Human rights and Social Justice

• Every human being is considered to have equal and fundamental rights and dignity regardless of factors like race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion, political views, social status, or wealth.
• Social Justice is fairness in the law, equal rights and opportunities for all people.
• In Hinduism within India, the caste system is no longer as important as it was in the past
• “I am the way, the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.” - Jesus (John 6:14)
• “different paths to the top of the same mountain“ (Tagore)
• In Quaker Christianity believers are pacifists and believe that war is wrong
• Prejudice is when a person has a negative attitude towards a group of people based on their perceived characteristics
• Positive discrimination is when a minority is favoured over another group
• Main reasons for discrimination

  Bad experience, parents/upbringing, ignorance, biased media, scapegoating
• There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Jesus Christ. - Galatians
• God created everyone equally- Old Testament
• So in everything, do unto others as you would have them do unto you - Matthew 7:12
• Jesus told us to love our neighbour- Sermon on the Mount
• In the Good Samaritan story, the man is helped because of his need, not because of who he was
• Hindus believe in non-violence (ahimsa) love and respect for all things
• Hurting others can lead to bad karma which affects future reincarnations
• Hindus believe that the true self is the atman and as everyone has one, that must mean that everyone is equal
• The Bhagavad Gita suggests that to reach liberation then you should work for the welfare for all human beings
• For the love of money is the roots of all kinds of evil- Jesus
• Some people, eager for money, have wandered from faith and pierced themselves with many griefs- Timothy 6:10
• It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God -Jesus
• Money causes pain when earned, it causes pain to keep it and it causes pain to lose as well as to spend- Panachatantra
• Happiness arises from contentment, uncontrolled pursuit of wealth will result in unhappiness- Manu
• St Paul taught “women should remain silent in church”
• The Roman Catholic does not allow women to hold some leadership positions in the church.
• The Church of England has allowed the ordination of women (becoming a priest) since 1994.
• There are influential female gurus and saints such as Amma but all Brahmin priests are male.
• There are differences between men and women on a spiritual level, differences only exist at a physical level because of their past lives
• ”Faith without action is dead” - James
• How are the poor exploited

  Unfair pay, excessive interest on loans, human trafficking
• Give two Human rights

  vote, free speech, an education, marry
• State two charities who work for social justice

  CAFOD(Catholic agency for overseas development), Sewa international
• Stewardship is the responsibility of humans to care for the earth entrusted to them.