Rs- Human rights

• Human rights: are universal moral rights that apply to all people at all times in all situations, regardless of gender, race, religious or non-religious beliefs and age.
• What is social justice?

  Fairness and equality in the distribution of resources and opportunities in society.
• Social justice often involves governments and agencies working together to try and help developing countries. They mights try to make less of a divide between rich and poor or make sure environments are clean and safe so that societies are not affected by pollution or risks to their health.
• Attitudes to human rights and social justice:

  • The dignity of human life is a common belief for all religious and non-religious traditions. This doesn't just mean that life is important but that each life, irrespective of age, gender or ability, is of worth and value and should be treated as such.
• Liberation theology: The christian idea that God has the power to change situations in the world that are unjust.

  • Some christians have taken this belief to mean that it is right to stand up against governments that oppress their people or to challenge abuses of power
  • Christians may take part in peaceful protests or actively take part in supporting those harmed by injustice, for example people who are imprisoned for political reasons and without a trial
• What is censorship?


  The practice of suppressing and limiting access to materials considered obscene, offensive or a threat to security. People may be restricted in their speech or by censorship laws.
• Article 19 of the UN declaration of Human Rights states:

  'Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression, this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontier'
• What is freedom of religious expression?

  Freedom of religion and the ways that it can be shown
• Freedom of religious expression:

  • often we read of situations in which one person's desire to express their faith has led to others complaining and being offended
  • one way religion can be expressed is in the clothes or symbols we wear. In some countries, it is illegal to wear religious symbols to school
• The christian view:

  • Christianity teaches that we are all made in the image of god; therefore all people are equal before god. "Love your neighbour as yourself" (Galatians 3:28)
• More on the christian view:

  • The sanctity of life is a christian teaching which says that because we were all created equal before God all life should be respected, nobody is more important than anyone else and we should live according to this rule. " So there is neither Jew nor Greek, Slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ" (Galatians)
• What basic rights should children have?

  Protection, education, healthcare, love.
• What is extremism?

  Believing in and supporting ideas that are very far from what most people consider correct or reasonable.
• Actions of strong beliefs can lead to harmful behaviour:

  • interpretation of scripture that could impact negatively on others
  • focus on the afterlife... i.e it's okay for me to behave like this because I'll have an eternal life (martydom)
  • Influenced by friends and family who think the same and the same becomes the norm
  • Believing they are doing God's work