Religion and Society GCSE Key Words

The Bible

The holy book of Christians

The Church

The community of Christians

(witha small 'c' it means a Christian place of worship)

Conscience

An inner feeling of the rightness or wrongness of an action

The Decalogue

The Ten Commandments

Democratic Processes

The ways in which all citizens can take part in government (usually through elections)

Electroral Processes

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 its polices (e.g. labour, conservative)

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 (and also the possibilities for future change)

Artifical Insemination

Injecting semen into the uterus by artifical means

Conservation

Protecting and preserving the natural resources and the environment

Creation

The act of creating the universe or the universe which has been created

Embryo

A fertilised egg in the first eight weeks after conception

Environment

The surroundings in which plants and animals live and on which they depend to live

Global Warming

The increase in the temperature of the Earth's atmosphere (thought to be caused by the greenhouse effect)

Infertility

Not being able to have children

In-vitro fertilisation

The method of fertilising a human egg in a test-tube

Natural resources

Naturally occuring materials, such as oil and fertile land, which can be used by humans   

Organ donation

Giving organs to be used in transplant surgery

Stewardship

Looking after something so it can be passed on to the next generation

Surrogacy

An arrangement whereby a woman bears a child on behalf of another woman

Aggression

Attacking without being prevoked

Bullying

Intimidating or frightening people weaker than yourself

Conflict Resolution

Bringing a fight or struggle to a peaceful conclusion

Exploitation

Taking advantage of a weaker group

Forgiveness

Stopping blaming someone and/or pardoning them for what they have done wrong

Just War

A war which is fought for the right reasons and in the right way

Pacifism

The belief that all disputes should be settled by peaceful means

Reconciliation

Bringing together people who were opposed to each other 

Respect

Treating a person or their feelings with consideration

The United Nations

An international body set up to promote world peace and cooperation

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Weapons which can destroy large areas and numbers of people

World peace

The ending of war throughout the whole world (the basic aim of the UN)

Addiction

A reccuring compulsion to engage in an activity regardless of its bad effects

Capital punishment

The death penalty for a crime or offence

Crime

An act against the law

Detterence

The idea that punishments should be of such a nature that they will put people off commiting crimes

Judgement

The act of judging people and their actions 

Justice

Due allocation of reward and punishment / 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