How people's religious moral beliefs influence their views on justice issues

Piste

Hey, I'm doing a survey as part of my Juniour Cert religion journal work. I have this posted in Christianity and Buddhism but so far I haven't gotten many responses but hopefull I'll get a few more with this being of AH.

Mods: Please don't remove this!


How people’s religious moral beliefs influence their views on justice issues

Age:

Religion:

Justice Issue No.1: Right to Life

a) Is abortion morally wrong?
b) Is abortion wrong in the case of rape/ the mother’s life is at risk?

For each of the questions above please explain how your religion influences your beliefs in these issues and what your religion has to say about these issues.




Justice Issue No. 2: Equality

Should Gay people have the right to:

a) Marry?
b) Adopt a child.?

For each of the questions above please explain how your religion influences your beliefs in these issues and what your religion has to say about these issues.




Justice Issue No. 3 Suicide/Euthanasia

a) Is Suicide morally wrong?
b) If a person discussed the possibility of suicide/euthanasia with their family and had support, would it be morally wrong to then go ahead with Suicide/Euthanasia?

For each of the questions above please explain how your religion influences your beliefs in these issues and what your religion has to say about these issues.

Either PM the response back to me, post it here or send it to piste.off@gmail.com or wallabywooza@hotmail.com

Thanks, Liz

Kernel

Humanities forum! Ban him Trojan!! haha.. just kidding.

Piste

Oi! Who you calling him?!

Would this be better suited to Humanities? I just want it somewhere where I have a good chance of getting a response (although a good portion of the responses to this will be either a)off topic b)trolling or c)flaming)

Scarinae

Age: 18

Religion: Quaker

Justice Issue No.1: Right to Life

a) Is abortion morally wrong? I really think that depends on the circumstances. I wouldn't advocate abortion as a form of contraception, I know some women have more than one abortion because they're careless, I'm against that because that's selfish and morally wrong. However, in certain circumstances it's ok, I'll get into that in the next question (by the way, I have not got a clear idea of what the general Quaker view on abortion is, probably there isn't one. It's a very open religion, independent thought is encouraged)
b) Is abortion wrong in the case of rape/ the mother’s life is at risk? If the mother's life is at risk, then I think it's ok. However, if she chooses to give her child's life priority over her own, that's ok too (one of my mother's friends did that, she discovered while pregnant that she had cancer and she declined to get chemotherapy in case it harmed the child. By the time the girl was born, the cancer was too far developed. My point is that it should be up to the mother, everyone's views are different) Rape is a harder one to answer though. I think once again it depends on the situation. If the woman is in a terrible emotional state and it might affect her psychologically, possibly even causing her to commit suicide, then I think abortion is ok. However, if she could manage without the abortion I say why take an unborn life? There is a group of Quakers that believe that because we have that of God in all of us we should be free to choose what the right action for us is.


Justice Issue No. 2: Equality

Should Gay people have the right to:

a) Marry? Yes, definitely. I appreciate that many religions oppose gay marriage, so I'm not suggesting that they should allow gay marriage in their churches, but I think that homosexual couples should have the same rights as heerosexual couples in the eyes of the law and the state. If gay marriage was recognised, they would be able to get widow benefit, to share their assets etc, which is only fair. Quakers in general seem to be in support of gay marriage. In 1963, the British Quakers published a book called 'Towards a Quaker View of Sex' in which they stated "Where there is a genuine tenderness, an openness to responsibility, and the seed of commitment, God is surely not shut out. Can we not say that God can enter any relationship in which there is a measure of selfless love?" Basically they think it's the feeling involved, not the gender/orienation, that matter. The Quakers in New Zealand say "As members of the Religious Society of Friends we believe in that of God in everyone. In consequence we believe the same values, benefits, obligations and responsibilities of marriage should be available to same sex couples as are available to opposite sex couples. We believe the principles of non-discrimination in the Human Rights Act are important and the Human Rights Act should take precedence over other Acts. We affirm the value of committed caring relationships and when couples choose to affirm this by marrying they should be free to do so whether they are opposite sex or same sex. We fully realise that this would mean radical law changes that would take time, but we need to state our principles."
b) Adopt a child? I don't really see any problem with it. Couples who adopt at the moment are put through strict testing, the same would apply to homosexual couples, so what's the problem? I'd say many Quakers would agree with me on that


Justice Issue No. 3 Suicide/Euthanasia

a) Is Suicide morally wrong? No, I think that there is a stigma surrounding suicide that needs to be got rid of. It's not evil, just people have some awful problems that they can't cope with, and we need to develop a system to prevent suicide rather than trying to guilt people with morals into not doing it. Once again, Quakers do not have set views on this stuff, but they tend t obe very caring and community-based so I'd say they'd mostly think along the same lines
b) If a person discussed the possibility of suicide/euthanasia with their family and had support, would it be morally wrong to then go ahead with Suicide/Euthanasia? No, if they have no quality of life why should we prolong their suffering? I know many people would choose to embrace life while they still can, but others wouldn't, and we shouldn't deny them the right to make a choice. Quakers do not have an absolute view on euthanasia. Some quakers belive that people who are suffering should be allowed to die because according to situation ethics it is the most loving thing to do in some cases however others may say that in some situations it is more loving for people to be in a place such as a hospice ect. It is important to remember with Quakers that many of them are doctors and they have a peace testimony, so whatever they choose to be their answer it must involve love somewhere in their decision.


The problem with this questionnaire for me is that Quakers don't have a strict set of views or doctrine, there are no preachers, basically everyone decides themselves what their opinions are. However, they tend to be quite liberal, they are opposed to war and slavery, and are advocates of human rights and fairness. They also refuse to swear oaths. Apart from this, there isn't much you can generalise about Quakers.

Hope that helps a bit!

Dublin8

Age:24

Religion: Islam

Justice Issue No.1: Right to Life

a) Is abortion morally wrong?
b) Is abortion wrong in the case of rape/ the mother’s life is at risk?

Abortion is wrong according to my belief

For each of the questions above please explain how your religion influences your beliefs in these issues and what your religion has to say about these issues.




Justice Issue No. 2: Equality

Should Gay people have the right to:

a) Marry?
b) Adopt a child.?

For each of the questions above please explain how your religion influences your beliefs in these issues and what your religion has to say about these issues.

dont know much about as i am not very religious person
i believe they shud have the right to marry
if you are allowing them to live togather whats the harm in letting them
marry
and they shud b able to adpot a child provided they can look after the child well enough and get him education


Justice Issue No. 3 Suicide/Euthanasia

a) Is Suicide morally wrong?
b) If a person discussed the possibility of suicide/euthanasia with their family and had support, would it be morally wrong to then go ahead with Suicide/Euthanasia?


Suicide is completely wrong.
God has given us the life and only he has the power to take it back
killing anyone is like killing whole humanity
suicide cannot by justified in any manner



For each of the questions above please explain how your religion influences your beliefs in these issues and what your religion has to say about these issues.

boneless

Age 39

Atheist

Issue 1: It's up to women, as individuals, to make the choice. They should be supported whichever choice they take.

Issue 2: Gay people should have the same rights as straight people.

Issue 3: Suicide is a personal choice for an individual, although there is a need for better support for people who are contemplating this action through desperation. I agree with Fishie's analysis of this issue. Euthenasia should be allowed to allow a dignified end to suffering.

Hope this helps.

Piste

Thanks to everyone who's responded so far very usefull.