In the bible there are many stories on prejudice one of them is The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). In this parable a Jew is beaten up, a fellow Jew walks on past with out helping him, a group of Jewish priests also walk past him but the one person who stops to help him is a Samaritan. This is of significance because Jews and Samaritans are enemies and it was the Samaritan who stopped to help him while his fellow Jews walked on past him.
This shows that the people being prejudice were the mans own people. The person who did not act with prejudice was the mans enemy. This parable teaches us that everyone is our neighbour and that we should show love towards everyone no matter who they are.
Jesus was one example that we should that heed of. He taught us that we shouldn’t discriminate against any person, because they might look, act or have a different religion from us. In the time of Jesus many people were being discriminated against, but he ignored this and purposely associated himself with these sort of people. Some of his apostles were outcasts from society. Jesus saw everyone as equal and he treated no one person different form another. This is why he associated with these type of people to prove his point, that everyone is the same.
Not only does the Catholic Church believe that prejudice and discrimination is wrong many other churches do so as well like that United Reform Church. “The United Reform Church commits itself to challenge and equip all its people to resist racism within themselves, within the church and within society as a whole.” The United Reform Church tells its people that to be racist within themselves, the church, or within the world is wrong. They believe that any form or kind of racism is wrong.
AO2) Explain how these beliefs might be used by a Christain who is concerned abouf prejudice and discrimination in society. In your answer, refer to one or more of the main types of prejudice. Consider whether all Christains would respond in the same ways.
One main type of prejudice that is widely spread and a major problem in today’s society is racism. This is a major problem because no one has the answer to it the person who is being racist has to realise that they are on different from him and respect the person of a different race. Racism is when a person discriminates against people who are black, a member of an ethnic minority, or someone of a different religion.
Many people have tried to stand up to racism although they have succeeded in some ways the problem still exists. One man who stood up for the rights of black people in America was Martin Luther King. He stood up for the rights of all black people and for the right to be treated as the white people were.
In America in the 1960’s black people were discriminated against in such ways as the black people were excluded from cinemas, schools, shops, hospitals and buildings. Boundaries where made to where they were allowed to go, mixed marriages were illegal and they were forbidden to vote.
In America black people were seen as second class citizens and white people were seen as superior. As Martin Luther King was a Christian he believed that he should try and stop racism by using peaceful methods. He did this by campaigning, speaking to large crowds and organised various forms of peaceful protests.
Another man who also fought for the rights of his people in South Africa was Nelson Mandela. At the start he used peaceful methods but this didn’t get him anywhere so he resorted to violence. This caused him to be arrested and put in jail for many years. But in the end the violence paid off as Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s first black president.
Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela both fought for the same thing but they both used different methods. This shows us that you don’t have to resort to violence to get what you want.
Another type of prejudice is sexism. This type of prejudice is even active in the Catholic Church. This is a contradiction because the Catholic Church teaches its people not to show prejudice and not to act prejudice or discriminate against anyone but the do it everyday by not letting women become priests. They argue that Jesus didn’t want women as none of the apostles were women, but in the bible there is nothing saying that women cannot become priests.
But in the Church of England there have been women priests since 1992. This not allowing of women priests has led to women’s groups campaigning to change this decision. It has caused many arguments within the Catholic Church but they are still against women priests.
AO3) “Prejudice and discrimination are the greatest sins for Christians to commit. They are totally evil” Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer, showing that you have considered more that one point of view.
I don’t agree with this statement as I believe that there are much worse problems in the world than prejudice and discrimination. There are worse things such as wars, poverty and murder which I believe are that greatest sins for Christians to commit.
Thousands of people are living in poverty and dying of starvation in our world. To go on and ignore this problem is wrong as we are all god’s children and should all be given the same chance in life.
In war many people are killed for no reason and it is usually innocent bystanders that are killed. But most wars are stared by countries discriminating against one another. So this could be classed as it being the greatest sin. The wars in Northern Ireland and Palestine are both caused by prejudice and discrimination. By people of different religions not being able to live in peace and constantly fighting with each other.
Being prejudice whilst being a sin I don’t believe that it is one of the greatest sins. But acting upon your prejudice can lead to hurting someone emotional and physically or it can lead tot he death of someone then it becomes a great sin.
In some cases prejudice and discrimination is good. Being prejudice towards criminals, terrorists, bad governments and violent religious people e.g. extreme Muslims who bombed the Twin Towers. These people are being prejudice and killing many people and causing hurt to many others.
In the Bible it portrays that Jesus thought that prejudice and discrimination was one of the worst evils. He gave us a commandment to love your neighbour he then followed it by a parable about prejudice i.e. The Good Samaritan. This suggests that Jesus seen it as wrong and that we should love one another as equal people.
If everyone was to except one another for their individuality and respect their differences then maybe much of the other evil in the world would end.
