(d) ‘There is plenty of evidence that God exists’
I agree with this statement as I believe that miracles prove that god exists. I don’t think that any human could perform a miracle and only something with an enormous amount of power could do that. Also the fact that there are so many religions that believe in god should surely tell you that there must be something out there seeing as millions of people believe there is.
Matters of life and death – paper 4
Question 4
(a) Voluntary euthanasia is when someone is dying in pain and so asks his or her doctor or friends/family member to end their life painlessly.
(b) In Judaism, many Jews do not allow euthanasia as many passages form the Tenakh (Jewish holy book) teach that life and death are only in the hands of god and it is up to him to take life of give life, no-one else has that right. Also, they think that god gave life and so he should be the one to take it back. However some Jews believe that in some circumstances it is acceptable, such as switching of a life support machine as they think that striving to keep someone alive is interfering with god’s will and the soul should be free to go to god.
(c) There are different attitudes in Christianity about what happens after death because some believe that there is the resurrection of the body, they believe this because it is what St Paul teaches, it was Jesus’ body that rose from the dead and it is part of the Christian creeds. However many believe in the immortality of the soul. This is because, Jesus said the criminal on the cross would be in paradise straight after death, the communion of saints teaches that living and dead Christians can communicate with each other and things like near-death experiences when people say there soul has left there body and gone down a tunnel of light to god show the immortality of the soul. Christian believes that life after death may be different, but all Christians believe in life after death and this gives their lives purpose and meaning.
(d) ‘Every woman should have a right to an abortion if she wants one’
I agree with this as if the woman was raped and got pregnant, I don’t think it fair for her to keep that baby as a constant reminder of what happened to her. Also, if a 16 year old girl has a one night stand and as a result of this gets pregnant, I don’t think it is fair on the child to bring it in to the world when the mother can’t support it, and may not want it so doesn’t really love it. This gives the child an unfair disadvantage before it has even come into the world.
Marriage and family life – paper 2
Question 5
(a) An extended family is aunts/uncles/grandparents living with the mother, father and children or living close with lots of contact..
(b) In Christianity, sex before marriage is not allowed because the bible teaches that fornication is wrong and many Christians believe fornication is sex before marriage. Also, church leaders say the pre-marital sex is a sin. However, some Christians believe it is okay as long as the couple love each other, have been in a long term relationship and intend to get married eventually. This is because, Jesus taught that love is the most important thing, the bible does not specifically condemn marriage and the church has come to terms with modern attitudes to cohabitation.
(c) Family life is important in Judaism because Jews believe that family is at the heart of religion. The Halakhah says the parent’s should care for their children’s material needs, parents should make sure that all Jewish food laws are kept in the home, parents should teach their children about Judaism and their duty as Jews, parents should set a good example of the Jewish life especially by the festivals in the home and children are expected to be a comfort to their parents and be a comfort for them in their old age. Jews believe that family life is very important because, it was creates by god to keep the family together, it is the only way god wants children to be brought up, it is the place where children learn about Judaism and the festivals celebrated, the family is the only way of keeping Judaism alive and having family is one of the mitzvot which all Jews have to follow.
(d) ‘Living together is better then getting married’
I agree with this as I think living together is like a trial run of how life would be if you were marries and so if you are always arguing it isn’t a good idea to get married. Also, if you were married and things weren’t right but you had children then the children would be caught in this but if you are only living together and have no children then it is easier to let go if things aren’t working out without putting kids through it.
Social harmony – paper 1
Question 7
(a) Equality is where everyone is the same no matter what there gender/class/race/colour.
(b) Christian teachings on racial harmony are that all forms of racism is wrong and that Christians should make more racial harmony. This is because, Jesus treated people of different races equally, St peter had a vision form god telling him that god has no favourites among the races, god created all races in his image and all Christian churches have members, ministers and priests of all races and colours.
(c) Trying to convert someone may cause problems in a multi-faith society because this may seen as being discrimination towards the other religions, as if to say we are better and more inferior and superior then you so they should come in our religion as our religion is the right religion. Also by doing this other religions may feel threatened that our followers are going into other religions causing them to feel unequal and feeling they have to retaliate by doing something that the other religion then feels discriminated against.
(d) ‘A man’s place is in the home’
I do not agree with this as I personally feel that it should be the man who is out working in order to put food on the table and the woman should work or then stay at home and do the housework as well as look after the kids. I don’t think that the man should be the one who to be at home and doing the housework and the cooking but should be the one who makes that happen by going out and earning the money for his family.
