Religion and Community
Cohesion revision
Based on Christianity and Islam
Key words: write down the meanings then
click to check your answers
equality
the state of everyone having equal rights regardless of
gender/race/class
sexism
discriminating against people because of their gender (being male or
female)
multi-ethnic society
Many different races and cultures living together in one society
prejudice believing some people are inferior or superior without even
knowing them
discrimination
putting prejudice into practice and treating people less favourably
because of their race/gender/colour/class
racism
the belief that some races are superior to others
racial harmony
different races/colours living together happily
multi-faith society
many different religions living together in one society
religious freedom
the right to practise your religion and change your religion
religious pluralism
accepting all religions as having an equal right to coexist
Prejudice
Believing someone is inferior or superior without even knowing them
Community cohesion
a common vision and shared sense of belonging for all groups in society
Inter faith marriages
marriage where the husband and wife are from different religions
Ethnic minority
a member of an ethnic group (race) which is much smaller than the majority group
In 1918 this started to
change and women
over 31 got the right
to vote
Sexual discrimination
against women was normal
practice throughout history
Even today
women aren’t
completely equal
as women are
paid an average
of 18% less than
men
How and why there
has been a change in
attitude towards women
in the UK
In 1970 the Equal Pay Act
gave women the same rights
to pay given to men, before
they were paid less for doing
the same job!
The 1st and 2nd
World Wars meant
that women were
needed to work
and proved that
women were able
to do well in the
work place
Christian attitudes to the role of men
and women
All Christians believe in equality but some
believe that men and women have different
roles in life based on what was written in
the Bible
You need to know the 3 different attitudes and
the reasons for them which follows
Attitude 1: Roman Catholics – believe men and women are equal in every way BUT not in
church – they do allow women to become priests
Reasons:
•
Jesus was friends with women and treated them with respect but did not allow them to
become disciples. He often did controversial things and so could have made women
religious leaders if he wanted to.
•
Jesus was a man and priests represent Jesus in the Mass (holy communion)
•
St Paul said “Women should remain silent in church”
Attitude 2: Protestants – Believe that men and women are totally equal in all ways
Reasons:
•
•
•
•
St Paul said “there is no difference between male and female … we are all one in
Christ”
Jesus treated people equally and probably only didn’t allow women to be disciples
because at that time no one would have taken them seriously
Genesis says that God created both sexes at the same time and equally
There are now women priests in the Church of England
Attitude 3: Some Christians think that men and women have different and separate roles e.g.
men should rule over women
Reasons:
•
In the Bible St Paul said that “Women should remain silent in church”
•
God made Adam first and women from him
•
Jesus’ disciples were men
Muslim attitudes to men and
women
As in Christianity, not all people think the
same thing. Muslims have 2 different view
on the role of men and women.
You must learn these and the reasons for
them!
Attitude 1: Some Muslims think that men and women should have different
lives in life and religion
Reasons:
1.
The Qur’an teaches that men should support women because they have
the stronger physique (build)
2.
The Qur’an teaches that women were created to have children and men
to provide for them
3.
The Qur’an teaches that women should only inherit half of what a man
gets showing that men need more money to provide for their family
4.
Traditionally men only need to go to mosque and be imams
Attitude 2: Some Muslims believe that men and women should be totally equal
in both life and religion
Reasons:
1.
The Qur’an teaches that men and women are equal “all are equal as the
teeth of a comb”
2.
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) encouraged both men and women to
worship at the mosque
3.
There were women leaders during the early stages of Islam who gave
advice to the prophets successors
Test yourself
1. List 3 things which has made women
more equal
2. What are the Christian attitudes towards
women?
3. Give 2 reasons for each of these
attitudes
4. What do Muslims think about the role of
men and women?
5. Give 2 reasons for each of these
opinions
Government action for community
cohesion
1976 Race Relations Act
To make sure the law was kept, an organization called the Commission for Racial
Equality (CRE) was set up in 1976.
The CRE’s job was to concentrate on three key areas:
To fight against all racial discrimination.
To show people the importance of giving everyone a fair chance in life.
To monitor ways in which the law was working.
2001 Race Relations Amendment Act
2007 Equality and Human Rights Commission
This law made it illegal for anyone to:
1.
Discriminate against a person because of their colour, their nationality or their
ethnic or national group. The main areas covered were housing, jobs, training and
education
2.
Use threatening or abusive language in public that could stir up racial hatred
3.
Publish anything likely to create racial hatred.
Attitudes to racism
All Christians and Muslims believe that
racism is wrong and is against their
religion.
There are many teachings for this opinion
Christian teachings on racism
Christians work for racial harmony because:
•
The parable of the Good Samaritan teaches Christians
that everyone is their neighbour
•
St Paul said “There is no difference between Jew and
Gentile (non-Jews) .. We are all one in Christ”
•
Jesus helped people of all races
•
The Bible says that God made everyone and so
everyone is equal
•
The Church has issued statements saying that all
Christians should work against racism
Muslim teachings on racism
ALL MUSLIMS BELIEVE THAT RACISM IS WRONG
Muslims work for racial harmony because:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The Qur’an teaches that all races are equal in the eyes
of God
The Qur’an teaches that God created the whole of
humanity from one pair of humans and so all races are
related, therefore on is not superior to another
The Prophet Muhammad promoted racial harmony
In his final sermon (speech) Muhammad said that all
Muslims are brother and sisters, so there should be no
racism among Muslims
Muhammad converted people of different races
Sharing ideas
Exchange of culture
Benefits of multiculturalism
Increases tolerance
and understanding
Choice of other faiths
Exchange
of music,
food,
clothes
Inter Faith Network – a religious
organisation working for community cohesion
It’s aim is to promote good relationships between people of different faiths to
avoid conflict (arguments)
It works by getting people from different faiths to talk about their faith which
leads to them respected each other’s views
It works in major cities around the UK, it works for religious
pluralism (accepting that all religions have equal right
to coexist)
The organisation also works with schools and universities, where ever there
may be inter faith interaction to try to educate people on the
benefits of tolerance.
Issues of a multi faith society
Conversion – changing religion
1. If someone in the family converts to another faith or to
a different Christian group, there may be arguments
over which is the best/the correct one
2.
There may be problems as both religions are taught
that they are the correct one for example Jesus
taught his followers “No one goes to the Father
except by me”. Where does this leave other
religions?
Why trying to convert people is a
problem in a multi faith society
1. It implies that the converter’s religion is
better, but all should have equal rights
in a multi faith society
2. It could lead to religious intolerance
3. There could be conflict as if one religion
has the right to convert others, so do the
rest
4. If children are converted it could divide
families
Another problem is interfaith
relationships and marriages
A positive is that interfaith relationships can create harmony in society and the
couple would not think their difference in faith mattered, but their families
may not agree.
1.
There may be a problem over the clash of values e.g. the different views
on sex before marriage could be a problem
2.
If the couple decide to get married there could be a problem over what
sort of ceremony to have. Family may pressure either side to have a
religious ceremony and the couple may opt for a civil ceremony to keep
the peace, which neither of them wanted
3.
The couple may argue about what sort of upbringing their children
may have (think about the problems between the Muslim husband and
non-Muslim wife in East is East). All religions think that they have a duty
to raise any children in that faith, so problems can occur if one partner is
one faith, and the other is of a different faith – a child can’t be both
Christian and Muslim!
Examining the media –
East is East
One issue of religious or community cohesion which was tackled is about arranged marriages. It
showed the problems encountered by a Muslim family living in Britain and looked at the issue from
different points of view.
The Muslim father wanted his sons to have a traditional arranged marriage. This was important to him
as he felt that his family was not part of the Muslim community in Britain and his sons were not
taking the Muslim faith seriously. He felt he was a failure as a Muslim father.
The sons did not want an arranged marriage as being brought up in Britain they wanted to choose
their own partner ( and one even had a girlfriend which was secret from the dad) and felt no
connection to Pakistan, where the father was from. This caused problems to the point of violence
and the family potentially being torn apart.
It was also tackled by looking at the wife’s point of view. She was a white non-Muslim and questioned
her parenting skills by insisting that her sons do as the father wanted. It became a problem as she
allowed the dad to make the children do some Muslims activities e.g. go the mosque, but only
because she thought that most things were harmless.
The film looked at the situation from a serious point of view (there was domestic
violence when the mother tried to stand up to the father) but it did use comedy
too. You felt sorry for the sons when the pictures of the brides to be were seen
– they were made up to be very ugly.
Good luck with the exam