Viewing archives for Philosophy

This presentation aims to help students investigate the idea of life in the broader context of studies in religion and belief.

This presentation aims to help students investigate the idea of certainty.

This presentation aims to help students investigate the nature of knowledge.

This presentation aims to help students investigate the idea of morality as a human construct.

A discussion with students about what people believe about life after death.

For 8-12 years. Originally written by Mary Myatt, updated in April 2019.

Learning Outcomes

Emerging

• Offer one Christian belief about life after death
• Use the word ‘resurrection’ correctly in talking or writing

Expected

• Explain two Christian beliefs about life after death, based on a Christian teaching or Biblical passage
• Suggest, with evidence, the impact beliefs about life after death might have on someone’s life

Exceeding

• Compare Christian beliefs about life after death with one other religion’s beliefs
• Offer a view as to how far we can imagine life after death

Key words and concepts

Heaven: Christian beliefs about the afterlife vary between denominations and individual Christians, but the vast majority of Christians believe in some kind of heaven, in which believers enjoy the presence of God and other believers and freedom from suffering and sin.

Hell: There are different understandings about the nature of hell, but many Christians regard hell as the absence of God

Jesus: Christians believe that God became human through the person of Jesus

Incarnation: Christians believe that God became human through the person of Jesus

Death and Afterlife: Christians believe that after death there is an afterlife in which an individual’s soul lives on and experiences new life with God.

Resurrection: Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead

Salvation: ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.’ John 3:16. ‘For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Learning activities

Set the learning activities in the context of a key question, such as,
‘Can we imagine life after death?’ or ‘What happens when we die?’

In this example we want to introduce pupils to ideas about heaven and hell, and what some people believe about whether it matters what sort of life we have lived.

Ask pupils to think about what they already know or think about the idea of life after death. Give each table small pieces of paper to write on. Write the sentence starter ‘life after death…..’ on the board. Ask pupils to write everything they think about it on small pieces of paper. Then then look at all their words and generate three statements per group. Differing views can be presented from one group on different pieces of paper. Groups might like to colour-code their statements.

Collate all statements on a large sheet of paper, such as from an old roll of wallpaper. Fix to the wall or a table top so all pupils can see.

Using different coloured sticky notes ask pupils to make a note of the things they agree with, disagree with or find interesting in the statements. Add these to the large sheet.

Using fresh sticky notes, ask pupils to work in pairs to complete the sentence, ‘We were wondering….’

Ask, ‘I’m wondering if you know what some religious people would say about reincarnation….’

Ask, ‘I wonder if everyone believes in life after death?’

Prompt further discussion with questions such as:

• ‘What do some people say about trying to live a good life?’
• ‘What do Christians think about life after death?’
• ‘Do you know other religious views if life after death?’
• ‘Do you know non-religious views of life after death?’

Explain that Christians believe that God became a human being in the person of Jesus in order to give hope that there is a better life with God after death. Pupils could look at the African pictures of Jesus’ birth and death. Pupils can ask their own questions about why Jesus was born and died. What do they think Christians might learn from the idea that God took human form? Encourage them to compare their questions with one other and to talk about which questions are the most important and why.

Provide pupils with quotes about Jesus’ resurrection, e.g.,
John 11:25: ‘Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die”. What do pupils think Christians might feel and believe when they hear this?

Explain that many people wonder what happens when we die. Show pupil’s examples of sculpture, e.g., Antony Gormley’s Angels of the North and Henry Moore images. Using modelling clay such as Play-Doh, ask the pupils to create a shape which represents something they don’t know the answer to. Ask them to think about what they are creating, talk to a partner about them and then share with the wider group.

Show pupils the clip ‘Becoming Me’, by Martin Boroson (search You Tube) and ask pupils to describe what someone who believed in God might learn from this story. Explain that the story has been recommended by many people of different faiths – why do they think this is? What difference might it make to anyone’s life if they believed what is in this film?

Encourage pupils to ask their own questions about ‘Becoming Me’ and to suggest some answers (a) of their own and (b) that might be given by a follower of a different religion / set of beliefs from their own.

This presentation aims to help Key Stage 3 students investigate the ideas of atheism and agnosticism in Humanism.

This presentation aims to introduce Key Stage 3 students to the concept of Anicca (impermanence) in Buddhism.

These materials and links were provided for RE:ONLINE with the kind assistance of the University of Lancaster ‘s Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion

Wednesday, 22nd February 2012

Duration 1:45:10

GCSE

AQA – Religious Studies A: Unit 2; Religious Studies B: Unit 5

Edexcel – Religious Studies Units 1-7

OCR –

WJEC – Religious Studies B: Unit 2

A Level

AQA – Religious Studies: AS Unit H

Edexcel – Religious Studies: Units 1-4

OCR –

WJEC – Religious Studies: RS 3 CS

This is a Faith debate featuring Charles Clarke, James Conroy, John Pritchard, Linda Woodhead, Richard Dawkins and Robert Jackson. It focuses on the religious education and collective worship in schools.

Students could be given the same issues as used in this debate and asked their opinion on them prior to watching the discussion, revisiting them later to see if any of the views expressed had caused them to change their minds. For extension work students may focus on the importance of RE in a world where God seems to play an ever-decreasing role.

This programme is suitable for use with A level students studying philosophy, ethics, and religion and society. For high-achieving GCSE students this could be used to look at religion and equality and the importance of ecumenism in a multicultural / superdiverse society. However, the debate is quite long and it would probably be sufficient for one lesson to listen to the four opening presentations. The Question & Answer section could be a useful second lesson or make worthwhile extension work.

Questions for debate

What place – if any – should faith have in our state school system, and in our schools – in both the formal curriculum (what is taught in the classroom) and informal curriculum (wider ethos of the school, including assemblies)?

Conclusions from the debate

There was a new settlement between religion and state school education in Britain in 1944. Since then changes have been implemented in a piecemeal way, attempting to keep pace with the rapid changes in religion and society. This has led to situation of crisis today which is evident in:

• Controversy over the existence of ‘faith schools’
• Inadequate teacher training to deal with faith
• Confusion about the requirement to hold acts of worship in all schools
• Patchy RE (Religious Education) teaching and degraded status of RE in the curriculum

There is an urgent need for joined-up thinking about the place of faith in schools and a new settlement as radical as that of 1944.

Research Findings

Faith schools vary widely in nature – they cannot be categorised as a single group. Research shows many to be of high quality, with demand continuing to grow. Many are now taking Academy status. Faith schools’ admissions policies remain contentious.

The research uncovered serious problems with the way RE is taught in secondary schools. Although compulsory, RE is:

• under-resourced
• squeezed in the curriculum
• outside the Eng Bacc (Ebacc), and not always considered a serious subject
• subject to local variations in syllabus, and highly variable in quality
• no longer guided and resourced by Local Education Authorities, which are in crisis.

The research nevertheless finds examples of excellent practice in some schools, and student demand for RE has been growing strongly.

The statutory requirement to hold Acts of Worship ‘of a predominantly Christian character’ is widely ignored, and there is often fear of dealing with religion at all. There is widely varying practice across schools – from no collective gatherings, to banal notice-giving, to reflective spaces. Primary schools often deal better with Acts of Worship than secondary schools.

As always, after watching the discussion, it is worth returning to the students’ views to find out if and how their personal opinions have been influenced or changed by what they have heard.

After discussion, if there is time, it would then be worth watching the 25 minute summary below to clarify and crystallize the thoughts and views expressed.

Additional content is available at http://faithdebates.org.uk/debates/2012-debates/religion-and-public-life/richard-dawkins-faith-in-schools/

These materials and links were provided for RE:ONLINE with the kind assistance of the University of Lancaster ‘s Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion

Wednesday, 18th April 2012

Duration 1:46:15

A Level

AQA – Religious Studies: AS Unit H, A2 Unit 3F

Edexcel – Religious Studies: Units 1-4

OCR –

WJEC – Religious Studies: RS 1/2 CS; Religious Studies: RS 3 CS

This is a Faith debate featuring Charles Clarke, Julia Neuberger, Linda Woodhead, Lisa Appignanesi, Maleiha Malik, Michael Nazir-Ali and Peter Jones. It focuses on the issues surrounding religious freedom.

Students could be given the same issues as used in this debate and asked their opinion on them prior to watching the discussion, revisiting them later to see if any of the views expressed had caused them to change their minds.

This programme is suitable for use with A level students studying philosophy, ethics, and religion and society. However, the debate is quite long and it would probably be sufficient for one lesson to listen to the opening presentations. The Question & Answer section could be a useful second lesson or make worthwhile extension work.

Questions for debate

On the one hand, how much freedom should religious people and groups have to express their convictions? On the other hand, how much freedom should there be for others to express convictions which may be hostile or insulting to religion and religious people? In both cases, where do we draw the line, who decides and how?

Conclusions from the debate

There is a majority democratic consensus, expressed in part through legislation, which sets limits on religious (and secular) freedoms. Where religious expressions do not cross this line (e.g. display of religious symbols) freedom should be unrestricted. Where they do (e.g. refusing to conduct civil partnerships for gay couples), negotiation amongst the parties involved may be able to reach an accommodation or compromise. Mechanisms for such negotiation may need to be strengthened. There may also be cases where religious people can refuse to act against the democratic consensus on grounds of conscience, but there may be a price to be paid (e.g. those who cannot work on Sundays make up time elsewhere; conscientious objectors in war contribute in other ways).

Research Findings

The issue has come to a head recently because of a number of controversial rulings under new equality legislation in which the duty of equal treatment (especially on grounds of sexuality) has clashed with the exercise of religious freedom (e.g. when a Christian registrar refused to marry gay or lesbian couples on grounds of conservative Christian conscience).

The focus of religious freedom debates has shifted in the last decade from controversy over the right of Muslim women to veil to controversy over the right of Christians to display religious symbols and act (or refuse to act) on the grounds of their faith.

Controversy is currently being stoked by two extreme minority groups: aggressively secular groups on the one hand; aggressively conservative Christian groups on the other. The majority population, both religious and secular, is more ready to reach compromises and accommodations.

There are three separable issues in this debate:

• the freedom of religious individuals
• the freedom of religious groups
• free expression which may involve insult to religion

Cases being brought under Equality Law have to do with (A). Some exemptions from equality legislation have been granted to religious groups (B).

With regard to (A) the question is how far this freedom extends, and whether it ever gives grounds for not obeying a law, or flouting majority opinion and sensibility. What rights can be granted minority views, and who bears the cost of individuals or groups acting against a majority position on the grounds of conscience?

With regard to the freedom to insult religion (C), where insults do not amount to incitement to religious hatred, this can only be a matter of voluntary restraint rather than legislation. Recent cases of ‘censorship ‘ (e.g. closure of the play Behzti which insulted some Sikhs, or the Mayor of London’s refusal to allow Christian anti-gay advertising on buses) seem arbitrary (why not stop other things which insult e.g. Jerry Springer the Opera which was insulting to Christians?) suggesting that the threat of public protest on the part of those who are ‘offended’ is more influential than consistently applied standards (e.g. respect for those whose deeply-held beliefs are being insulted).

After watching the discussion, it is worth returning to the students’ views to find out if and how their personal opinions have been influenced or changed by what they have heard.

After discussion, if there is time, it would then be worth watching the 18 minute summary below to clarify and crystallize the thoughts and views expressed.

Additional content is available at http://faithdebates.org.uk/debates/2012-debates/religion-and-public-life/what-limits-to-religious-freedom/

These materials and links were provided for RE:ONLINE with the kind assistance of the University of Lancaster ‘s Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion

Wednesday, 7th March 2012

Duration 1:42:01

A Level

AQA – Religious Studies: AS Unit A, A2 Unit 3F

Edexcel – Religious Studies: Units 1-4

OCR –

WJEC – Religious Studies: RS 1/2 CS; Religious Studies: RS 3 CS

This is a Faith debate featuring Charles Clarke, Linda Woodhead, Ed Husain, Marat Shterin, Mark Sedgwick, Matthew Francis and Mehdi Hasan. It focuses on the issues surrounding radicalisation, with particular reference to Islam.

Students could be given the same issues as used in this debate and asked their opinion on them prior to watching the discussion, revisiting them later to see if any of the views expressed had caused them to change their minds. For extension work students should look at the different meanings of radicalisation, extremism and terrorism. They might also consider the life of e.g. Adolf Hitler, as a case study, because of the ‘positive’ impact of Mengele’s work on genetics.

This programme is suitable for use with A level students studying philosophy, ethics, religion and society and Islam. However, the debate is quite long and it would probably be sufficient for one lesson to listen to the opening presentations. The Question & Answer section could be a useful second lesson or make worthwhile extension work.

Questions for debate

What is ‘radicalisation’ or ‘extremism’? Is it unique to Islam? Is it always religious? Is it a new and unique phenomenon, or just a new label for certain forms of terrorist violence? And what can research tell us about its causes and how to prevent it?

Conclusions from the debate

As currently used ‘radicalisation’ often includes too much and too little. Too little, because it focuses attention only on Islamic or religious forms of terrorism, and too much because radical ideas and ‘Islamism’ do not usually lead to violence and are too widespread for security initiatives to counter (attempts may be counter-productive).

As for what causes recent incidences of extremist violence, there is a growing consensus that there are multiple causes including: a sense of grievance and isolation, belief that violence can remedy a perceived problem, and contact with networks and images that glorify the use of violence.

Research Findings

‘Radicalisation’ is a new word, but the process whereby groups and individuals with religious or secular commitments turn violent is not new, and past and present research, e.g. that on New Religious Movements and various forms of terrorism, should not be ignored.

What needs to be explained (and countered) is not the embrace of radical ideas, which is widespread and always has been, e.g. communism, but why some groups and individuals embrace violence, which is rare.

It is impossible and often counter-productive for states and their security forces to counter radical ideas. This does not mean that extremist beliefs do not need to be contested, but there are more effective ways to do this, e.g., good education, including in religion and theology, and active initiatives in civil society.

Violence is always over-determined – there are multiple causes, many paths, and no single ‘conveyor belt’ to violence. There are situational, strategic, social and individual causes. This means that the move to violence can be explained in retrospect, but not accurately predicted in advance (two people with exactly the same circumstances may act violently in one case and not in another).

One dynamic observed in some of the research is the existence of an ‘us-and them’ (minority/majority) mentality combined with a sense of grievance. If the ‘minority’ then starts to attract criticism and repression by agents of ‘the majority’ this can lead to a vicious cycle of escalation.

The importance of (individual) belief as a driver of action tends to be overestimated. Involvement in social networks is arguably more important. Also important and underestimated is access to images, aesthetics, cultures and practices of violence which are not exclusively Islamicist but can be harnessed to Islamist ideas – as well as to anti-Muslim ideas.

There is no evidence to support the reality of ‘brainwashing’, nor of de-programming or de-radicalisation where these are equated with quick processes which bypass normal modes of socialisation, cognition and volition.

Practical Suggestions

‘Radicalisation’ includes too much. The holding of radical, intolerant attitudes, is widespread in all societies. It is the move to violence which needs to be understood and countered.

Counter-radicalisation policies have spread the net too wide. This is both ineffective and can be counter-productive when it engenders an us / them mentality and sense of grievance in a ‘target’ community.

Counter-radicalisation should follow established counter-terrorism pathways, which rely on gathering good intelligence and looking in a focused way for indications of interest in violence, involvement in networks advocating such violence, and other indicators of a move to violent action.

It is not the business of the state to prescribe or proscribe particular theologies, any more than particular political ideologies – so long as they operate within the law. It is, however, legitimate to educate and argue against false beliefs.

The model of human behaviour which holds that beliefs are the ‘drivers’ of action is misleading; practices, emotions and relationships are just as important as beliefs.

After watching the discussion, students should revisit their views to find out if and how their personal opinions have been influenced or changed by what they have heard.

After discussion, if there is time, it would then be worth watching the 22 minute summary below to clarify and crystallize the thoughts and views expressed.

Additional content is available at http://faithdebates.org.uk/debates/2012-debates/religion-and-public-life/what-have-we-learned-about-radicalisation/