Unit 8 Key Words Flashcards
Bible
The holy book of Christians
Church
The community of Christians (with a small c it means a Christian place of worship)
Conscience
An inner feeling of the rightness or wrongness of an action
Decalogue
The Ten Commandments
Democratic processes
The ways in which all citizens can take part in government (usually through elections)
Electoral processes
The ways in which voting is organised
Golden Rule
The teaching of Jesus that you should treat others as you would like them to treat you.
Human rights
The rights and freedoms that everyone is entitled to.
Political party
A group which tries to be elected into power on its policies (for example, Labour, Conservative)
Pressure group
A group formed to influence government policy on a particular issue
Situation ethics
The idea that Christians should base moral decisions on what is the most loving thing to do
Social change
The way in which society has changed and is changing (and also the possibilities for future change)
Artificial insemination
Injecting semen into the uterus by artificial means
Conservation
Protecting and preserving natural resources and the environment
Creation
The act of creating the universe, or the universe which has been created
Embryo
A fertilised egg in the first eight weeks after conception
Environment
The surroundings in which plants and animals live and on which they depend to continue living
Global warming
The increase in the temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere (thought to be caused by the greenhouse effect)
Infertility
Not being able to have children
In-vitro fertilisation
The method of fertilising a human egg in a test tube
Natural resources
Naturally occurring materials, such as oil and fertile land, which can be used by humans
Organ donation
Giving organs to be used in transplant surgery
Stewardship
Looking after something so it can be passed on to the next generation
Surrogacy
An arrangement whereby a woman bears a child on behalf of another woman or where an egg is donated and fertilised by the husband through IVF and then implanted into the wife’s uterus
Aggression
Attacking without being provoked
Bullying
Intimidating/frightening people weaker than yourself
Conflict resolution
Bringing a fight or struggle to a peaceful conclusion
Exploitation
Taking advantage of a weaker group
Forgiveness
The act of stopping blaming someone and/or pardoning them for what they have done wrong
Just war
A war that is fought for the right reasons and in a right way
Pacifism
The belief that all disputes should be settled by peaceful means
Reconciliation
Bringing together people who were opposed to each other
Respect
Treating a person or their feelings with consideration
The United Nations
An international body set up to promote world peace and co-operation
Weapons of mass destruction
Weapons which can destroy large areas and numbers of people
World peace
The ending of war throughout the whole world (the basic aim of the United Nations)
Addiction
A recurring compulsion to engage in an activity regardless of its bad effects
Capital punishment
The death penalty for a crime or offence
Crime
An act against the law
Deterrence
The idea that punishments should be of such a nature that they will put people off (deter) committing crimes
Judgement
The act of judging people and their actions
Justice
Due allocation of reward and punishment, the maintenance of what is right
Law
Rules made by Parliament and enforceable by the courts
Reform
The idea that punishments should try to change criminals so that they will not commit crimes again
Rehabilitation
Restore to normal life
Responsibility
Being responsible for one’s actions
Retribution
The idea that punishments should make criminals pay for what they have done wrong
Sin
An act against the will of God
Conflict
Fighting
Peace
A state of harmony with freedom from disturbance, fighting or war.
Anarchy
Situation where law and order have completely broken down and normal life is impossible.
Shariah Law
This is a code of law based on the teachings of Qur’an and the practice of prophet Muhammad.
Apostasy
The disaffiliation of a person from a religion.
