Theme 4: Human Rights

Human Right

A right which is believed to belong to every person. They are moral principles that are inherent to all human beings no matter our nationality, sex, race, religion etc. They ensure equality without discrimination, they are interrelated, interdependent and indivisible

5 most important human rights

-we are all born free and equal -everyone is entitled to these rights -everyone has the right to life, freedom and safety -you have the responsibility to respect the rights of others -no one can take away any of your rights

Responsibilities

Having rights brings responsibilities, if we exercise our rights to the full we can actually hurt others, so we have to exercise our rights within reason, if I want to have my rights respected I have to defend that ideal for others

Social Justice

Justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, equal opportunities, and privileges within a society. For social justice to exist, society must be fair to all regardless of race, gender, age, sexuality, disability and belief. It involves promoting a just society by challenging injustice and valuing diversity. It exists when all people share a common humanity and therefore have a right to equitable treatment, support for their human rights, and a fair allocation of community resources

Religious Attitudes: Christianity

All people are equally valuable to God as they were all created in his image, it is wrong to mistreat the poor, everyone should be given a fair chance, respect differences, it is the duty of Christians to show God's unconditional love (agape) by caring for the poor and weak and speaking out against injustice

Why do Christians have to act?

"So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead" - James 2:17 "Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause" - Isaiah 1:17

Prejudice

A preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience

Discrimination

To act upon a prejudice, to do with how a person acts and behaves; treating someone or some group differently based on prejudice

What causes prejudice?

1.Having a bad experience 2.Parents/upbringing 3.Media 4.Ignorance 5.Scapegoating

What are the negative effects of discrimination?

Emotional, isolation, driven out, injustice, loss, death

Positive Discrimination

Treating people more favourably because they have been discriminated against since they belong to a minority, are under-represented or are victims of prejudice

What are the positive effects of discrimination?

Feelings of determination, sense of community, sense of purpose, jobs and support, balancing up society

Discrimination and the law

Article 1: all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights Article 2: everyone is entitled to all rights and freedoms set forth in this declaration, without discrimination of any kind

Freedom of religion BA example

BA employee suffered discrimination over her Christian beliefs. European Court of Human Rights ruled. Lady took her case to the ECHR after BA made her stop wearing her white gold cross visibly. Court said BA had not struck a fair balance between her religious beliefs and the company's 'wish to protect a certain corporate image'. Court ruled that her rights had been violated under Article 18. The United Kingdom is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, which stipulates, in Article 18, the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

Freedom of religion France bans veil example

In 2010, France banned the wearing of the full face veil. Law came into effect April 2011. Women face a 110 euro fine. Someone forcing another person to wear one faces a 10,000 euro fine or 2 years in prison. 2014, opposition groups took the case to ECHR, who upheld the ban. Court ruling stated the ban "was not expressly based on the religious connotation of the clothing in question but solely on the fact that it concealed the face"

Freedom of Religious Expression

The right to worship, preach and practise one's faith in whatever way one chooses

Personal Conviction

Something a person strongly feels or believes in, what they think is right or wrong

When religious and secular laws conflict

-Relative dies and the doctor wants to do an autopsy, however their religion dictates that you should not desecrate a body and should bury it whole -Someone is a pacifist and does not believe in violence, but they were called to fight and the draft papers said he had to join the war effort -A teacher won't let a student wear a silver ring which represents their vow to stay celibate until marriage, as it breaks school uniform rules, the student has not attended the school since

Conscientious Objector

A person who, for reasons of conscience, or for example religion, objects to complying with a particular requirement.

Secular Law

A non-religious law, such as state law

Feminism

A collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women

Patriarchy

A form of social organization in which males dominate females

How has Christianity been shaped by patriarchy?

Emphasis on God as a male Father, God incarnate as a man (Jesus Christ), Bible written by men from a male perspective, disciples were all men

Extremism

Believing in and supporting ideas that are very far from what most people consider correct or reasonable, a belief of a minority

Radicalisation

To change somebody's mindset or view to an extreme position

Fundamentalism

Taking a direct, literal or extreme interpretation of a teaching, text or religious doctrine. Often with the intention of furthering a specific agenda

Religious Attitudes: Islam

The Islamic creation story describes the first man being created by different types of soil from all over the earth of different colours and strengths. This shows the descendants of Adam were designed to be as diverse as the handful of soil

Religious Attitudes: Judaism

Everyone is descended from Adam and Eve and so are equal in the eyes of God and should be given equal respect

Martin Luther King

"Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence"

Censorship

The examination of different forms of media and the suppression of parts considered unacceptable. Media can be deemed unacceptable for reasons including being violent, sexually explicit or using bad language

Focus of Christian Aid

community health, inclusive markets, voice and governance, resilience and climate, gender, power and inclusion, humanitarian emergencies, from violence to peace

Beliefs of Christian Aid

Believe that poverty can be ended based on their understanding of scripture and the work of a creative, loving God: -human beings are called to have a special relationship with God and in turn have a particular relationship -Jesus promised 'good news' for the poor and 'freedom' for the oppressed, calling us to action -Jesus called his followers 'to love God and love your neighbour', he inspired his followers to long for justice

Christians views of wealth

Mark 10:17-25 - Jesus declares that it is harder for a wealthy person to enter heaven, implying that poorer people can better apply the Ten Commandments because it is all they have, he tells the wealthy man to follow his teaching and give to the poor, but he goes home sad because of his wealth, he has forgotten his morals because of his wealth, it is a replacement for what God could already give him Matthew 6:25-34 - God knows what you need and will provide for you, you don't need wealth to replace God, wealth will give you things that you don't need in order to worship well, you should have more faith in God than greed for wealth 1 Timothy 6:10 - loving money leads people away from their love of God, some have more eagerness to gain wealth than to gain God's love, wealth is a trap for greed ; "for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil"

Televangelists

If you are faithful to Jesus, you will be rewarded with wealth. They argue that as long as you love Jesus more than you love wealth , then wealth will be your reward for worshipping him

Absolute poverty

the point at which a household's income falls below the necessary level to purchase food to physically sustain its members

Relative poverty

poverty defined according to the living standards of the majority in any given society

The work of Fair-trade

Ensures that farmers around the world are paid a fair amount for their produce that cannot be lowered in order for the company to gain more profit. Fair-trade farmers benefit from this scheme because it gives them a regular income and can now work in cleaner conditions, as well as the improvement to their surroundings; new housing, health and sanitation, nee water supplies, sport and education. There is a fair-trade mark on products to inform the customer that it's a guarantee that they are going to make the little bit of difference to disadvantaged producers in LEDCs