Issues of relationships

• Adultery


  Voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not their spouse
• Divorce


  To legally end a marriage
• Cohabitation


  To live together in a sexual relationship without being married or in a civil partnership
• Commitment


  A sense of dedication and obligation to someone or something
• Contraception


  Methods used to prevent a woman from becoming pregnant during or following sexual intercourse
• Gender equality


  People of all genders enjoying the same rights and opportunities in all aspects of their lives
• Responsibilities


  Actions/duties you are expected to carry out
• Roles


  Position, status or function of a person in society, as well as the characteristics and social behaviour expected of them
• Monotheistic religions


  • Religions that believe there is only one God
• Secular


  A society where religious beliefs and practices are increasingly less important to a growing number of people
• Pluralism


  The existence of different groups and beliefs within society
• Patriarchal


  A family or society controlled by men
• Matriarchal


  A family or society controlled by women
• The traditional form of the family, an extended family, has been replaced by a variety of family forms
• Most common types of family

  • Nuclear family
  • Extended family
  • Reconstituted family
  • Single-parent family
  • Childless family
• The number of single-parent families has continued to rise in modern Britain as a result of an increasing rate of divorce
• Same-sex couples are often a childless family
• Roles of men and women in the family

  1. Caring for children

  2. Caring for other family members

  3. Maintaining the family home

  4. Earning money to support the family
• Both women and men aim to provide love, comfort, protection and support for each other and for any children
• Both have a role to play in the education of children to become responsible adults and future parents
• Men and women are both important role models for children
• In the past Christianity, Islam and Judaism all held a very traditional view of the role of women and men in family life
• These traditional views are changing, and women and men are now often regarded as much more of a partnership in family life with shared responsibilities
• In 2015 it became possible for men and women to share parental leave
• For many people it is in the home where religious belief is 'taught' and 'caught'
• Most religious believers think it is a religious duty for parents to bring up their children to share in their faith and teach them values which are important to them
• Basic values shared by Christians, Muslims and Jews

  • Respect your parents
  • No killing or murder
  • No adultery
  • No stealing
  • No lies
  • No envy or greed
• Many people today, such as humanists, think that children should make up their own ideas about religion or that parents should not share their religious beliefs and faith with their children
• Humanists believe all people should be able to make a free choice about accepting or rejecting religious beliefs
• For many religious believers, those who share in their faith are regarded as an extended family
• Pope Francis: 'The family is the basis of human society. The role of the mother in passing on religious faith is fundamental'
• The traditional teaching of Christianity, Islam and Judaism has been that marriage is the basis of family life
• A wedding ceremony is an important rite of passage in many religious traditions
• Christians regard marriage as a gift given to humanity by God-a sacrament
• Jesus: 'But at the beginning of creation God made then male and female" "For this reason a man will leaves father and mother and be united to his wils, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one fes'
• The phrase from the marriage service 'what God has joined together, let no man put asunder' is interpreted to mean marriage should be a lifelong union
• Christian wedding ceremony


  1. Vicar welcomes everyone and gives a short sermon

  2. Couple exchange vows

  3. Couple exchange rings

  4. Vicar declares the couple married

  5. Prayers, Bible readings, sermon, hymns
• The legal requirement in Britain is for the newly married couple to sign the register, witnessed by a registrar and witnesses, which makes the marriage ceremony legal
• In an Orthodox wedding the ceremony has a different format, with the bride and groom being crowned during the ceremony
• In the Qur'an there are numerous references to the importance of marriage and how it is the basis of family life