Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
DICTIONARY
CRIMINALS
CONSCIENTIOUS
OBJECTOR
HOLY WAR
JUSTICE
JUST WAR
PACIFISM
SOCIAL INJUSTICE
Liberation Theology
Some Christians believe that because Jesus came to earth to help the poor that
they should follow his example. Jesus said: The Spirit of the Lord is on me
he has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for
the blind, to release the oppressed (Luke 4: 18).
They believe Jesus came to set the poor free to
liberate them. In the Third World a movement called
Liberation Theology began in the middle of the last
century.
This movement involved people such as
Oscar Romero, who practised non-violence, following
the example of Jesus, and Camillo Torres who used
violence and who also believed he was following the
example of Jesus.
Oscar Romero was a supporter of Liberation Theology. He was the
Archbishop of San Salvador, the capital of El
Salvador but was murdered on 24th March 1980
by people working for the government. He had
spent his three years as Archbishop criticising
those who made El Salvador a dangerous, violent
and unfair place to live.
He called for land reform and a fairer distribution of
wealth. He used the Churchs radio station to
speak out about all the torture and murder which
was going on. He set up a place where people
could go for advice. He mentioned the names of
those who had suffered or died in his sermons and
also named those who had been responsible for
their suffering. He allowed people fleeing from the
brutal treatment to shelter in his churches. He
dared to write an open letter to the US President to
plead with him to stop sending arms and supplies to the military regime of his
country.
He lived his life according to the parable of the Sheep
and the Goats. In 1980 he was shot dead whilst he
was celebrating mass at the altar of a hospital
chapel.
ACTIVITY: Pacifism
What is Pacifism? .
.
What did Jesus teach to show he was a Pacifist? (Give TWO teachings)
Choose THREE of the rules of a Just War write them down and try to learn
them so you can use them as reasons for Christians believing that it is okay to
go to war:
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.
Oscar Romero
Camillo Torres
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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WHY would a Christian work for peace? (Use specific teachings)
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How would an ordinary Christian work for peace?
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ACTIVITY: Forgiveness
What do these pictures say about forgiveness?
What is repentance?
.
Why is it important to Christians that forgiveness happens? Give TWO
reasons.
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Who was Elizabeth Fry and why was she important to prison reform?
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Social Injustice
There are many types of social injustice: prejudice (leading to racism, ageism
and sexism) and discrimination because of how people look or act. People with
learning difficulties often face injustice (unfair treatment). The charity MENCAP
tries to help such people.
MENAP is the UK's leading
learning
disability
charity
working with people with a
learning disability and their
families and carers. They try to get equal rights and greater
opportunities.
They challenge peoples attitudes and
prejudice towards people with learning difficulties. They
provide advice and support. Within the organisation there
are lots of different groups with different needs.
They support their members by:
Housing they help people with learning disabilities live their lives in
ways that they choose and in a home that they choose.
They promote opportunities in sport at all levels for people who have a
learning disability
Christians will support MENCAP because of the belief that God has no
favourites, everyone is made in the image of God and because the prophet
Amos teaches in the Old Testament that God will be angry if people deny
justice to the oppressed (unfairly treated) [Amos 1: 2:7).
Other charities they would support are:
CRISIS at Christmas
Shaw Trust
What local charities do you know about which are against social injustice?
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(b) Explain how Christians might respond if they see people being treated
badly by a government.
[6 marks]
Christians would not like to see people being treated badly by a government
because they feel that everyone has been created in the image of God and
therefore everyone should be treated nicely. Some Christians would pray for
the people being treated badly to ask God to help those people because they
believe that prayer is important because this is what Jesus
The
taught. Some Christians might support the charity Amnesty
candidate
International because this organisation sends petitions to
governments who they feel are doing wrong. The organisation
has given
also encourages people to write letters to people who have
several
been wrongly imprisoned because this alerts the government to
ideas on
the fact that other countries are aware of what is going on.
what a
Some Christians might write a letter to their own government
Christian
and ask them to intervene or they might boycott a product from
would do
the country where the government is treating the people badly
and why.
because this is what many people did when South Africa
encouraged apartheid. They would do this because it is a nonHe/she has
violent way of protesting and they would be following in the
supported
footsteps of Martin Luther King and also the teaching of Jesus
them with
turn the other cheek. Although some Christians may feel that it
reference
would be their duty to fight that unfair government and so follow
to
in the footsteps of Camillo Torres. Some Christians felt it was
Christian
their duty to go to war in Iraq because of what Saddam was
teachings
doing to his people.
or
Christian
examples.
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Exam Practice
(a) Describe what Christians believe about Pacifism?
[6 marks]
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(b)
[6 marks]
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(c)
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