Rights and Responsibilities

Question 1

Church definition

Answer 1

The community of Christians (with a small c it means a Christian place of worship).

Question 2

Conscience definition

Answer 2

An inner feeling of the rightness or wrongness of an action.

Question 3

The Decalogue definition

Answer 3

The Ten Commandments.

Question 4

Democratic processes definition

Answer 4

The ways in which all citizens can take part in government (usually through elections).

Question 5

Electoral processes definition

Answer 5

The ways in which voting is organised.

Question 6

The Golden Rule definition

Answer 6

The teaching of Jesus that you should treat others as you would like them to treat you.

Question 7

Human rights definition

Answer 7

The rights and freedoms to which everyone is entitled.

Question 8

Political party definition

Answer 8

A group which tries to be elected into power on the basis of its policies (e.g. Labour, Conservative).

Question 9

Pressure group definition

Answer 9

A group formed to influence government policy on a particular issue.

Question 10

Situation Ethics definition

Answer 10

The idea that Christians should base moral decisions on what is the most loving thing to do.

Question 11

Social change definition

Answer 11

The way in which society has changed and is changing (and also the possibilities for future change).

Question 12

Bible definition

Answer 12

The holy book of Christians.

Question 13

How do Christians make moral decisions?

Answer 13

• The Bible
• Church teachings (Pope, Archbishop of Canterbury)
• Conscience
• Situation Ethics (what would Jesus do?)

Question 14

Christians SHOULD only use the Bible

Answer 14

• Fundamentalist Christians believe that the Bible is the literal word of God and he speaks to them directly through the Bible. Also that the Bible has no errors. They believe in miracles and want to go back to the fundamentals (basics) of Christianity.
• It contains rules accepted in society for example, the Decalogue. It has laws such as ‘do not murder’ and ‘do not steal’.
• It contains Jesus’ teachings and what he would do in moral situations. E.g. The Good Samaritan “treat others as you would like to be treated”.
• The bible is not influenced by present culture and society. E.g. Evangelical and Roman Catholic Christians believe homosexual relations are condemned by God.

Question 15

Christians should NOT only use the Bible

Answer 15

• Liberal Christians believe that, although inspired by God, the Bible was written by humans and therefore needs to be seen in the context of history. The OT is about promoting monotheism over polytheism. Noah’s flood is based on the Babylonian story of the Epic of Gilgamesh.
• There appear to be contradictions in the Bible and guidelines that would today seem immoral (slavery, genocide, rape - Joshua. There was a mistake when translation “Virgin”. The story of the flood is 40 days in one account an 150 days in another.
• Priests, Bishops, encyclicals, the conscience and situation ethics should also be used.
• The Bible doesn’t contain information about all moral issues - like stem cell research or cloning.

Question 16

Christians SHOULD use Church Teachings

Answer 16

• The Bible teaches that the Church is the Body of Christ on Earth and therefore the Church has he same authority as Jesus did - “so Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” The church is how Jesus wanted to act in the world today.
• Everyone who works in the Church will have had training and will have studied the Bible and their chosen denomination extensively. Those in the Church can be trusted that what they are teaching is God’s will.
• Christ is called the Head of the Church in the New Testament so Church teachings come from Jesus. “ Then Jesus came to them and said ‘All authority in heaven and on Earth has been given to me’”. (Matthew 28:18-20)
• The Holy Spirit is present in the Church today so can guide leader in modern-day issues that aren’t covered in the Bible - like stem-cell research, euthanasia and organ donation.

Question 17

Why would some people not use Church teachings as the only source of moral guidance?

Answer 17

• Don’t take modern morals into account.
• Human beings can make mistakes.
• In the Roman Catholic Church all men, covering female problems.
• A Christian’s conscience may tell them to act in a different way.

Question 18

Christians SHOULD use the conscience

Answer 18

• It is an inner feeling of right or wrong and helps people to choose the ‘right’ answer because “people basically tend towards good and away from evil. Conscience is the ‘reason making right decisions.’” (Thomas Aquinas)
• Church teachings support the use of the conscience - “in all his activity a man is bound to follow conscience faithfully, in order that he may come to God for whom he was created. It follows that he is not to be forces to act in a manner contrary to his conscience.” (Declaration on Religious Freedom, Vatican)
• Helps Christians know what to do in specific circumstances. E.g. Dietrich Bonhoeffer ‘Christians are…faced with a dilemma: when assaulted by evil, they must oppose it through direct action… Any failure to act is simply to condone evil.’
• It is a natural guide given to us by God. Joseph Butler (Anglican priest and theologian) said that it is “our natural guide, the guide assigned us by the Author of nature.”

Question 19

Christians should NOT use the conscience

Answer 19

• The conscience could be biased towards personal preferences - ‘apparent’ rather than ‘real’ goods (Aquinas).
• The conscience should not be used properly by itself as it may not have been understood properly. Christians should consult the Bible and Church teachings before conscience.
• The conscience is not from God it is from our environment (Freud). ‘The human psyche is inspired by powerful instinctive desires that must be satisfied’. Children learn that the world restricts desires. Humans create the ego, which accounts for societies desires. The ‘superego’ internalises and reflects anger and disapproval of others.
• The conscience may be mistaken - e.g. Peter Sutcliffe, who said God led him to do things, but God has no evil, his conscience was wrong - meaning one cannot always just follow their conscience.

Question 20

Christians SHOULD use situation ethics

Answer 20

• Jesus’ teachings - Jesus taught use to ‘love one another’ (John 13:24). ‘Greater love has no man than the man who lays down his life for a friend’.
• Jesus is a role model for this approach - adulterous woman, Jesus breaks an absolute law (‘he who is without sin cast the first stone’). Jesus picks corn on the Sabbath, saying ‘sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath’.
• Situation ethics are personal and based on the well-being of others. In situations such as divorce, divorce may be the thing which makes everyone happiest.
• Situation ethics are a pragmatic way to deal with a something. It’s more flexible and useful than following Biblical rules for the sake of it - there will always be situations that break moral absolutes.

Question 21

Christians should NOT use Situation Ethics

Answer 21

• It goes against fundamental commandments in the Bible - the Bible put these laws for us, for our well-being and we should stick to them.
• St. Paul points out that the law was put in place because humans are likely to be selfish and sinful if they try to decide themselves. Aquinas also believed this arguing that laws are put in place to curb self-interest. We can be selfish and argue the most loving this is what we want.
• It might lead to evil acts - we are not able to predict the consequences of what happens, therefore if evil arises it is our fault. In principal, murder could be condoned when applying Situation Ethics.
• The idea of love could be “subjective” - depending on the situation, our love can change and we help one person over someone else - e.g. if one is romantically involved. The most loving action could be different from the most loving consequence.

Question 22

Why are human rights important to Christians?

Answer 22

• Every human being is created by God in his image and we are all equal in his eyes - ‘So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.’ (Imago Dei - Genisis 1:27). ‘From one human being he created all races on the Earth.’ (Acts 17:26)
• The teachings of the Bible uphold human rights - ‘Learn to do rights; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.’ (Isaiah 1:17). ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’
• Church teachings uphold human rights. Pope John XXIII: ‘each individual is truly a person’. Desmond Tutu: ‘he does not tolerate a relationship with himself that excludes your neighbour’.
• Jesus is a role model for the protection of people’s human rights: Ten Commandments, The Sermon on the Mount, The Parable of the Sheep and Goats, The Parable of the Good Samaritan. Outcasts - lepers, prostitutes, tax collectors, Roman centurion, Good Samaritan.

Question 23

Examples of human rights and Christianity

Answer 23

• Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the fight against Apartheid - speaking out in South Africa. “God is weeping” - about President Mugabe of Zimbabwe.
• William Wilberforce and the abolition of slavery - “God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the Slave Trade and the Reformation of Manners”.
• Lord Shaftesbury and the Factory Act/Ragged Schools Union.
• Actions by Christians Against Torture - “Remember those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured” (Hebrews 13:3) is a quote chosen by the association. Jesus was tortured.
• Christian Solitary Worldwide - produced a report called ‘North Korea : A Case to Answer, A Call to Act’ about religious persecution in North Korea.

Question 24

Genetic Engineering is too dangerous for humans to experiment with

Answer 24

• There are long-term consequences of genetically modified creatures such as Dolly the Sheep - which suffered from a lung disease and lived for half the amount of time that an average sheep would.
• Use of embryos for Stem Cell Research. An embryo is a potential human life
• Technologies could be used for “evil” - biological weapons could be developed to carry out murders.
• Slippery slope - people could start to be altered just to make people disease free (e.g. finding out that a child in the womb had autism and then making them not autistic) - but it could continue into altering babies in the womb to be tall, athletic, beautiful, etc.

Question 25

Genetic Engineering is not too dangerous for humans to experiment with

Answer 25

• Genetic Engineering offers a cure for many diseases - manipulating microbes (eg insulin to help combat disease using E.coli). Also genetically engineering herpes virus to treat head and neck cancer.
• GM Crops - disease-resistant plants or they can be grown to improve on the characteristics they already have - eg trees absorbing more carbon dioxide than usual.
• Renewable fuel - biofuels created with Ethanol are cheaper and very clean.
• Medicines would possibly be able to cure malaria and HIV.

Question 26

Christians should support Genetic Engineering

Answer 26

• God gave us dominion - “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’” (Genesis 1:28). You can take care of things, we should use the creative part of being in God’s image to care for the world.
• Golden Rule - if you were suffering from a disease, you would want to find a cure to help you.
• It is a way of continuing Jesus’ work on Earth, as genetic engineering can be used to increase food supply, just as Jesus fed the 5000.
• Jesus healed people and this enables people to heal - factor 8 for haemophiliacs.
• God has given us the gift of knowledge - God has enabled us to have the knowledge to carry out genetic engineering.

Question 27

Christians should not support genetic engineering

Answer 27

• Playing God - “For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together from my mother’s womb… My frame was it hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the Earth. Your eyes beheld my informed substance. In your book we’re written all the days that were formed for me when none of the yet existed.” (Psalm 139). - if we are ill - God wants it.
• The Sanctity of life/Life begins at conception - some Christians believe that an embryo is a person and discarding embryos is murder.
• “Consider God’s handiwork; who can straighten what He has made crooked?” (Ecclesiastes 7:13). God has made us as he wanted - scientists shouldn’t change that.
• Made in God’s image - it’s wrong to make the earth perfect, only heaven if perfect. Life is in preparation for heaven.

Question 28

Sixteen year olds should be allowed to vote

Answer 28

• Lots of policies that ate voted for by the public will affect mostly the younger generations.
• 16 year olds are allowed to potentially have children, leave school and leave home, but why can’t they vote?
• If politics was taught in schools now, it would encourage more voting and throughout their lives their political interest would be great.
• Alex Salmond said that 16 and 17 year olds had shown themselves to be “serious, passionate and committed”.

Question 29

Sixteen year olds should not vote

Answer 29

• Politics is not taught in schools, and 16 year olds may not know and care enough to decide the fate of the country with a rational decision.
• There are lots of things that are legal to 16 year olds, but also many things they aren’t able to do, such as buy alcohol in a shop, and they are not as mature.
• They are still incredibly impressionable and may vote for ludicrous things.

Question 30

Agree: voting is a waste of time

Answer 30

• The political parties don’t represent anyone’s views so it would be voting for something which someone doesn’t strongly agree in.
• Voting doesn’t change anything - one vote doesn’t make a difference

Question 31

Everyone should vote

Answer 31

• How can anyone take your political views seriously if no action is physically taken.
• By not voting, you are losing your only chance to make a change.
• A political party that has ridiculous views may get in, because that’s who the only part of the population who voted voted for.
• Only works if everyone votes.

Question 32

What is the legislation on human rights in the UK?

Answer 32

• Most human rights are protected by law in the UK due to the Human Rights Act (1998). If someone feels their rights have been infringed or abused, they can appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
• Citizens in the UK are entitled to the rights of: life; food; liberty/free speech; racial/sexual/religious equality; education; health care; privacy.

Question 33

Why might some Christians be against following human rights?

Answer 33

• The right to freedom of speech may contradict the commandment of “Do not take the name of God in vain”.
• Human rights may go against the Christian teachings (e.g. capital punishment).
• Christians do not have a religious duty to follow human rights.

Question 34

What happens during the story about “my brother’s keeper”?

Answer 34

• Cain and Abel are two brothers.
• Cain commits three sins (jealousy, murder, lying).
• When God asks Cain where Abel is, he replies “I don’t know… Am I my brother’s keeper?”
• Cain represents those without love for others and is John speaks about him in the New Testament.

Question 35

Why is the story of “my brother’s keeper” so important to Christians?

Answer 35

• It is commanded in the Bible so Christians are likely to follow it.
• It is in accordance with the teachings of Jesus about loving one another (“love your neighbour as I have loved you”).
• Christians believe that they have responsibilities to care for those weaker than them, and this story reinforces this rule.

Question 36

Why is the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats important to Christians?

Answer 36

• It gives Christians guidance on how they should treat other people and so they can use it as a way to live their lives.
• It is a direct teaching of Jesus, who is the son of God and therefore they listen to it.
• It directs Christians on how they should act in order to get into heaven (or avoid hell) and therefore Christians can use it as a way to work out how to get into heaven (“when I was hungry, you fed me”).
• It shows Christians how to help Jesus as in helping others, they are helping him - “whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”

Question 37

How can genetic engineering help people?

Answer 37

• It can help to produce drugs - e.g. genetically modifying bacteria to produce insulin for diabetics.
• It can help to increase the yield of plants - e.g. genetically modifying a tomato plant to be resistant to insects and so would not be eaten.
• It can cure genetic disorders - e.g. gene therapy helped to cure an immune system disorder and blood disorders.
• It can be used to grow human organs and help with the shortfall or organs ready for donation - e.g. growing skin in a laboratory for burn sufferers.

Question 38

Why is the Golden Rule not always applicable?

Answer 38

• Criminals need to be punished and by using the golden rule no one would ever be punished as no one wants to be punished.
• Following the Golden Rule for oneself may cause harm to others.
• People cannot know the outcome of their actions.

Question 39

Why do Christians want to use the Golden Rule?

Answer 39

• It is a teaching of Jesus and therefore would be followed.
• It allows a flexible approach to dealing with situations (as opposed to always following e.g. The Decalogue).
• It is very easy to follow and easy to understand.

Question 40

Why are human rights important in the UK?

Answer 40

• They ensure that everyone is protected (especially those who are vulnerable) because there is a human right to family life.
• Maintain justice in society because if people’s human rights are abused, they can take it to court.
• They ensure that people can say what they want and have their own opinions as freedom of speech is a human right.
• They allow religious people to practise their religion as a human right is freedom of religion.

Question 41

Why must Christians vote?

Answer 41

• It is a way of submitting to the governing authorities, as St. Paul taught Christians to do.
• The Parable of the Good Samaritan - Christians must take responsibilities for their lack of actions as doing nothing is often worse.
• It is privilege to be able to live in a society with a democracy - it must be upheld.
• Christians may be able to influence a particular Christian party and uphold their values.
• Christians are stewards on the Earth and so by voting it is using God’s gift to look after the Earth.