Unit 8: Section 1 - Rights and Responsibilities Flashcards
Why do Christians use the Bible to make moral decisions?
Many - Bible is the word of God and it contains teachings on how to live
Bible has authority from God about what Christians should believe and how they should live
Some - Only the Bible should be used to decide right/wrong and what they should believe
What are Christian opinions on the authority of the Bible?
Literally the word of God (God told the authors what to write) and is totally right
Bible is the word of God but needs to be interpreted by Church
Bible was inspired by God but needs to be adapted for modern life.
Definition of the Bible
Holy Bible of Christians
Definition of Church
community of Christians
How does the Church guides Christians?
Talking to other Christians
Listening to the priest or vicar
Praying or worshipping together
Accepting the authority of the Church to explain and teach God’s word
How do different Churches decide on moral issues?
Discuss in an assembly containing elected members of Church
Look to other leaders the Church to make
Why do Christians believe the Church has authority?
God speaks to them through the Church
Church is the body of Christ (teaching of Church = teachings of jesus)
Church provides rules so everyone knows what to do
Only Church fully understands the Bible and can interpret + apply it teachings
Definition of conscience
An inner feeling of the rightness or wrongness of an action
What do Christians believe conscience is?
The voice of God within us
How do Christians use their conscience to make moral decisions?
Bible - The Church - Conscience
Definition of Decalogue
Ten Commandments
Definition of Situation Ethics
idea that Christians should base moral decisions on what is the most loving thing to do
Why use Situation Ethics?
It is similar to the Golden Rule taught by Jesus.
Jesus seemed to follow Situation Ethics
What are reasons FOR using Situation Ethics?
Love is an easy principle to apply and remember in all situations
Doing the most loving thing will appeal to people as a positive idea
As love is the main principle, it follows a genuine Christian action
What are reasons AGAINST using Situation Ethics?
In theory, anything a person felt was the ‘most loving thing’ could be justified including adultery and murder
It is not easy to apply it in everyday cases where we are used to having rules
Definition of social change
The way in which society has changed and is changing
What are the types of moral authorities available to Christians?
Law and teaching of the Bible
Teachings and guidance of the Church
The conscience
Principle of Situation Ethics
Why use a variety of moral authorities?
They believe they must live life according to God
Different Christians believe different sources of authority contain advice and help on what God wants
What are the citizens of the UK entitled to?
Life
Education
Health Care
Racial/Sexual/Religious equality
Definition of human rights
The rights and freedoms to which everyone is entitled
Why are human rights important to Christians?
Every human being is created by God in his image and deserves respect
God loves everyone equally and should all be treated equally
Teachings of the Bible support most human rights laws
What are the three main political parties in the UK?
Labour
Conservatives
Liberal Democrats
Definition of political party?
A group which tries to be elected into power on the basis of its policies
Why is it important to take part in voting?
Voting allows citizens to have a say in who runs the country
People elected through voting are responsible for making important decisions that affect everyone
Definition of electoral processses
The way in which voting is organised
Definition of democratic processses
The ways in which all citizens can take part in government
What are the teachings on moral duties and responsibilities?
The Golden Rule
The parable of the Sheep and the Goats
Am I my brother’s keeper? : St Paul
What is The Golden Rule
Teaching of Jesus
‘do to others what you would have them do to you’
What is the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats
God will at the end separate his people from those who have helped others (sheep) and those who have not (goats)
Christians have a duty to help those in need when they can
What is Am I my brother’s keeper? : St Paul
St Paul taught that Christians should not stand by and do nothing while others suffer
They have a moral duty to actively care for others
What is genetic engineering?
Process where the structure and characteristics of genes are changed
Genes added, replaced or taken away.
What are the uses of genetic engineering?
Genetic disorders may be cured using gene therapy
Hormones and proteins can be produced
Inherited disorders could be removed from the embryo
What are the concerns with genetic engineering?
We don’t know the long term effects of GE and cloning
Technologies could be dangerous in the wrong hands (biological weapons)
Lead to ‘designer babies’
Who makes the decisions over what is defective and what is not?
What is cloning?
An exact copy of something
What are the types of cloning?
Reproductive cloning - create an animal or plant with identical genetic makeup to another
Therapeutic cloning - cloning of embryos to harvest stem cells
What are Christian arguments FOR genetic engineering?
God gave humans dominion over the world (no harm = acceptable)
Golden Rule - using GE to cure disorders and diseases are acceptable
Jesus healed people so Christians should follow his lead in improving the health of others
Humans have been given knowledge so it should be used to develop and save life
What are Christian arguments AGAINST genetic engineering?
Only God can create life and humans should not ‘play God’
Life is sacred and special and created by God = humans should not do anything against it
Catholics believe life starts at conception and are against anything that involves research on embryos when some are discarded
Many Christians would be against GE curing defects that don’t cause suffering
