RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES Flashcards
The Bible as a basis for making moral decisions (1.1)
- Bible is the word of God. Meaning that Bible is God’s guidance to humans and has authority in Christian decision making.
- Contains the teachings of Jesus on how to live. Christians believe that he is the son of God and they should follow his example.
- Contains the Ten Commandments/Decalogue which gives Christians clear moral guidance, e.g. do not kill.
- Contains letters from the apostles who were guided by the holy spirit. Letters were written to give guidance to early Christian Churches about how to behave and same advice can be used in making moral decisions today.
The authority of the Church a basis for making moral decisions (1.2)
- God speaks to the world today through the Church.
- The Church is guided by God in making decisions on today’s moral issues.
- Following the guidance of the Church stops Christians from being confused about what to do, and means Christians can be sure they are doing the right thing.
- They believe the Church is the Body of Christ - Jesus working in today’s world - so it must have the same authority as him.
The conscience as a guide in making moral decisions (1.3)
SHOULD follow conscience:
- Christians believe that God speaks to Christians. The conscience is like a voice in people’s heads telling them what they should or should not do. The voice of conscience seems to be the same as the voice of God, therefore Christians should follow it.
- The Church says that Christians should follow their conscience as if it were the voice of God and Christians are expected to follow the teachings of the Church.
- St. Paul and St. Thomas Aquinas taught that Christians should use their conscience as the final part of moral decision making.
- The teachings of the Bible and the Church do not come directly from God. The Bible has been translated and often needs to be interpreted. The teachings of the Church come through the Pope, bishops, ministers, conferences etc. However, conscience is God speaking directly to individuals and so should be followed.
The conscience as a guide in making moral decisions (1.3)
SHOULD NOT follow conscience:
- Friends may peer pressure them into things which may have now affected their conscience, therefore they may think they shouldn’t follow it.
- May have a mental disorder which affects their conscience into doing something wrong.
- If everyone followed their conscience it would be chaotic nobody would know what the other person was going to do. This is why we have laws.
- If they follow the Bible they are doing what all Christians think is the right thing to do and that may not necessarily be right.
Situation ethics as a guide in making moral decisions (1.4)
FOR using situation ethics when making moral decision:
- Jesus followed situation ethics as he over-ruled what the Old Testament said when he thought it was an unloving thing to do, e.g. he healed the paralysed man on the Sabbath when law stated you were not meant to work.
- Wrong to ignore the consequences of your actions. Should only do what will produce good results.
- Jesus’ statement, that the only laws are to love god and your neighbour means that Christians should always do what will have the most loving results.
- Christianity is a religion of love and forgiveness (as shown in the life and death of Jesus) and so Christians should make their moral decisions based on love, not laws.
Situation ethics as a guide in making moral decisions (1.4)
AGAINST using situation ethics when making moral decisions:
- God would not have given laws in the Bible if they were not to be followed. The Bible is God’s word to Christians about how to live, so it should be the basis for making moral decisions.
- The Church knows better what Christians should do than the individual and so they follow the advice and teachings of the Church.
- They should follow what all other Christians agree is the right way to behave, e.g. the Ten Commandments.
- Claim that you can never know all of the facts and so don’t know what the consequences might be.
(1.5) Protestants use the Bible as their authority because:
It is straightforward to use teachings such as the Ten Commandments to decide on issues such as stealing.
However, difficult to use Bible only, e.g. modern day issues like contraception (Bible doesn’t mention it). Therefore, they have to look elsewhere for guidance such as teachings of the Church or their conscience.
(1.5) Catholics and the Church:
Would normally follow authority of the Church. The Magisterium applies the teaching of the Bible and the apostles to modern life.
However, the Church bans artificial contraception, but a Catholic may apply situation ethics to the issue of supplying condoms to African states with a high rate of AIDS.
(1.5) Some Christians and their conscience:
A Christian who usually followed their conscience might turn to the authority of the Bible or the Church if what their conscience was telling them went against what they knew was accepted.
E.g. if a Christian heard the voice of God telling them to kill all doctors who perform abortions. The Bible and the Church say it is wrong to murder whatever the reasons. Using the authority of the Bible and the Church to reject the voice of their conscience because, although they might feel the purpose of stopping abortions may be a good one, that does not justify killing people to achieve it.
(1.5) Some Christians and situation ethics:
Christian may decide that an issue is so complicated with the effects of a choice uncertain that the safest thing would be to follow either the authority of the Bible or the authority of the Church because they are more likely to give the right choice than an individual trying to work it all out for themselves.
(1.6) Examples of human rights:
- The right to an education.
- Everybody is born free (no slavery).
- The right to vote in elections.
- The right to a fair trial.
- The right to marry.
- Freedom of religion and beliefs [no one can be forced to convert].
- Everybody can belong to a country.
- Freedom of speech.
- The right not to be tortured.
- No one can take your human rights away from you.
(1.6) Example of injustice to emphasise importance of human rights:
A journalist sent an email about the situation in China to someone outside of China. The Chinese authorities got hold of the email and put her in prison for 10 years without a fair trial.
(1.7) Why human rights are important for some Christians?
- Sanctity of life - life is holy, belongs to God and should only be taken by God. The right to life is a basic Christian belief, e.g. not to be executed or murdered.
- All humans are made in the image of God and are one human family., The parable of the sheep and the goats encourage Christians to treat everyone as if they were Jesus. Everyone should be treated equally and fairly, e.g. not to be tortured, freedom from slavery and forced slavery, liberty, a fair trial, not to be punished for something that wasn’t a crime when they did it, own property, an education and participation in free elections.
- Essential part of being Christian is freedom of thought, conscience and religion, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association. Christians have the legal right to believe in Christianity, to share their beliefs and meet for worship. Most Christians would want the right to have processions to celebrate festivals, e.g. Easter and Pentecost.
(1.7) Some Christians do not approve of all human rights because:
- Many Christians are against the right to form civil partnerships because they believe that homosexuality is against God’s will as shown in the Bible. And believe they have the right to discriminate against homosexuals by refusing to allow them the same sort of Church blessing they give to divorced couples who have had a civil wedding.
- Some Christians are against the right to marry a person from a different faith. As they believe Christians should only marry Christians so that the children are brought up as Christians. They would also discriminate against inert-faith couples by refusing to allow them to marry in church.
- Some Christians are against the right of homosexuals to raise a family, believing that children should be brought up by a mother and father. Some Churches have opposed adoption laws which make it illegal for adoption agencies to discriminate against homosexual couple when approved for adoption.
- May also be problems for the Church if a Catholic woman who wanted to be a priest used human rights laws against the Catholic Church, or if a Catholic priest used human rights laws to defend the right to marry.
(1.8) Democracy and elections
Democracy is the way that all citizens can be involved in the running of a country. Elections are the way that democracy is carried as all citizens over the age of 18 can vote for who they want to run the country.
