Ethics and Religions

This book is about real isues - issues you see around you in the world every day. From the start to the finish it aims to draw students into active investigations and discussions of important topics. The topics have been chosen for their contemporary relevance and their direct importance to the world's major faiths. Students should find themselves being pulled up short and asked to question ideas and beliefs they may have earlier taken for granted. Sufficient information or knowledge is provided to allow students to progress to the key elements of understanding and evaluation. Five important issues are explored: marriage and family, abortion and medical ethics, the natural world, peace and conflict, and capital punishment. Each chapter begins by considering the main questions and ethical dilemmas. It provides sufficient information, stimulating quotations and assignments for GCSE level. It then looks at what six world religions have to say on these issues: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism. There are about 17 self-contained spreads to each section, making use of a wide collection of source material. Large full colour and black and white photographs are used to provoke a response or as the starting point for further investigations. Many, often conflicting newspaper articles open up some of the possible views which might be taken of a particular issue. No one view is held as being "correct". Instead, students are encouraged to find out what they themselves really think. They can work in pairs, groups or as a whole class. Throughout the book there are suggestions for assignments and folder work. As with the rest of the book, they emphasize the understanding and evaluation elements of the religious studies curriculum.