live a life which they have self respect
x What does Discrimination mean?
x unfair treatment of one person or group
x because of acting upon prejudices
What does Equality mean?
x treating people the same way as others
What does Fair mean?
x something which is free from bias, fraud or injustice
What does freedom mean?
x the concept that everyone in the world should have the freedom to live, think, and speak what they want
What does Prejudice mean?
x making a judgement on someone before really knowing them
x this judgement affects another person
What are Rights?
x the idea that people have basic requirements which should be respected e.g. the right to education, the right to be treated with dignity
What some attitudes to other religions?
x Christianity - 33% x Islam - 21% x Hinduism - 13% x Buddhism - 6% x Other - 12% x Non religious - 14% (most of the world belongs to a religion)
x Some religions don’t think it’s necessary to make new converts e.g. Hinduism, Judaism
x Christianity and Islam are proselytising religions
(proselytising - to make converts)
x Christianity believes in evangelisation
(evangelisation - to spread the Good News i.e Jesus’ death and resurrection)
What is The Christian Mission?
x Christians believe it is important to spread Jesus’ message
- ‘Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them, and teaching them to obey everything i have commanded you’
What are Christian beliefs on equality?
x Christians believe that God created everyone equal
St paul said ‘There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither Slave nor free, nor is there male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus’
x ‘Love your neighbour ad thyself’ to discriminate goes against the commandment
x Jesus taught: ‘Love one another. As i have loved you, so you must love one another’
What is Evangelism?
x to spread the Good News i.e Jesus’ death and resurrection
x Christians believe it is their duty to spread Jesus’ message
x Gideon’s International do this by distributing free copies of The Bible and New Testament to schools, prison, hospitals etc.
x The Salvation Army believe it is their job to help the poor and disadvantaged in a practical way e.g. setting up shelters and soup kitchens)
What are Christian attitudes towards gender?
x The Christian Church has often been accused of sexism, e.g. referring to God as ‘He’ and historically only ordaining men as priests
x St Paul wrote ‘women should remain silent in the churches’
x Jesus showed great respect to women
x In the Gospel, women were present at the foot of Jesus’ cross when his disciples hid in fear
x It was women who discovered Jesus’ tomb was empty
x The Church of England now allow women to become ordained as priests
What does the Bible teach about Racism?
Parable of the Good Samaritan:
x A man is attacked by robbers
x He is passed by both a Priest and a Levite
x Eventually a Samaritan stops and helps him
x Jesus’ listeners would have been Jews, Jesus knew that Jews hated Samaritans and considered them to be racially inferior
x The message of the parable is that we should ‘Love thy neighbour as thyself’ regardless of race, sex, age, class
What are Christian attitudes towards racism?
x Although the Bible condemns racism, Christians have not always lived up to its teachings
x In 1948 South Africa introduced a system of segregation between blacks and whites called apartheid
x In 1994 apartheid was abolished in South Africa
x MLK Jr was black and challenged segregation and brought a change to the law
What is Ecumenism?
x The coming together of different Christian dominations, worshipping and working together
x In the past Roman Catholics have been suspicious of other denominations. However after Vatican 2, it was seen as important to work with Christians of other denominations
x Some think ecumenism is a waste of time, and we should focus on Third World problems
x They see no need for uniformity, arguing that Christians already have a basic unity
What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
x The United Nations Universal Declarations of Human Rights was drawn up in response to the abuse of basic human rights during WW2
x First human right ‘all human being are born free and equal’
x Second human right ‘Everyone has the right to life, liberty and freedom from fear and violence’
What do Missionaries do?
x Christian missionaries still go out to developing countries today
x Some Protestant evangelical churches still think it is important to make converts to save souls
x For the majority of churches the emphasis is on helping the countries to develop
What is taught about Forgiveness and Reconciliation?
x Jesus asked how many times a man should forgive his brother, ‘ not seven times, but up to seventy times seven’
x In the ‘Our Father’ it says we should forgive just as we have been forgiven by from our faults by God
x In the Roman Catholic Church there is a sacrament of reconciliation where a person can confess their sins to a priest
What is Amnesty International?
x Amnesty International is the worlds largest voluntary body working for human rights today
x It aims to: abolish death penalties in all cases
obtain a fair and prompt trial for all political prisoners
x Not a religious organisation but supported by many Christians
