Great Lives

Another great BBC Radio 4 programme. Unfortunately you'll have to listen to Great Lives quickly before it is replaced by another one! The reason I recommend this week's episode is because Ann Widdecombe has chosen Pope John Paul II as the "Great Live" to be discussed. His "life, character, charisma and holiness" is reflected upon in this programme.

Beyond Belief

I cannot recommend Radio 4 enough. Not only does it have a huge variety of informative and entertaining programmes, but many of these can be listened to again in order to help you understand religious and ethical issues better.

Beyond Belief is one of these programmes. Click on the link, then you can choose to listen to the Conversion programme if you are in Year 11, or the Ashura, Sunni and Shia programme if you are in Sixth Form. Or just choose any of the topics that interest you!

Martin Luther King

My Year 11 class has been set homework based on the life, beliefs and actions of Martin Luther King.

This homework is to be a substantial piece of writing, for example an obituary, a mindmap, a factfile, a eulogy, a speech, a letter, a newspaper report, a powerpoint, or perhaps something else that you can think of. (Check with me that it's okay.) I have looked up some relevant websites.

Remember, websites can be biased and may contain inaccuracies. It's always good to double check your facts!

The King Centre
Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Wikipedia
Time Magazine: 100 Most Influencial Leaders

And here's MLK's famous "I have a dream" speech:

Source - YouTube, "I Have A Dream"

Christian Denominations

I've just found this tree ... You can find out about the different branches of Christianity. Click to find out more about different Christian Denominations.

The Mass

One piece of Year 10 homework this week was to describe the Mass. We looked at most of the structure of the Mass in school. Here are a couple of websites to help you with your homework and/or revision.

Wiki description of the Mass

A list of sites about the Sacraments

Have fun!

Fairtrade Fortnight

Fairtrade Fortnight is coming up soon ... Year 9s will be learning about how we can become more conscious of fairly traded products, which will follow on from the work that you have been doing on the conscience. Can we keep a clear conscience if we buy products that have not been fairly traded, and, instead, buy products - bananas, coffee, trainers, footballs, flowers - that have been produced to bring large profits to a few people while those who work on harvesting or making them get very little?

Watch out for more on Fairtrade Fortnight ...

Big Brother ... Racist?

I was hoping to avoid Big Brother ... but when it makes not only the front page of the Evening Standard, and many broadsheet Indian newspapers, and is discussed in Parliament and on the Radio 4 news (and click here for a BBC link), then I suppose it ought to be on this blog!

In case you've not been following the news, there have (to date) been almost 20,000 complaints made to Ofcom, the watchdog body that overseas the media. People have been complaining that some of the contestants (namely Jade, Jade's mother and boyfriend, Danielle and Jo) have been bullying, and making racist comments about, Shilpa Shetty, a Bollywood star.

Gordon Brown is in India today, and he has been asked many questions about Big Brother by people who are extremely upset with the treatment seen of Shilpa. At the moment, Channel 4 are saying that there's not much they can do about it when Shilpa has not complained ... however, many of the comments have been made behind her back.

If you worked for Endemol, or Channel 4, what would you do? Would you want to stop showing the show, or pull out the main offenders to talk to them, or let things run and see how the main culprits respond when they are finally voted out? What would a Christian response be? How would you react if you were one of the celebrities in the house? Who do you respect most, out of the housemates?

First Test Tube Baby has her own baby

Louise Brown, the world's first test tube baby, has given birth to her first child (conceived naturally).

A Level students should be aware of this case, as part of the "right to a child" debate.

Girl banned from wearing a crucifix at school

The Daily Mail headline was large and clear yesterday. "Crucifix banned in school" (or something similar). Samantha Devine, who attends a non-denominational school, had been told to remove her crucifix, a gift from her father. Outrageous? Her father thinks so: "I have seen other religous pupils at the school who are not part of the Christian fath, but they are allowed to wear their religious garments and symbols without being questioned," he said.

However, the school has stated that the reason she has been asked to remove the necklace is because it represents a health and safety risk, and therefore goes against the school rules, which state that neck chains cannot be worn. The school has given Samantha the option of wearing a small lapel badge. After all, Christians are not required to wear any symbol of Christianity, whereas in some religions there is a religious requirement to wear certain clothing or symbols - for example, the 5Ks of Sikhism require every Sikh to have uncut hair (kesh) (and therefore wear a turban) and to wear a bangle (kanga).

At a conference yesterday, I heard that a Bishop (unfortunately I cannot remember the name, nor can I find it on the internet - can anyone help me find his statement?) was interviewed, explaining that Christians are not required to wear symbols, but are required to follow the rules of authority (or something like that) - in this case, if the girl really wishes to show her devotion she could wear a lapel badge, but she should certainly keep the school rules. There is no need for her to break them.

This is an interesting discussion, covering free will, the place of symbolism, devotion, and using religion as an excuse to get your own way ... I'd be with the school and the Bishop on this one. Would you be?

For more on this story at the BBC, click here.

Scientology Charity gives money to Labour

Labour given thousands by Scientology charity
Thought this could be of interest to those of you in Sixth Form who are studying Sects and Cults at the moment ... Should the Government accept money from this cult? Click on the link above to find out more about this story.

BNP Ballerina

'BNP Ballerina' returns to stage
Clink on the link above to read more about the English National Ballet dancer, Simone Clarke, who has admitted to being a member of the BNP. There have been protests outside the London Coliseum demanding that she should be sacked, since the ENB is a publically-funded organisation which receives £6million from the Arts Council each year, which requires recipients to be "aware of how their work contributes to race equality and promoting good race relations".

I first heard of this situation duing a conversation about free speech, and the difference between absolutism and relativism in the UK today. The person who mentioned this news was explaining that he thought that absolute views were out of date nowadays, and that he felt that relative morality was therefore a better position to take. In relation to this story, he believed that since the BNP is a legal political party, that in a democracy one should be able to state your political views freely, without feeling that people were going to campaign for your dismissal from a job.

However, the second person in the discussion said that he felt that any position being expressed in public by someone receiving money from the Arts Council, should express a position that was "for" life, not against it, which he feels the BNP is. My own position (I had not read the article so was not at that time in full possession of the facts) was that perhaps Joseph Fletcher's stance, in his Situation Ethics, that "love" was to be the marker by which one makes their decisions, was a positive one that could be embraced in this situation.

What do you think? Freedom of speech? Public money? Absolute views for/against the BNP? Relative morality ... are all positions equally valid, or are some invalid?

Sects, Cults and New Religious Movements

Sixth formers preparing presentations for this term's work could find the following links helpful. Remember that religion is quite a controversial subject, so some links might be biased, and I am not responsible for the contents of any links, since I've not had time to check them out.

Wiki Definition of a Sect
Religious Tolerance
Religions and Cults ... one point of view and long list!
Yahoo list of links to different religious groups
Wiki Definition of a Cult

And in general, looking up something specific on Google always helps!

I look forward to seeing your presentations. And to discovering what activities you have planned for us!

Virtue Ethics Essays

Here is a concept map for Virtue Ethics. You can make your own one while reading through your notes. I will make photocopies of this one for you on which you can add extra notes.

Natural Law Essays

Here is a concept map looking at St Thomas Aquinas' Natural Law theory. AS students will need to know about this for their Foundation paper next week ...

Cry, The Beloved Country

I came across this passage in the book, "Cry, The Beloved Country" by Alan Paton. It was written in 1948, and is set in South Africa. It is an excellent book, which I recommend. However, the passage I am about to quote reminded me of one of the GCSE questions, "Outline the problem of evil and suffering in Christianity" - or, more particularly, explain a Christian response to this problem.

"I have never thought a Christian should be free of suffering, umfundisi. For our Lord suffered. And I come to believe that He suffered, not to save us from suffering, but to teach us how to bear suffering. For He knew that there is no life without suffering."

St Vincent de Paul Society

So far, most Year 11s have written about CAFOD in their mock exam, rather than the St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP). Since the question was asking about Catholic organisations that help relieve poverty in the UK, you should have written about SVP.

Click on this link to find out more about this organisation:

http://www.svp.org.uk/

GCSE: Believing in God

Here are the questions you were asked in your mock exam:

1. a) What is conversion? (2)
b) Outline an argument got God's existence based on causation. (6)
c) Explain how the presence of religion in the world can lead to, or support, belief in God. (8)
d) "A religious upbringing brainwashes people into believing in God."
Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion, showing that you have considered another point of view. In your answer, you should refer to Catholic Christianity. (4)

2. a) What does omnipotent mean? (2)
b) What is the problem of evil and suffering for people who believe in God? (6)
c) Explain, with examples, how having a religious experience can lead to, or support, belief in God. (8)
d) "Considering the evidence, everyone should be agnostic."
Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion, showing that you have considered another point of view. (4)

Which set of questions did you choose? How did you go about choosing which questions to answer? Remember, you can only answer one set, you can't mix and match.

Personally, I would have gone for question 2, since I would find gaining 6 marks on the argument for God's existence based on causation harder than if the question was asking about the Argument from Design. Quite a number of you did describe the Design Argument in your answer, thus losing marks. I would also have found it a bit harder to gain 8 marks explaining how the presence of religion in the world can lead to, or support, belief in God, where it is necessary to look at some of the similarities found in different religious beliefs around the world, rather than the more straightforward religious experience question, where I could have written one paragraph each on the influence of the numinous, miracles, answered prayer and conversion experiences. Of course, I would then have had to have known that an agnostic is someone who is unsure whether or not God exists, rather than someone who does not believe in God (an atheist).

Right, now look at those questions again, and see what you think! Would you still choose the same set of questions?

Happy New Year!

I hope you all have all had a very happy new year, and that you all work hard and are well rewarded for that work in 2007!

Special thoughts go to those in Years 12 and 13 who are studying for their exams which are in just 12 days time. I hope your revision is going well, and that you've got your heads around Meta-Ethics, Natural Law and Relative Morality. We'll cover Virtue Ethics next week. Very quickly.

I've also been thinking of my Year 11s, since I've been marking your exam scripts. I'm sure you're looking forward to getting them back, and learning how to improve.

Happy New Year!