Theme F

Social justice + human rights

In 1984, the UN adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This sets out the rights which every person should be entitled. The UK government is obliged to provide these rights. People can only have human rights if they acknowledge the responsibility to make sure these rights are available. They must respect others rights.

Equality

Christians and Jews both believe being created ‘in Gods image’ makes people special and precious. Christians are taught to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’.

Christianity and Judaism traditionally taught that heterosexual relationships are what God intended, e.g. Adam and Eve. Some Christians think homosexual relationships are sinful while others think it is not loving to condemn people for their sexual orientation. Orthodox Judaism teaches that homosexual relationships are wrong, but some liberal and reform Jews accept homosexual relationships.

Religious Freedom

The government protects the freedom of religious expression. Laws forbid the persecution of members of any faith. You may encourage anybody else to follow a faith, as long as you do not preach hatred or intolerance. People who discriminate against others can be punished by a court.

Positive Discrimination

Positive discrimination can help groups that have previously been discriminated against to gain equal access to opportunities. E.g. political parties in Britain may use positive discrimination to give women the chance to be elected at parliament as there are more male than female MP’s.

Women in religion - Christianity

Paul wrote that ‘women should remain silent in churches’. Many Christians believe Paul’s writings are a reflection of the times he lived in and should not be directly followed. Although Catholics and Orthodox churches do not allow women to be priests and argue that men and women have different roles. In 1993, women were allowed to become priests in the Church of England.

Women in religion - Judaism

Judaism teaches that women and men have equal value and status. However women and men traditionally have different roles. Orthodox Jews are more traditional. Women and men sit separately in the Synagogue and the rabbi must be male. Attendance of women at worship is voluntary, but for men it is a duty. For Reform and Liberal Judaism, these roles are different.

Teachings about wealth

Christians say that wealth is a blessing from God, but is also associated with greed and selfishness. ‘for the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil’. Jesus didn’t teach that it is wrong to be wealthy, but it brings danger of ignoring God.

Jews say wealth is a blessing from God, but Jews are taught to focus on God and fulfilling religious duties, not acquiring wealth. Some Jews pay 10 percent of their wealth to charity. They believe that working honestly is the right way to earn money, and laziness is not encouraged.

Exploitation of the poor

A way to stop exploitation of the poor is to make sure they receive fair pay. In the UK, there is the National minimum wage. In developing countries, people can make workers work for very low wages.

Poor people sometimes have little choice and have to borrow money from loan companies. If they cannot pay them back quickly, the interest rates increase dramatically.

People trafficking is the illegal movement of people, typically for the purposes of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. People who are desperate for a better life pay smugglers to bring them to a new country. Once in the new country they have little rights and are forced by smugglers to work. Some are kidnapped.

Giving aid

Short term aid = help given to communities in a time of disaster or crisis. E.g Christian Aid and World Jewish Relief helping a country after a earthquake. Short term aid is important for immediate survival bur does not tackle the underlying cause.

Long term aid = help given to communities over a longer period of time. E.g finding education for people. Although it may take time to have an effect, long term aid helps people become more self reliant.

Christian and Jewish responses to poverty

Christians and Jews believe they have been given a responsibility by God to look after the world and poor. Teachings such as ‘love your neighbor as you love yourself’ encourage this.

Responsibilities of those living in poverty

Christianity and Judaism teach that everybody has the talents and abilities to help themselves out of poverty if they have the opportunity to do so. Providing these opportunities is an important part of helping people to provide for themselves.