1. Rights and Responsibilities
Homework Booklet

2. Homework 1 Key Term Definition Bible the holy book of Christians
Church
the community of Christians (with a small c it means a Christian place of worship)
conscience
an inner feeling of the rightness or wrongness of an action
the Decalogue
the Ten Commandments
democratic processes
the ways in which all citizens can take part in government (usually through elections)
electoral processes
the ways in which voting is organised
the Golden Rule
the teaching of Jesus that you should treat others as you would like them to treat you
human rights
the rights and freedoms to which everyone is entitled
political party
a group which tries to be elected into power on the basis of its policies (eg Labour, Conservative)
pressure group
a group formed to influence government policy on a particular issue
Situation Ethics
the idea that Christians should base moral decisions on what is the most loving thing to do
social change
the way in which society has changed and is changing (and also the possibilities for future change)

3. What are human rights? (2 marks)
Human Rights in the UK
Your human rights are:
The right to life – the law must protect you from being killed. This is used by asylum seekers who fear being killed in their native country.
Freedom from torture and degrading treatment – no-one can be tortured in the UK OR by anyone acting on its behalf e.g. British soldiers
Freedom from slavery and forced labour – no UK citizen can be involved in either of these.
The right to liberty – people are free to do what they want within the law and can only be detained according to the law.
The right to a fair trial
Freedom of thought, conscience and religion – you cannot be persecuted for what you believe in.
The right to an education
The right to take part in elections – vote, stand as a candidate and have a secret vote.
Exam Questions
What are human rights? (2 marks)
b) Do you think human rights need more protection in the United Kingdom? Give 2 reasons for your point of view. (4 marks)

4. Why Human Rights Are Important To Christians
The right to life is a basic Christian belief because of the sanctity of life.
Christians believe everyone is made in the image of God, so people are all family. This is shown in the teachings of Jesus and the Church, e.g. The Parable of the Sheep and The Goats tells Christians to treat everyone as though they were Jesus. Thus, Christians believe everyone should be treated fairly and equally.
Freedom of conscience, religion, thought, association, expression etc are a vital part of being a Christian, as they must have the right to believe in Christianity and gather together for worship and have processions to celebrate festivals.
If Christians have the right not to be discriminated against, it means that employers can’t refuse to employ them because they don’t want to employ religious people.
Christians believe in a just and fair society and human rights are a necessary part of this.
Why some human rights can cause problems for Christians
Many are against the right to form civil partnerships because they believe that homosexuality is against the will of God and that they have the right to discriminate against homosexuals by not allowing them the same kind of Church blessing given to divorced couples who have had a civil ceremony.
Some are against the right to marry someone from another faith because they want children to grow up in Christianity and would discriminate against inter-faith couples by refusing to allow them to marry in Church.
Some are against the rights of homosexuals to have children because they believe this should be a mother and a father, so some Churches have opposed adoption laws which make it illegal for them to refuse to approve homosexual couples for adoption.
Might also be problems if a Catholic woman decided to use anti-discrimination laws against the Church in order to become a priest, or if a priest did the same to demand the right to be allowed to get married.

5. The nature of genetic engineering, including cloning
Exam Question
What are human rights? (2 marks)
Do you think human rights need more protection in the UK? Give 2 reasons for your point of view (4 marks)
c) Explain why human rights laws are important to Christians (8 marks)
Homework 2
The nature of genetic engineering, including cloning
Genetic diseases affect many people. Defective inherited genes can cause mental retardation, physical deformity and early death and scientists are currently looking for cures for many illnesses such as Huntington’s chorea and cystic fibrosis.
Stem Cell Research
Cloning processes have been used to grow healthy cells to replace ones that don’t work properly and so cure disease. This involves creating stem cells either from embryos produced for IVF, but not used, or from adult bone marrow or blood. These are then cultivated so they can multiply and be transplanted into diseased cells. Legislation to allow this was only passed in In 2008 a law was passed to allow human-animal embryos for medical research . Most of these are likely to be a human nucleus in an empty animal egg, making the embryo 99.9% human.

6. Non-religious arguments in favour of genetic engineering
Offers the prospect of cures for currently incurable diseases
Being done in other countries so available to those rich enough to travel and pay for treatments
Cloning processes can cure disease
Cloning using animal eggs does not involve loss of human life
Genetic research is integral to medical research and necessarily involves some genetic engineering
Genetic research is closely monitored by the law but has vast potential benefits
Non-religious arguments against genetic engineering
Too little information about long term consequences
Has effects which would be irreversible so if anything went wrong it would be permanent
Places too much power in the hands of scientists who could use it to produce scientifically created humans
Offers the possibility of people having to be genetically screened before getting life insurance, senior jobs etc with anyone likely to be ill or die young losing out
Some Christians are against genetic research because:
God created the genetic make-up of each human being at the moment of conception and people should not interfere
Genetic engineering is playing God, which is a sin
It is wrong to try to make earth perfect, only heaven is that
Accept non-religious arguments against it

7. Accept most non-religious arguments in favour of genetic engineering
Some Christians believe it is a good thing as long as it is used to cure disease not to create the perfect human because:
Jesus was a healer who told Christians to do what they can to cure disease
Using these discoveries to improve human life is what God wants humans to do as stewards of his creation
Difference between creating cells and creating humans, as creating cells is working with God
Embryos cannot be regarded as potential human life until they get to 14 days old
Accept most non-religious arguments in favour of genetic engineering
Some Christians believe it is a good thing as long as it is used to cure disease and does not use human embryos:
Life begins at the moment of conception whether in a womb or a glass dish
Killing an embryo is killing human life, banned by Bible and Church
Embryos for research have been produced by methods the Catholic Church disagrees with
Exam Question
b) Do you think cloning should be allowed for medical research? Give 2 reasons for your point of view (4 marks)
d) “Christians should agree with cloning.”
Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion (3 marks)
Give reasons why some people may disagree with you (3 marks)
At least one of the points of view should be Christian with reasons from that religion

8. End of Unit Test Pg 1 a) What is conscience? (2 marks)
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b) Do you think it is important to take part in democratic processes? Give 2 reasons for your point of view (4 marks)
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c) Explain how Christians make moral decisions (8 marks)
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9. End of Unit Test Pg 2
d) “You should always treat other people the same way you want them to treat you.” In your answer you should refer to Christianity
Do you agree? (3 marks) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(ii) Give reasons why people may disagree with you (3 marks)
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Peer Assessment
Total out of 20: ______/20
Target: _____________________________________________
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