Rs

• Church positions on same-sex marriage


  • Catholic Church - "If a homosexual person is as good of will and in search of God I am not one to judge"
  • Church of Ireland - Many Church of Ireland parishes especially in NI are opposed to homosexual practice
  • Presbyterian church - they promote alternative sexualities
• Who is responsible for those in need


  • Government - has policies to help people (e.g. housing benefits, child benefits, income support)
  • Church - a community of people whose aim is to spread the benefits of that community to those around them
  • Charities - non-profit organisations set up to help people in need
  • Individuals - giving unwanted items to charity shops, fundraising
• Small acts make a difference
• Civil partnership


  Allows same-sex couples to register as partners and receive equal treatment as married couples
• Cohabitation


  A couple living together but not married, often for reasons like saving money or testing compatibility, with fewer rights than civil partnership
• Importance of the family unit


  • Protection - a child needs their family to protect and provide for them
  • Support - families provide emotional, physical and social support, help through difficult times, and companionship
  • Learning - families teach children right and wrong, how to interact with people, and instill values like tolerance, respect and charity
  • Identity - families teach children their beliefs, religious, political and cultural traditions
• Benefits of marriage


  • Social - sharing your life with a partner
  • Emotional - providing emotional support and help through difficult times, feeling wanted, cared for and understood
  • Financial - sharing living expenses, reducing financial challenges
• Bible teachings on marriage


  • Marriage is sacred - two become one
  • Marriage is exclusive - based on the Ten Commandments and adultery
  • Marriage requires love and respect for each other and Christ, with compromise
• Amnesty International has been working since 1977 and today 142 countries have abolished the death penalty, an example of a human rights movement
• Bible teachings on the death penalty


  • Old Testament - "Whoever murders one of them will be killed by someone else", "You shall not kill", "A life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth"
  • New Testament - "You would have no authority over me if it were not given to you by God", against Jesus' teaching on forgiveness
• Types of pacifism


  • Absolute pacifism - never right to take part in war
  • Self-defense pacifism - human life is precious, nothing justifies killing a person
  • Conditional pacifism - against the idea of war but accepts it in extreme conditions
  • Selective pacifism - opposes certain types of war, such as those involving WMDs
• Pacifist methods


  • Peaceful demonstrations
  • Picketing
  • Road blockages
  • Hunger strikes
  • Strikes
• Aims of punishment


  • Deterrence - the possibility of a fine or prison sentence may deter someone from breaking the law
  • Protection - to protect society from dangerous criminals
  • Reform/rehabilitation - support is given to criminals so they can become law-abiding members of society again
  • Vindication - that something is right and justified
  • Retribution/revenge - some believe in revenge, while others believe in forgiveness and the punishment should fit the crime
  • Reparation - criminals trying to make up for their wrongdoings by forgiving or repaying their victims and community
• Types of punishment


  • Fine - a financial penalty
  • Community service - the offender completes supervised community service
  • Suspended sentence - the offender's prison sentence is not carried out if they don't offend again
  • Probation - the offender serves their sentence outside of prison under supervision
  • Cautioning - the offender admits the crime and it is recorded, with no further action unless they offend again
  • Curfew - the offender is required to remain at home between designated hours, often with an electronic tag
  • Imprisonment - serving time in a prison cell
• Repentance


  When someone admits a wrongdoing and shows genuine remorse for it
• Forgiveness


  A conscious decision to stop feeling angry or resentful towards someone for something they have done wrong
• Bible teachings on repentance and forgiveness


  • Lord's Prayer - "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us"
  • Book of Acts - importance of repentance on the day of Pentecost
  • Parable of the Unforgiving Servant - God will forgive us if we forgive others
  • Parable of the Prodigal Son - Christians should forgive someone who repents, no matter the crime
• Restorative justice groups


  • Victim - provides support for victims/friends/family
  • Offender - helps offenders get jobs, homes, education, counselling, and activities to encourage reintegration into society
  • Community - meetings carried out by skilled mediators to transform negative situations into positive ones
• 75% of victims were satisfied with restorative justice, and many felt less fearful
• Arguments against abortion


  • "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you" (Genesis)
  • God created man in his own image (Genesis)
  • "Thou shalt not kill" (Ten Commandments)
  • Children are a gift from the Lord (Psalm 127)
  • The sanctity of life
  • Unborn children are conscious and can react (Luke 1)
• Arguments for abortion


  • Abortion is not directly mentioned in the Bible
  • Women should have the right to their own body
  • Embryo is a cluster of cells, not a human
  • Abortion puts the woman at risk
  • Abortion may be a better option than giving birth to a child with no quality of life
  • Abortion allows women to continue their education
• Abortion laws


  • 1967 Abortion Act
  • 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act
  • The Abortion Regulations 2020
  • Conditions for legal abortion: risk to mother's life/health, fetal disability, social factors
• Social viewpoints on abortion


  • Pro-life - abortion is wrong, the fetus is a defenseless and innocent being that needs protection
  • Pro-choice - abortion is acceptable, women should have the right to choose
• Alternatives to abortion


  • Fostering - child placed in temporary care of another family, still legally owned by parents
  • Adoption - someone else becomes the legal parent, biological parents give up all rights
  • Keeping the baby - government support available for single/cohabiting mothers
• Church teachings on abortion


  • Catholic - life begins at conception, abortion is murder, only allowed to protect life
  • Presbyterian - allowed to protect life, life begins at conception, not convinced abortion justified by life-limiting conditions
  • Methodist - abortion on demand is wrong, allowed to protect life, allowed for fetal inability to survive
  • Anglican - abortion is always evil, the right of the yet unborn
• Sanctity of life


  The belief that all life is precious and sacred
• Abortion


  The deliberate ending of a pregnancy
• Definitions


  • Pro-life - the view that abortion is wrong and all human life must be valued
  • Pro-choice - the view that abortion should be legal and freely available for women
  • Fetus - the stage between the embryonic stage and birth in human development
  • Embryo - the earliest stage of development in a human
  • Viability - the point where the fetus can survive
• Reasons against pre-marital sex


  • The Bible presents sex as a gift from God to enjoy in marriage
  • Avoiding sex avoids unwanted pregnancies
  • People can be left hurt after sexual relationships
  • Lessens the risk of sexually transmitted infections
  • The Presbyterian Church believes monogamous heterosexual marriage is the best defence against disease
• Reasons for celibacy


  • Religious reasons - devoting themselves to God, taking vows as priests/nuns
  • Haven't found the right person yet
  • Emotionally hurt from divorce
  • Unfair to children
  • Death of a partner
• People get news notifications through apps on their phones. While it is useful and informative to stay up to date with current affairs, it is also important to realise that some media outlets may be biased with regards to certain issues. This can lead to prejudice against some groups of people.
• Prejudice

  People can be prejudiced against a group of people if they have suffered a bad experience from one of them.
• Prejudice

  • An elderly person may have been treated badly by a group of teenagers and goes on to be fearful of all teenagers.
• Reasons why some people are prejudiced

  • List the reasons and number them in order of most likely to result in prejudice
• Direct discrimination

  An action that is prejudiced without a doubt, such as name-calling, bullying, excluding people or acting violently towards them because of prejudice.
• Indirect discrimination

  Less obvious but just as harmful, such as not getting a job, not being picked for the football team or being the subject of jokes that make people feel bad.
• Characteristics of discrimination

  Caused by a person with negative beliefs towards other people or groups, or caused by an organisation through their policies. Can also be positive, for example helping a blind person to cross a road.
• War is an attempt by one state to either defend itself against another state, or try to take something, such as land, resources or freedom, from another power.
• Civil war is an armed conflict between different groups within the same country.
• Causes of war

  • War is fought to gain land and resources
  • War is fought to defend an ally
  • War is fought to stop injustice
  • War is a defensive response to attack
  • War is fought to defend freedom, religion or lifestyle
  • War is fought to get rid of a dictator
  • War is fought to gain freedom from an occupying force