Rights and Resposibilities

Rights and Resposibilities

1. Making Moral Decisions

   • Bible
     • Word of God
     • Jesus is the son of god this means that the bible is gods guidance to humans so is absolute authority to decision making
     • they believe only the bible is definitely authenticated by god and so by following the bible can they be sure that their moral decisions will be approved by god.
     • the bible records the events in the life of jesus. This means many christians ask themselves how jesus would behave in this situation and then follow his example
     • 10 Commandments
   • Conscience
     • Christians believe that god speaks to christians, the voice of a conscience seems to be the same as the voice of god, therefore cchristians should follow it
     • The church says that christians should follow their conscience as if it were the voice of god, and christians are expected to follow the teachings of the church.
     • St Paul and St Thomas said taught that christians should use their conscience as the final part of moral decsion making . Some believe thay if such great christian thinkers believe this then should should believe it too and follow it
     • why christians think they shouldnt follow their conscience
       • People have been mistaken about the voice of god,.
       • I chrstians follow the teachings of the bible they are doing what alll christians agree is the christian thing to do.
       • If christians follow the teahings of the church, then they know other christians will think that what they do is right.
       • If everyone followed their conscience instead of laws life would be chaotic
   • Situation Ethics
     • Jesus seemed to follow situation ethics because he over riled what the old testement said when he thought it wwas unloving
     • You should only do what will produce good results.
     • they believe that jesus statement that the only laws are to love god and love your neighbor means that christians should always do what will have the most loving results
     • they believe that christianity is a religion of love and forgeivess and so christians should make their moral decisions based on love not laws
     • why some think it is wrong
       • They think god would not have given laws in the bible if they were not to be followed
       • They believe they should follow what all other christians believe is the right way to behave rather than relying on their own ideas
       • They think the church knows better what christians should do than the individual and so they follow the guidance of the church
       • They claim you can never know all the facts, and so dont know what the consequences might be
   • variety of authorities
     • catholic
       • would use autority of the church as it applies to more modern life
     • Protestants
       • bible as their authority because it is staightfoward
     • A chirstian who usually followed their conscience night turn to the authority of the bible or the church if what their conscience was telling them went against what they knew was accepted christian teaching.
     • A christian who usually used situation ethics might decide that the issue was so complicated and the effects of a choice so uncertain that the safest thing to do would be to follow either the bible or church
   • Church
     • body of christ, the church is how jesus works in the world.
     • most christiians believe that god did not stop speaking to people after the last book of the bible was written They beleiev god speaks today through the church
     • catholic christians believe that the autority of the church comes from the magisterium which they believe gives infallible guidance on moral behaviour.
     • If each individual christian made their own decisions then no one would know what rules to follow. If people follow the guidance of the church they can be sure they are doing the right thing

2. Human Rights

   • Why they are important for christians
     • Rght to life as life is holy and belongs to god and should only be taken by god
     • parable of sheep and goat treat everyone like they are jesus therefore it is important to christians that everyone is treated fairly and equally
     • Freedom of speech, religion, conscience which is an essential part of being a christian
     • The right to not be discriminated against in respect of these rights and freedoms is another essenntial human right for christians because it ensures that christians will not be disadvantaged compared to otherss
     • How they can cause problems
       • May are against the right to form civil partnerships because they believe that homosexuality is against god will as shown in the bible
       • Some christians are against the right to marry a person from a different faith
       • Some christians are against the right of homosexuals to raise a family

3. Why it i important to take part in democratic and electoral processes

   • gives you control over taxes on what you buy and stuff
   • National government can change laws which could effect your life so by taking part you have some control over this
   • responsible for many important things like the police schools the nhs benefits and penisions so u have a say in how these a run