GCSE+RS+Short+Course+Year+10

Date: 7th July 2010 Subject: Abortion

What do Christians believe? What is ‘Medical Ethics’? Applying moral values to medical situations where dilemmas occur, such as: //Should everyone have the right to have a child, helped by doctors, if necessary? // //Should people be kept alive severely disabled or in great pain? // //Should women be able to end a pregnancy if they choose? // Is life sacred? Many Christians have strong views about medical ethics simply because of one main belief: all life is made by God. //“God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” //  (Genesis 1: 27) Sacred? Sacred means ‘holy’. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">To suggest that life is sacred and holy means that it has a very distinct and special quality that must be preserved and cherished, so Christians assert. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> (Jeremiah 1: 5a) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Whose life? Whose right to life? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Ultimately the question needs to be asked: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Is my life mine?” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Christians will say that life is given by God and therefore remains sacred because it is from him in order to life according to his purposes. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The **sanctity of life** is a description that means that life is holy and thus determines whether or not certain actions are deemed to be right or wrong, as conditioned by Christian belief. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When does life begin? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Knowing when a human life begins is pivotal to how Christians in helping them to decide if and when abortion is considered to be morally acceptable. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Most pregnant women have their first ultrasound scan at 8 weeks and are able to recognise human characteristics. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The life of a foetus at 8 weeks. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What is abortion? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> Abortion is the deliberate termination of pregnancy by the removal and destruction of the foetus. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“How many?” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> Each year there are more than 200, 000 abortions in the United Kingdom alone. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“How many?” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> Around 4000 of the 200,000 women who have an abortion are girls aged under 16, the legal age of consent for sex. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">24 WEEKS! <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In the UK abortions are legal if the foetus is less than 24 weeks old, proved that two doctors consent to the abortion. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It has to be done before the baby could live outside the womb without medical help. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">After 24 WEEKS?! <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Abortions over 24 weeks are only allowed in exceptional circumstances: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Substantial risk that the child would be born with a serious disability //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The mother’s life is in danger //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If a woman has become pregnant as a result of rape //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Is this right? <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Is abortion an act moral evil? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- Christians disagree about abortion <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- There is no specific biblical teaching about abortion so Christians apply their own understanding of Christian ethics <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- The teachings of the Bible can be interpreted in different ways, depending on one’s attitudes concerning abortion <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Do babies have souls? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- Many Christians believe that all babies have souls from the moment of conception and so are __fully human__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- Genesis 1: 27> people are made in the image of God and that God has a plan for everyone <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- Jeremiah 1: 5 > God is the creative spark from the moment of conception (Psalm 139: 13) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- Christians believe the foetus is fully human and that abortion is act of murder <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Denominational agreement <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- Both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church teach that abortion is categorically wrong and is a great moral evil <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- Both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church believe that all life should be protected and respected from the moment of conception <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Roman Catholic Church <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- DOES NOT permit abortions under any circumstances UNLESS it is the unintended but foreseeable result of an action <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- Example: ‘Doctrine of the double effect’ in a case where in a necessary operation to save the life of the mother the life of the foetus is compromised, such as an ectopic pregnancy <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Church of England <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- Abortion is only acceptable in EXCEPTIONAL circumstances, such as: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> a) necessary to save the mother’s life <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> b) the pregnancy is the result of rape <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> c) baby is likely to be severely disabled <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Other denominations <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- Other Christians take a broader (liberal) view but believe abortion should be a last resort and the parents must make the final decision <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Just a thought....... <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“One question about all this is: why is it when I wanted the baby it was a baby, and when I didn’t it was something else?” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How would you respond to this question? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Medical Ethics: Abortion ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">

Date: 24 March 2010 Subject: Holiday Revision

Warm greetings 10S & 10H!

Whilst I hope you all get some well deserved rest in the Easter holidays I must remind you that you need to revise for your first exam in the __first week we get back__. Use your textbook, as well as your CGP Revision Guide to aid your revision from your own notes.

Revise the following areas of the specification:

1) Introduction to Christianity (pp 4-16 of textbook)

The Beliefs of Christians The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity The Apostles' Creed (memorise!) The Nicene Creed (memorise!)

2) Dying & Death (see 'Death Revision' & 'Death & Afterlife' attachments below, as well relevant pages from the textbook)

Sanctity of life / quality of life Euthanasia (types / arguments for and against / Christian perspective) Heaven Hell Purgatory Soul Resurrection God as Judge Hospice Movement

3) Two Great Commandments (p29 of textbook)

4) Four Loves (p47 of CGP Guide)

5) Sin, Judgement & The Fall of Man (Genesis 3) (pp16-22 of the textbook)

6) Pilgrimage (pp 58-69 of textbook)

Thank you.

Sincerely, Fr.Whitwell

Warm greetings 10S & 10H,

Here are the notes from Week 7 (last week of February)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 70%;"> Prep: 1. Explain how Christians understand:

a) Heaven b) Hell c) Purgatory d) Soul

2. “For a Christian whose earthly life is over: their life is changed, not ended.” Explain what this statement means.

Sincerely, Fr. Whitwell

_

Hello 10S & 10H,

Warm greetings, one and all!

Here are the notes from the death presentation:

Here are the death questions which must be completed __**before the end of term**__ (Friday, 11 December at 4.25pm) and handed in as normal in S18:

During the Christmas holidays please read your textbook //Christianity//, pages 16 - 29. Simply read the pages and inwardly digest what is written. Also, some of you may like to treat yourselves to memorising the Apostles' Creed and Nicene Creed, given some recent performances!

Well done for a good start to Yr 10 RS - I knew you'd all like it!

Have good rest of term and a peaceful holiday.

Happy Christmass, when it comes!

Sincerely, Fr. Whitwell

PS. Don't miss me too much!

__

Hello 10S & 10H,

Here is your work for the half-term holidays.

Enjoy!



You will find the following document helpful:



Thank you.

Sincerely, Fr. Whitwell