Ethics - Equality

What do Christians believe about family?

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 - place for the nurture and discipline of children

Parents should respect their children, children should honour their parents

Children should be brought up with Christian values

“The family is the original cell of social life” Catholic Catechism

What does the Bible teach about marriage?

“a man leaves his father and mother and is united with his wife, and they become one flesh” Genesis

“man must not separate what God has joined together” Mark

“a cord of three strands is not quickly broken” Ecclesiates

What do Anglicans believe about marriage?

Marriage is a commitment to “live and grow in love” - Marriage: A Teaching Document

Marriage offers 3 blessings:

1. creation and nurture of children

2. correct place for sexual relations

3. help and comfort during all aspects of life

You do not have to be baptised or Christian

What do Catholics believe about marriage?

Marriage is an unbreakable bond between a couple and God

It is a sacrament - an outwards sign of God

The couple must both be baptised, if one isn’t the marriage requires special permission

What happens during a marriage ceremony?

• Welcoming of the congregation

• The priests states what Christian marriage means

• Declarations: the couple make their promises in front of God to love and protect each other

• Vows

• Rings are exchanged - symbolising unending love

• Proclamation: priest tells the couple they are husband and wife

• Prayers are said

• Readings from the Bible

• A sermon about the importance of marriage

• Legally signing the register with 2 witnesses

What do Non-Conformists believe about marriage?

There is more freedom for the bride and groom, such as the ability to write their own vows

What do Quakers believe about marriage?

There is no minister because only God can join a couple together

Everyone will sit in silent worship until the couple feel ready to say vows

After this, silent worship continues unless someone wants to speak

What is the law on civil partnerships?

In 2005 it became legal for gay couples to have a formal ceremony and be given the same legal status as straight marriage

What is the law on same-sex marriage?

It became legal in 2014

What does the Bible say about homosexuality?

“Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable” Leviticus

What do Catholics believe about civil partnerships?

Catholics are against it

“They are contrary to the natural law” - Catholic Catechism - because they cannot result in children

“Men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies… must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity” - Catholic Catechism

Although against gay marriage in principle, Pope Francis allows priests to give blessings

What do Anglicans believe about civil partnerships?

They are against it

The House of Bishops told clergy not to bless civil partnerships

Ministers cannot carry out gay marriages

Vicars are allowed to have civil partnerships but they must remain celibate

Archbishop Welby does not approve same sex blessings, dividing the Church

What do Quakers believe about civil partnerships?

They allow gay couples to marry in their meeting rooms

What do Methodists believe about civil partnerships?

They are open to discussion, however the Methodist Church “does not consider that homosexual genital practice… is acceptable”

What to Episcopals believe about civil partnerships?

In 1976, they declared that “homosexual persons are children of God who have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love… of the Church”

What is pre-marital sex?

Sex before marriage

What is cohabitation?

Living together and having a sexual relationship without being married

What is celibacy?

Abstaining from marriage and sexual relations

What is contraception?

The deliberate use of artificial methods or tec

What is abstinence?

The practice of restraining oneself from indulging

What do Christians believe about sexual relationships?

Sex is a gift from god and an expression of love between a husband and a wife

It occurs exclusively in marriage

“Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery” Jesus

St Paul said all should stay celibate until Parousia

Catholic priests must take a vow of celibacy

What do Catholics believe about contraception?

They reject it based on Natural Law

“Be fruitful and increase in number” Genesis

What do Christians believe about divorce?

Christian couples enter marriage with the expectation it will last “till death do us part”

What do Catholics believe about divorce?

They do not allow it

Couples are permitted to live apart or seek an annulment

What is an annulment?

When the marriage was proven to be invalid in the first place

What do Anglicans believe about divorce?

You should do the most loving thing

Jesus permitted divorce on grounds of unfaithfulness

What are examples of sexism in the Bible?

“God created man in his own image” Genesis

“God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of man” Genesis

“she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man” Genesis

The Fall

“Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands” Peter

God is referred to as “He”

What are examples of gender equality in the Bible?

Jesus heals a sick woman

“There is neither… male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” St Paul

What do Christians believe is the role of women in the Church?

St Paul believed women should be silent in church

Orthodox and Catholics do not permit female priests because priests represent Jesus

Libby Lane became the first Anglican Bishop in 2015

Baptists and Methodists allow female ministers

The Apocrypha includes Mary Magdalene as a disciple

Jesus came to break down barriers, not reinforce them

Jesus was only following the tradition of the time

Women were made in Gods’ image

Jesus preached agape and so should we

What do Christians believe about the role of men in church?

Jesus chose 12 men as disciples, so men should lead the Church

The authority of the Church has passed through men, traditions can’t be broken

What is complementarianism?

The belief that men and women were created differently with different roles

What is egalitarianism?

The belief that men and women were created equally

How should Christians raise children?

Baptism

Sunday School

Choose to confirmation

“Children obey your parents” Colossians

How do the Amish raise children?

They follow the Ordnung - a list of rules on how to live

The community provides schooling until age 14 and practical skills on the job after

Children are raised to respect parents and older people

At age 16 they can live outside the community for a few years - Rumspringa - to decide to be fully baptised in the Amish community

What does fair mean?

Something free from bias, fraud or injustice

What does prejudice mean?

An idea which one person holds that affects another person

What does discrimination mean?

Acting upon prejudice towards another person

What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

It was made in 1948 in response to the Holocaust and lists 30 inalienable rights

What do Christians believe about equality?

No one is superior or inferior in God’s eyes

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” St Paul

“Love your neighbour as yourself” Jesus

What do Catholics believe about slavery?

“It is not contrary to the natural and divine law for a slave to be sold, bought, exchanged or given” Holy Office of the Roman Catholic Church 1866

What do Christians believe about wealth?

“It is easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into the kingdom of God” Matthew

However, the Catholic Church is the wealthiest organisation in the world today