Social Justice Final Exam – Essay
Questions
Chapter 1
1. List at least two consequences of being made in
the image and likeness of God? How do these
consequences inspire us to act justly? How
does Jesus inspire us to act justly?
There are three parts to this question:
- List two consequences of being made in the
image and likeness of God.
- How do these consequences inspire to act
justly?
- How does Jesus inspire us to act justly?
•List at least two consequences of
being made in the image and likeness
of God?
• As humans, we have free will (ability to make
decision) and intellect (ability to think)
• Rights and responsibilities
• We have a spiritual nature…
How do these consequences inspire to
act justly?
- Explain the concept of rights and
responsibilities
- Explain what it means to treat others
respectfully because they are made in the
image and likeness of God.
How does Jesus inspire us to act
justly?
• Jesus teaches us to love others as we love
oursleves
• Give two teachings of Jesus that involve
treating other justly:
– The parable of the rich man and Lazarus
– The parable of the good samaritan…
Chapter 1
2. List and briefly discuss 3 human rights and
their correspondent responsibilities?
• List 3 human rights (look on page 20 – 21)
• For each of the above right, write the
corresponding responsibility
• Page 21 provides some good examples: the
right to a decent standard of living demands
the right to a responsible lifestyle…
Chapter 2
1. List and briefly explain the meaning of three
of the most essential teachings of Jesus.
Discuss why you chose these.
There are two parts to this question:
- Part 1: list and briefly explain the meaning of
three of the most essential teachings of Jesus
- Part 2: discuss why you chose these
Part 1: list and briefly explain the
meaning of three of the most essential
teachings of Jesus
• teaching 1: love your enemy
– Briefly describe what Jesus say
– What does it mean
• Teaching 2: love your neighbor as yourself
• Teaching 3: the parable of the lost sheep
Part 2: discuss why you chose these
• Discuss why you chose these
Chapter 2
2. Give at least three distinctions between
social justice and charity. Why can a Catholic
not ignore the social teaching of the Church?
There are two parts to this question:
- Part 1: distinction between social justice and
charity
- Part 2: Why can a Catholic Not ignore….
Part 1: distinction between social
justice and charity
• Intro paragraph: definition of charity and
social justice
• Distinction 1: Charity is private, individual acts
while social justice is a public and group action
• Distinction 2:
• Distinction 3:
Chapter 3
1. Explain how human life is like a spider web. What
does it mean to say that “we have a social nature?”
Why do we have a social nature? How does social
justice represent this view?
There are four parts to this question:
- Part 1: Spiderweb
- Part 2 We are social by nature
- Part 3: why social nature
- Part 4: how does social justice represent this view?
Part 1: Spider web
• The interconnectedness between human is
like the spiderweb
• Touching any strand of spider web cause the
whole thing to tremble
• Example: ripple effect of an act of kindness
Part 2: We are social by nature
• It is our nature to live in community
• Friendship, love and relating is a big part of
who we are
Part 3: why are we social by nature
• We are made in the image of God
• We are in community because God is three
divine persons in a community of love: Father,
Son and Holy Spirit.
• We are like God so we are made to live in
community too!
Part 4: how does social justice
represent this view?
• We have rights, coming from our dignity of
having been made in the image and likeness
of God
• We also have responsibilities: to exercise
these rights appropriately, to protect these
rights and to provide access to these rights for
all those in need, especially the poorer ones.
Chapter 3
2. What is natural law? What do we mean when
we say that Natural law is universal, permanent
and unchangeable?
There are two parts to this question:
- Part 1: definition of natural law
- Part 2 : what do we mean by:
-
Universal
Permanent
unchangeable
Part 1: definition of Natural Law
• Natural law is expressed as “the light of
understanding infused in us By God, whereby
we understand what must be done and what
must be avoided.”
Part 2 : what do we mean by…
Natural is
-
Universal: applied to each person and every
society for all time
Permanent and unchangeable because though
societies and culture may change, the natural law
itself always remain valid.
Chapter 4
1. Why is abortion the most compelling justice
issue of our day? Why is abortion unjust? What
is the Catholic response to the argument that by
making abortion illegal, you are denying a
woman her right to choose?’
3 parts:
Part 1: abortion as the most compelling issue
Part 2: why I abortion unjust?
Part 3: Catholic Repsonse
Part 1
1. abortion as the most compelling issue:
- Human life is a gift from God which everyone
must protect, nurture and sustain from the
first moment of conception
- The right to life is the foundation on which all
other inalienable rights rest.
Part 2
Part 2: why I abortion unjust?
- It violate the right to life
- It may allow other injustice issue go
unchecked
- It promote culture of death
Part 2
• Part 3: Catholic Response
- Right to choose is outweighed by right to life
List three pitfalls of legalizing Euthanasia? What are
three purposes of punishment? Explain why Capital
Punishment (the death penalty) fail to achieve these
purposes?
• Part 1: two pitfalls
• Part 2 three purposes of punishment and how
does the death penalty fail…
Chapter 5
1. what is positive, negative and neutral prejudice? How
can positive and neutral prejudice be harmful? What
is the ultimate source of prejudice?
2. List five stages of prejudice. Give example of each.
Discuss three specific things you can do to combat
prejudice.
• what is positive, negative and neutral prejudice? How
can positive and neutral prejudice be harmful? What is
the ultimate source of prejudice?
• List five stages of prejudice. Give example of each.
Discuss three specific things you can do to combat
prejudice.
Chapter 6
1. Does institutional racism exist today? Discuss
a concrete example to support your answers.
As a member of society what does the church
teach us to end racism?
2. What does it mean to be inclusive? Discuss
three practices that can help us to be
inclusive of others. Identify St. Katherine
Drexel. How did she promote racial justice?