Rights And Responsibilities Flashcards
Why do Christians use the bible to make moral decisions?
- the bible is the word of God
- the New Testament teaches Christians how to behave (St Peter and Paul)
- Gods authority (Decalogue)
- comes from God so is only thing to be trusted
- kept Christians on the right path for hundreds of years
- Gods truth doesn’t change
What are different Christian opinions on the bible?
- literal word of God as he told authors what to write
- must be interpreted by the church
- inspired by God and guidance but must be adapted for modern life
How does the church guide Christians?
- talk to other Christians
- pray and worship together
- listen to priest or vicar
- accept churches authority in telling us gods word
Why do Christians believe the church has authority?
- God speaks through church
- only church can interpret the bible
- provides rules
- it’s the body of Christ so teachings of church are teachings of Jesus
What is the conscience?
- inner feeling of right or wrong
- voice of God within us
- allows all people to judge their actions
- feel guilty if we do wrong things
- most important guide
What are situation ethics?
- most loving thing
- it’s a good action
- someone should only obey rules of the bible or teaching of the church if it leads to the most loving action
What are reasons for using situation ethics?
- every situation is judged individually
- love is a genuine Christian action
- love is an easy principle to apply
- doing the most loving thing will Appeal to people as a positive idea
- Golden rule
- Jesus ignored bible teachings to help a woman being accused of adultery
What are reasons against using situation ethics?
- it’s impossible to predict what will happen in every example
- in theory anything someone feels most loving would be allowed (murder)
- it’s hard to apply situation ethics in everyday causes where we would usually have rules
Why should Christians use a variety of moral authorities?
- live according to God
- different Christians believe different sources of authority tell us what God wants so they might use multiple
What is spiritual development?
Belief that moral development is spiritual not social
What are all citizens of the U.K. Entitled to?
- life
- food
- Liberty
- equality
- education
- health care
- privacy
What is the human rights act?
- UK human rights are protected by law
- most are covered by the human rights act of 1998
- Anyone who feels their rights have been abused can appeal to the European court of human rights
How has the humans right act been criticised?
- allowed criminals to get away without proper punishment because their human rights were not upheld
- anti terrorism act is an abuse of human rights
Why are human rights important to Christians?
- every human is created in God in his image and deserves respect
- God loves everyone so should be treated equally
- 10 commandments support most human rights laws
What does religion say about human rights?
- sheep and goats teach that it is the moral duty of Christians to help people in need -Mathew
- golden rule - Matthew
- in multi faith societies Christians believe their faith should not be imposed onto the government
Why is it important to vote?
- allows people to say who runs the country
- those elected through voting are responsible for making important decisions
- issues include taxes, benefits, rubbish collection etc
- change can be brought through the democratic process
How can people take part in the government?
- write to MPs to discuss concerns
- become member of political party
- take part in demonstrations and petitions
- stand for election
What is the parable “am I my brothers keeper?”
- St Paul taught that Christians should not stand by and do nothing while others suffer
- Cain killed his brother Abel then denied he did anything saying he shouldn’t have to care for others
What are concerns over genetic engineering and cloning?
- nature is complex
- we don’t know the long term effects
- could be dangerous biological weapons
- there is no one to say what is defective or not
- designer babies
What are Christian arguments for genetic engineering and cloning?
- if it doesn’t cause harm its okay
- golden rule teaches that curing diseases and disorders is acceptable
- Jesus healed people so we should follow his example
- God gave us the gift of knowledge so we should use it to help others
What are Christian arguments against genetic engineering and cloning?
- only God can create life
- life is sacred and special
- life begins at contraception
- many birth defects don’t cause suffering
What could we do with GM?
- gene therapy cures genetic disorder
- insulin produced
- grow human organs of animals
- inherited disorders removed from embryos
- used to grow touch and resistance plants
