Religious Conversion (Homework)

Your homework this week is to answer this question:

"It is wrong to try and convert someone to a different religion." Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion showing that you have considered other points of view. Include religious views in your answer. (4 marks)

I have coloured this because as you can see, to get the marks you need to do a number of things in your answer. To convert someone is to try and get them to change their beliefs; it is based on the idea that only one religion is right. So...for example, you may see Christians in the streets telling others about their faith and some will tell people of other faiths that their beliefs are wrong.

Should people have the right to do this? Is it a good or bad things?

Bring your work to paper in class or write your answer on the blog.

Prejudice + Racism

Don't forget to use the links to look at the background notes on these topics.

Our topic is "Social Harmony"

Some Facts about Racism

• 
  An African Caribbean graduate is more than twice as likely to be unemployed as a white person with A-levels.

In 1999 only 30% of Pakistani pupils, 37% of black pupils, and 30% of Bangladeshi pupils achieved 5 or more GCSEs at grades A*-C, compared with 50% of white pupils and 62% of Indian pupils.

Infant mortality is 100% higher for the children of African Caribbean or Pakistani mothers than white mothers.

A fifth of the housing occupied by asylum seekers is unfit for human habitation.

In 1998/9 black people were six times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people.

Over 4,000 people voted for the British National Party in Burnley in the 2001 General Election.

Read more details of this on the link below: (Source NUS online)

http://www.nusonline.co.uk/prioritycampaigns/makingequalitycount/kickoutbigotry/12854.aspx

So - here's your question:

What causes some people to be racist? (Why do some people believe that one group of people are naturally better than another group?)

Don't forget to post your blogs on the comments link directly below this (not on the old one).

REVISION, REVISION, REVISION (click here to go to revision guide)

One method of revising lots of information. The LOCI Method:

a) Think of a place you know very well (e.g. your journey to school or different rooms in your house).

b) For each topic you need to remember you will place images in different places that are familiar to you.

c) The brighter, stranger, funnier or more disgusting the image the more you will remember it.

d) When you need to recall the information go through the imaginary journey in your head.

E.g. If I want to remember Responses to the problem of suffering and evil (Why does a loving God allow people to suffer?): (I am using my kitchen as a place familiar to me).

I go to my fridge door and when I open it I notice a huge Killer Whale squashed inside. It's FREE WILLY, he's chosen to stay in the fridge. (God gave people free will, the ability to choose right and wrong).

On top of the oven there is a man dying on the cross, blood spilling all over the cooker. (Christians say that God shared in human suffering when Jesus died on the cross).

In the sink there is a little church with lots of people praying in it. (They are asking God to help those suffering).

On the draining board is Sherlock Holmes smoking a pipe and looking through his magnifying glass investigating a mystery. (It's a mystery why God allows suffering - we can never understand God).

The lights are very bright, when I look up I notice angels flying around the lights and clouds gathering. (This life is a preparation for Heaven when people will not suffer).

Once you have created the images go around your room again. 30 minutes later test yourself by making a note of the key points you needed to learn.

Run out of rooms in your house? Go into your garden, use a friend's room, use the school building etc...

DO REVISE!!!!

Euthanasia (easy death) click here for more notes

In the film Million Dollar Baby the lead character is paralysed and wants her close friend to end her life for her. He is a Roman Catholic and is not sure what the right thing to do is. The film is a great example of the euthanasia debate (and an easy way of revising this topic!!!)


Outline teachings used in discussions about euthanasia within one religion other than Christianity. (6)


In your answer you should :

• Define euthanasia
  Judaism teaches:
  


• Life is sacred (sanctity of life) and only God should take it.
  


• “You shall not kill” is the 6th commandment
  


• Euthanasia makes someone a killer.
  


• However, some Rabbis teach that it is also wrong to keep someone alive when they would die naturally.
  
  http://www.fitzwimarc.org.uk/GCSE/gjfiles/life/lifemenu.htm (for more questions on this topic)

Key Words:

• euthanasia an easy and gentle death
  
• assisted suicide providing a seriously ill person with the means to commit suicide
  
• voluntary euthanasia the situation where someone dying in pain asks a doctor to end her/his life painlessly
• non-voluntary euthanasia ending someone's life painlessly when they are unable to ask,but you have good reason for thinking they would want you to do so eg switching off a life-support machine
  

An unequal world (click here for an interactive map)

Watch the video below "Minature Earth."

The video is based on the idea that if the world was made up of 100 people, it gives an idea of the inequalities in the world.

After watching the video add to the blog your thoughts / feelings. Especially discuss which figures you think were most shocking or disturbing.

Click on comments to add your message.
Mr Beech

Homework 5. 7th February. Abortion (click here for notes)

Explain why there are different views on abortion amongst Christians. (8)

This week I have written an answer but there are a number of mistakes. Find them and suggest corrections!

Some Christians believe in the sanctity of life (that life is special to God and should be protected). However, there are still different beliefs about abortion.

The Roman Catholic church teaches that life starts at conception (about 2 weeks after the sperm meets the egg) (1) and that abortion is OK in some situations . (2) They would say that the Bible teaches "You shall not kill" and because of this it is wrong.

Many Protestants would agree with the Roman Catholic view. The Bible also says "you knew me before I was born" so they think God plans all babies and they are special to him. However, some think abortion might be the right thing to do in some situations. The man who introduced the abortion bill was a Christian and he thought it was better for people to have abortions illegally in back street clinics than with a trained Dr. (3) About 40 women died each year from bad operations. Some Christians would also argue that it might be a loving thing to do to allow someone an abortion if they have been raped or could not cope with a baby.

Key words to learn:

abortion the removal of a foetus from the womb before it can survive

sanctity of life the belief that life is holy and belongs to God

euthanasia an easy and gentle death

assisted suicide providing a seriously ill person with the means to commit suicide

voluntary euthanasia the situation where someone dying in pain asks a doctor to end her/his life painlessly

Homework 4 Unit 2 Matters of Life and Death

What are the main reasons for and against there being life after death? (8) Time = 10 minutes writing

FOR:

• A belief in nearly all religions. (E.g. Jesus said “in my father’s house there are many mansions” meaning there was a place in heaven for people)
• Near death experiences suggest something else happens when we die.
• People’s experiences of the paranormal (ghosts, mediums etc…)

AGAINST:

• No scientific proof
• There are so many different ideas they can’t all be true.

Success Criteria: (To achieve above 4 marks out of 8)

• I have answered all parts of the question.
• I have made a number of points relevant to the question.
• I have used examples and explained their relevance.
• I have written in full sentences + paragraphs.
  

Key Words (Learn the meanings for next lesson)

resurrection the belief that, after death, the body stays in the grave until the end of the world when it is raised

immortality of the soul the idea that the soul lives on after the death of the body

paranormal unexplained things which are thought to have spiritual causes eg ghosts, mediums

Homework 3 (click here for a simple revision link)

Your past paper question and key words. 24th January

Describe the Cosmological argument for God’s existence. (6)

• Define the argument (First Cause – how did we get here if nothing happens without a cause?)
• Explain that Thomas Aquinas first developed this idea.
• Give an example of something that needs a cause to happen (we looked at a pen falling off a table - there is always a cause)
  

For a more detailed explanation of Aquinas' argument click the link below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleological_argument



Key Words to Learn for this week

moral evil actions done by humans which cause suffering

natural evil things which cause suffering but have nothing to do with humans eg earthquakes

omnipotent the belief that God is all-powerful (potent = strong, like a potent smell)

benevolent the belief that God is good/kind

omniscient the belief that God knows and SEES everything that has happened and everything that is going to happen (We get the word Science meaning to see from the same words)

Tip - to learn key words write the word on one side of a card and the meaning on another. Look at thew word, in your head say the meaning, turn the card over - check. If you're right, go onto the next word, if wrong come back to it. Keep doing this until you know the words.

Week 2 January 16th (Click here for revision materials)

Expain responses to the problem of evil and suffering from Christianity and one other religion. (8)

You can choose from a number of arguments:

Christianity + Judaism:

• God gave humans free will, people choose to cause suffering.
• God created a perfect world that was damaged by sin – this is called original sin
• Sometimes suffering can be a test of faith (as happened with the story of Job in the Bible)

Christianity

• Jesus’ death on the cross showed that God understands and shared in human suffering,

http://www.fitzwimarc.org.uk/GCSE/gjfiles/pastques/quesgod.htm (for more questions on Belief in God unit)

Key Words

design when things are connected and seem to have a purpose eg the eye is designed for seeing

causation the idea that everything has been caused (started off) by something else

agnosticism not being sure whether God exists

atheism believing that God does not exist

Either write your answers on the blog or bring them to the next lesson. There will be a test of the key words at the start of the lesson.

Your homework programme for January - March 07

Each week you will be given one question from a past paper. With each question I will also give you some basic things that should be included within the answer. Your task is to write the answer (it should take you about 10 minutes) so that you practise writing answers and are revising in the process. You will also need to learn approximately 5 key words each week. The start of each lesson this term will involve a key word test and the marking of your homework answers.

Week One 9th January 2007

Unit 1 Belief in God
http://www.fitzwimarc.org.uk/GCSE/gjfiles/belief/godmenu.htm (for revision notes on this topic)

Explain how religious experiences might affect a person’s belief in God. (8)

• Briefly give examples of religious experiences (numinous, miracles, near death experience)
• Explain how powerful experiences could lead people to think God is real.
• Give an example of someone to whom this has happened to (E.g. St Paul’s conversion, Nicky Cruz)

Key Words (learn their meanings - they are worth 2 marks each)

numinous the feeling of the presence of something greater than you eg in a church or looking up at the stars
conversion when your life is changed by giving yourself to God
miracle something which seems to break a law of science and makes you think only God could have done it

prayer an attempt to contact God, usually through words