Name:. Form:. Yr11 Philosophy and Ethics Religious Studies B (OCR) GCSE Peace and Justice B604
ACTIVITY: Christian attitudes to war Explain Christian attitudes to war and peace. If this was the question you would need to give Christian teachings on why War is good or bad. Use the Chart below and give at least TWO teachings to show war is good (use the Old Testament) and TWO teachings to show that war is bad (use the teachings of Jesus). War is Good because.. War is wrong because.. 2
ACTIVITY: Pacifism What is Pacifism?.. What did Jesus teach to show he was a Pacifist? (Give TWO teachings). When did Jesus use violence?... What happened in the Garden of Gethsemane?....... Who are the Quakers? What do they believe about Pacifism?. 3
ACTIVITY: Just War Theory Christians believe you can go to war if you follow the rules of the Just War theory. Join up the sentences to the correct halves: If The government says to go to war then you can do so because this means - In other words this means there are good reasons for going to war. It is okay to go to war if it is the Reasonable chance of success War is allowed if it is a Just Cause it has been started by a proper authority Only the right amount of force can be used - if it means that evil will be overcome then you can go to war You can only go to war if there is a When you go to war (no excessive bombing or targeting of civilians) If good will be the end result of the war Last resort this means that all other methods have been tried Choose THREE of the rules of a Just War which you think are the best rules. Explain your choices... 4
ACTIVITY: Christian attitudes towards violence Below are Four Christians: TWO who believed violence does not work and TWO who believed violence should be used. In the boxes beside them write down the reasons for their actions: Martin Luther King Oscar Romero Camillo Torres Dietrich Bonhoeffer 5
ACTIVITY: Working for Peace How does Pax Christi work for Peace?. What work does Amnesty International do?...... WHY would a Christian work for peace? (Use specific teachings)........ How would an ordinary Christian work for peace? 6
ACTIVITY: Aims of Punishment What are the aims of Punishment? There is also Vindication which means there has to be punishment so that people can see that justice has been done. Why do you think this is important?..... How would a Christian treat criminals?.... 7
ACTIVITY: Forgiveness What do these pictures say about forgiveness? What is repentance?. Why is it important to Christians that forgiveness happens? Give TWO reasons..... Who was Elizabeth Fry and why was she important to prison reform?........ 8
ACTIVITY: Social Injustice Circle the pictures below which show examples of social injustice (unfair treatment of people) Can you name any? Why would Christians be against Social Injustice? How would Christians deal with Social Injustice? 9
ACTIVITY Exam question Look at the answer to an exam question below (c) Describe Christian attitudes towards the punishment [or treatment] of criminals. [3 marks] Christians believe that criminals should be punished for their crimes because it will keep them from doing more crimes. However a Christian does not believe in people being killed for their crimes because this is going against God s rules of do not murder. The candidate gave one of the aims of punishment (protection) and showed that Christians would be against Capital Punishment (the killing of a murderer), and addede a Biblical teaching. This got full marks. Remember the word attitudes shows that Christians might have different views. Write another answer using a different attitude and teaching. How would a Christian TREAT a criminal? 10
(d) Explain how Christians might respond if they see people being treated badly by a government. [6 marks] Christians would be very upset if a government treated people badly. They would get very annoyed and want to do something about it because Jesus taught people to treat others as they would like to be treated. So they might go on a protest march. This answer received 3/6 marks a level 2 answer. The candidate showed what a Christian would do (protest march) and why they would do that (because of a teaching by Jesus). Obviously the candidate needed to give more ideas and explain why the Christian would do such things (linking them to Christian teachings). You could, of course, state what a Christian would NOT do but you would need to explain why. So what could you have added to make this a level 3 answer? You could use the examples of some famous Christian people in this answer who would you use and why? 11
A* answer (d) Explain Christian attitudes towards the punishment [or treatment] of criminals. [6 marks] Christians believe that people committing crimes should be punished but it should be done in a fair way. The criminal should not be tortured or be put to death because this is against the sixth commandment. However it is important to punish the criminal because this will allow them to repent (turn away from their crime and make sure it is not done again). So a Christian would follow the aims of punishment which are: reform, (to make sure the criminal changes his/her ways), protection (to make sure people are safe from the criminal especially if he is a murderer), deterrence (to make sure others do not do the same thing) and retribution (making sure that the victims of the crime get justice an eye for an eye ). However, some Christians believe in forgiveness because this is what Jesus taught (70 times 7), which means that whatever the person has done you should keep on forgiving them because this is what Jesus died for on the cross he died to take all our sins. Jesus also forgave them woman who committed adultery and told her not to commit that The candidate has answered the question well and has not just listed the different Christian views but has written about them in detail. He/she has seen the key word attitudes which means that different Christians have different ideas on what to do with criminals. The candidate has also supported his/her statement with Christian teachings. sin again. Other Christians will follow the teachings in the parable of the sheep and the goats and will visit the criminal in prison in order to tell them about Jesus and how their sins can be forgiven if they turn to Jesus. 12
(d) Explain how Christians might respond if they see people being treated badly by a government. [6 marks] Christians would not like to see people being treated badly by a government because they feel that everyone has been created in the image of God and therefore everyone should be treated nicely. Some Christians would pray for the people being treated badly to ask God to help those people because they believe that prayer is important because this is what Jesus taught. Some Christians might support the charity Amnesty International because this organisation sends petitions to governments who they feel are doing wrong. The organisation also encourages people to write letters to people who have been wrongly imprisoned because this alerts the government to the fact that other countries are aware of what is going on. Some Christians might write a letter to their own government and ask them to intervene or they might boycott a product 13 The candidate has given several ideas on what a Christian would do and why. He/she has supported them with reference to Christian teachings or Christian examples. from the country where the government is treating the people badly because this is what many people did when South Africa encouraged apartheid. They would do this because it is a non-violent way of protesting and they would be following in the footsteps of Martin Luther King and also the teaching of Jesus turn the other cheek. Although some Christians may feel that it would be their duty to fight that unfair government and so follow in the footsteps of Camillo Torres. Some Christians felt it was their duty to go to war in Iraq because of what Saddam was doing to his people.
(e) People should be prepared to fight to defend their religion. Do you agree? [12 Marks] Discuss this statement. You should include different, supported points of views and a personal viewpoint. You must refer to Christianity in your answer. Yes people should be prepared to fight to defend their religion because if you believe in something really strongly then you should not turn your back on it you might be considered to be a coward if you did. In the past Christians were prepared to go to fight in the Crusades to set free Jerusalem from the Muslims. However sometimes, such as in the crusade against the Cathars, they were actually fighting against other Christians this has also happened when the Protestants were fighting the Catholics. Some Christians would be prepared to fight because of what Joel says in the Bible prepare for war and also because God tells Joshua how to win the battle of This would only be a level 2 answer. The candidate has shown different points of view and has expanded them to include reference to biblical teachings and evidence of what Christians have done in the past, but there is no real discussion they haven t given their view on the different viewpoints, nor have they drawn a conclusion. Jericho. However, other Christians would think that perhaps there are other ways in which to defend their religion perhaps through prayer or non-violent protests and they would follow the teachings of Michal (turn your weapons into farming tools) and the example and teachings of Jesus turn the other cheek. Expand this answer into a Level 4 14
Exam Practice (c) Describe Christian teachings on violence. [3 marks].... 15
(d) Explain Christian attitudes to the treatment of criminals. [6 marks] Note: Remember you will need to link ideas to specific teachings..... 16
(e) Pacifism is the best method and not violence Discuss this statement. You should include different, supported points of views and a personal viewpoint. You must refer to Christianity in your answer. 17
Possible c, d and e questions (c) Describe what Christians mean by a Just War. (d) Explain how Christians might respond if they see other people being treated very badly by a government. (e) Sometimes using violence is the only way to solve a problem. Discuss this statement. You should include different, supported points of views and a personal viewpoint. You must refer to Christianity in your answer (c) Describe Christian attitudes towards war. (d) Explain why Christians might work for peace. (e) All Christians must be pacifists. Discuss this statement. You should include different, supported points of views and a personal viewpoint. You must refer to Christianity in your answer. (c) Describe Christian teachings about the treatment of criminals. (d) Explain how Christians might respond to injustice. (e) Religious people should never use violence. Discuss this statement. You should include different, supported points of views and a personal viewpoint. You must refer to Christianity in your answer. (c) Describe Christian teachings about war. (d) Explain why Christians might work for peace. (e) Violence is sometimes necessary. Discuss this statement. You should include different, supported points of views and a personal viewpoint. You must refer to Christianity in your answer. (c) Describe Christian teachings about crime and punishment. (d) Explain how Christians might treat criminals. (e) Criminals must be punished as an example to others. Discuss this statement. You should include different, supported points of views and a personal viewpoint. You must refer to Christianity in your answer. (c) Describe Christian beliefs about pacifism. (d) Explain how Christians might respond to a war. (e) It is better to accept injustice than to use violence. Discuss this statement. You should include different, supported points of views and a personal viewpoint. You must refer to Christianity in your answer. 18
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