Issues of good and evil notes flashcards
Aristotle - An ancient Greek philosopher who believed in absolute morality. He believed that developing virtues and having a good moral character is what makes a person good. such as being brave, kind and generous.
Conscience
-The voice of God within each individuals head that gives us a moral sense of right and wrong
-Conscience has to be listened to and used alongside reason to make decisions
-A conscience must be educated through prayer, study of scripture and experience.
Aims of punishment
-Protection - protect people from becoming a victim of more crime and removing a criminal from society, e.g prison sentence.
-Retribution - ‘Getting even’ - the criminal suffer just as they have made someone else suffer.
-Deterrence - to deter or put someone off committing crime altogether. e.g death penalty.
-Reformation - To reform or rehabilitate the criminal so they can understand why they committed the offences. e.g therapy
-Vindication - Punishment is to prove the authority or the law so people will follow it.
-Reparation - repairing the damage done such as a community clean-up schemes.
Prison reformers
-Elizabeth Fry', an 18th century quaker. She dedicated her life to improving the British prison system after visiting Newgate prison in 1813. she advocated for education in prisoners and a focus on reformation. She is most famous for teaching female prisoners to read and write and holding Bible readings for inmates.
-John Howard, a calvinist (denomination of Protestantism). He inspected prisons in late eighteenth century and found awful conditions. He sent his inspections to parliament, and called for basic and essential provisions such as clean running water, separate cells for men and women, access to doctors and greater number of prison officers.
Prison Chaplains
-Prison Chaplains are ministers who can be of any religious tradition whose main role is to provide ‘pastoral care’ for prisoners
Their role is to:
-Provide counselling
-Support rehabilitation
-See to spiritual needs
-help prisoners re-enter society
-give support to offender’s families.
Capital punishment
For:
-Protection of society
-Deterrence
-Retribution
-Uphold law and order
-If prepared to take the life of others they forfeit their own lives
-Some people cant be reformed
-Closure
-The ultimate punishment is needed for ultimate
Against
-Right to life - Human right
-Evidence shows it does not deter crime
-It can be used as a political tool
-mistakes - wrongly convicting the innocent
-Life is sacred and should not be ended human beings
-Expensive
-Forgiveness is important.
Christianity on Capital Punishment
Liberals:
-’Thou shall not kill’, Exodus 20:13
-’God created mankind in his image’, Genesis 1:27
-’Father forgive them, for they know not what they do’, Luke 23:33-34
-’Turn the other cheek’ - Matthew 5:38-39
Quakers
-punishment should be used to reform
-’Do not repay anyone evil for evil’ -Romans 12:17
-dignity and humanity of prisoners
Conservatives
-Advocate for the death penalty
-’An eye for an eye’
‘Whoever sheds the blood of a man, by man shall his blood be shed’ Genesis 9:6
-The old testament specifies 39 capital offences it is approved and created by God.
Catholics
-Divided - traditionally it’s allowed but not encouraged.
-1997 the Vatican said it was allowed if 100% sure on the identity and it would lead to protection for society.
-however, Pope John Paul II said that non-lethal means of punishment were ‘more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good, and the dignity of the human person.’
Islam and the death penalty
'Nor take a life - which god has made sacred, except for just cause’ Quran 17:33
-Most muslims agree that just cause would allow the death penalty for cases such as murder.
-Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia retain the death penalty
-However, some Muslims argue that Shari’ah law is often used by repressive government to attack women and the poor. And in countries where it is legal people do not always have access to lawyers or proper trials.
-Need to protect the Ummah
-Punishment is needed as part of justice.
Forgiveness
-Confession - A sacrament; the acknowledgement of one’s sin to God
-Reconciliation - Accepting an apology, forgiving and moving forward together in harmony
-Penance - A Sacrament consisting of regret for sin, confession to a priest, an act showing sorrow or regret ordered by the confessor, and forgiveness.
Bible quotes:
-’Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven’ - Luke 6:37
-’I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times’ - Matthew 18:22
-’For it you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you, But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins’ Matthew 6:14-15
Key teachings;
-Parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:21-22). The servant refuses to forgive a friend for borrowing a small sum of money when he had received a very large sum of money from his master. It teaches that we must forgive others in order to be forgiven ourselves and that forgiveness is something with no limits.
-Parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-24). A son demands his inheritance from his Father, is given it but then loses it all. He returns to his father poor and hungry and his father forgives him and takes him back in. This teaches that we should forgive despite wrongdoing.
Examples of forgiving;
-Gee walker, forgave her son Anthony Walker’s killers based on her christian faith. ‘Unforgiveness makes you a victim and why should I be a victim’
-Azim Khamisa, forgave Tony who killed his son Tariq- became friends with Tony’s grandfather and works to prevent youth violence. ‘You do forgiveness for yourself, because it moves you on. The fact that it can also heal the perpetrator is the icing on the cake’.
Islam and forgiveness
-Those who forgive others will be rewarded by God and it is the path to peace.
-Two types of forgiveness - God’s and humans
-’God is Oft-forgiving, most merciful’
-’God loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and He loves those who keep themselves pure’
-Prophet Muhammed and the Old woman - forgave her and helped her when she was sick despite her sweeping dirt at him.
-’(O you who have believed, indeed, among your spouses and your children are enemies to you, so beware of them.. but..) if you pardon and overlook and forgive’ - then indeed God is Forgiving and Merciful.’ Qur’an 64:14
Evil and suffering
Natural Evil - Natural disasters. e.g, earthquakes or tsunamis, which humans have no control over.
Moral Evil - The acts of humans which are considered to be morally wrng, e.g murder and theft
The inconsistent triad - god cannot be all powerful and all loving at the same time as evil existing.
Irenaean Theodicy
God make humans impoerfect and is therfore partly responsible for the exisence of evil.
To make humans pefect would take away their freedom to live in accordance with God’s will.
By creating impoerfect humans, individuls are given the chance to develop and grow through a soul-making process into children of God.
Irenaeus stated that eventually good will overcome evil and suffering.
Hick
Hick agreed that humans were created as impertect from the start, so that they could grow and developinto the likeness of God.
he developed thi further by explaining that through hardships and life, humans develop virtues, and these virtues are more meaningful than if they were simply graced to us by God.
Christian Response to the Problem of Evil.
-The fall - evil as a response to Adam and Eve disobeing God in the Garden of Eden.
-Some Catholics believe that all people inherited the tendency to sin from Adam and Eve.
-’The intent of a man’s heart is evil from his youth’ - Genesis 8:21
-Other christians believe that the devil is also a power for evil. He was formally an angel who disobeyed God and was thrown out of heaven. This is discussed in Luke 10:18.
-Suffering as a test - The story of Job.
Muslim response to the Problem of Evil
-Life is a test from Allah which they must endure evil and suffering as preparation for paradise.
-’Hold to forgiveness; command what is right; but turn away from the ignorant’ Quran 7:19
-Al-Qadr
Free will
Free will is God given and without it we would not be moral beings.
-The example is seen in genesis where Eve is tempted by the serpent, as a result of her free will is accountable for her actions.
-’Each of you should give what you have decided in your heard to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion.’ - 2 Cointhians 9:7
-It is out responsibility to choose wisely.
Preserved Tablet - Sunni
-Sunnies believe that there is a heavely preserved record of all that has happened and will happen. It contains our fate (Qadr)
-This is the belief in Al-Qadr (predestination). It is the concept of devine destiny/decree in Islam.
-’In all things the master-planning is god’s’ - Quran 13:42
Bada - Shi’a
-The belief that the divine decree can change in response to new cirumstances.
-’Indeed Allah does not change a people’s lot, unless they change what is in their souls.’5