RE Key Words

Bible - the holy book of Christians

Church - the community of christians (with a small c it means Christan place of worship)

Conscience - an inner feeling of the rightness or wrongness of an action

The Decalogue - the Ten Commandments

Xians - shortening of Christian

Democratic Process - the ways in which all citizens can take part in government

Electoral Process - the ways in which voting is organised

The Golden Rule - the teaching of Jesus that you should treat others as you would like them to treat you

Human Rights - the rights and freedoms to which everyone is entitled

Political Party - a group which tries to be elected into power on the basis of it's policies

Pressure Group - a group formed to influence government policy on a particular issue

Situation Ethics - the idea that Christians should base moral decisions on what is the most loving thing to do

Social change - the way in which society has changed and is changing

Addiction - a recurrign compulsion to engage in an activity regardless of it's effects

Capital Punishment - the death penalty for a crime of offence

Crime - an act against the law

Deterrence - the idea that punishments should be of such a nature that they will put people off (deter) committing crimes

Judgement - the act of judging people and their actions

Justice - due allocation of rewards and punishemnt, the maintenance of what is right

Law - rules made by parliament and enforceable by the courts

Reform - the idea that punishments should try to change criminals so that they will not commit crimes again

Rehabilitation - restore to normal life

Responsibility - being responsible for one's actions

Retribution - the idea that punishments should make criminals pay for what they have done wrong

Sin - an act against the will of God