Hi 9s,
As promised here’s a load of information to get you started on the homework, the title of which was:
Killing is never acceptable because it goes against the will of God
Your task is to respond to this statement in a way that shows me that you’re aware of the ethical issues involved.
Suggested structure:
This is a possible outline for the essay. You don’t have to follow it, but if not make sure you include all of the points…
-
Introduction: The purpose of the introduction is to make clear to the reader what the essay is going to be about. Assume they know nothing about the topic. It should include:
- An explanation saying what the statement is trying to say. You basically need to put the statement in your own words so you are clear about what it means, ie. the reason killing is wrong is that it goes against what God wants us to do. (“The key statement above is trying to express the idea that…”)
- Thinking about some key terms: killing and will of God. Make it clear what you mean by these terms. Give some examples of different types of killing (war, self-defence, meat for food, hunting, murder etc) and explain them. (“Some key terms in the statement are… They mean that…”)
- Explain that there is a difference between absolute and relative truth. Give examples.
- Finally, you might like to state the conclusion you will come to. You don’t have to explain it here, but it helps if the reader knows where you are going. This means you need to PLAN! Before you write your introduction you need to know what your conclusion will be… Make sure you have thought about this before you start writing. Possible conclusions could be that you disagree with the statement, that you agree with the statement, or perhaps you think it is a relative truth.
- Section One: Arguments For the Statement: The first paragraph should explain why (religious) people might agree with the statement. You need to put these ideas across for the reader. However, for level 6 you need some analysis. Make sure you think about the pros and cons of the arguments you are putting across. Are these good reasons for agreeing with the statement? If so, why? If not, why not? Look at the resources section below for extra information.
- Section Two: Arguments against the Statement: Now you can explain why people might disagree with the idea that killing is wrong because it goes against the will of God. Possible arguments are given in the resources section. Again, for level 6 you’ll need to analyse these. Are these good reasons for disagreeing with the statement? If so, why? If not, why not? What’s the evidence?
- Conclusion: This part is essential for level 7. Once you have done your level 6 analysis in sections one and two you need to draw it all together into a conclusion. This means that, given all your analysis, is that statement true or false (or something else). You need to show that you have enough evidence to back up your argument, including not only why your opinion is good but why the other option is not so good. Leave a comment if you want to think about level 8…
NOTE: The key thing to remember the whole way through is that the concept of “killing” is broad. You cannot talk about murder in the same way as killing animals for food. You will need to treat different ideas of killing in different ways.
Resources:
- Reasons why people might agree with the statement: Quotes from Holy Books
- Buddhism: ‘Refrain from destroying living creatures’ (5 Precepts) – Note that Buddhists do NOT believe in God
- Christianity: ‘Do not murder’ (10 Commandments)
- Hinduism: ‘He who commits murder must be considered as the worst offender’ (Laws of Manu)
- Islam: ‘Do not take life, which Allah made sacred’ (Quran)
- Judaism: ‘Do not murder’ (10 Commandments)
- Reasons why people might disagree with the statement:
- People have plenty of reasons to believe killing is wrong without needing God to tell them
- Religious people have often fought “Holy Wars” (crusades, 9/11) in the name of God
- The religious texts rarely talk about killing animals as being wrong so it cannot be true the ALL killing is wrong.
- There may be some situations in which taking human life is regarded as acceptable. (War, self-defence etc?)
- Here’s the sheet of case studies about different examples of killing. You may want to use them
- If you’re really stuck I have put together a writing frame that may help you by giving some sentence starters.
Good luck! Please leave a comment if you have any questions!
I’ve spent about an hour typing all this up for you – please pay me back by producing some excellent work… It is due NEXT WEEK (12th or 13th October). It will NOT be good enough to turn up next week with an excuse.
Annie
October 5, 2010 at 5:29 pm
Hi
with point three ‘Explain that there is a difference between absolute and relative truth. Give examples.’ i dont get what we have to do please help!!
Annie
Mr Bigg
October 6, 2010 at 7:34 am
Hi Annie,
The difference between absolute and relative truth is:
Absolute truth is true in all situations
Relative truth may or may not be true depending on the situation
You need to decide whether you think the statement is absolutely true (or false) or something that might be true depending on the situation….
Hope that helps!
Jemma
October 7, 2010 at 4:24 pm
I was wandering that aswell,
thank you so much for all of the help
Jemma
KD
October 5, 2010 at 9:06 pm
Hi sir,
I was just wondering about, how do you reach a level 8 and also what happens if you 50/50 about the question
KD
Mr Bigg
October 6, 2010 at 7:37 am
Hi KD!
Level 8 is all to do with creativity. You need to show that you’ve thought about the issue and can creatively respond to it, by drawing on other things you know about and showing some new insight… You need to write something that makes me go, “Wow! I’d never thought of that!”
Hope that helps!
Bethan
October 7, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Hey
I was wondering what you meant by: Other religious texts include the quote…: “
on the writing frame??
Bethan
Bethan
October 7, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Never mind, I’ve got it!
Mr Bigg
October 7, 2010 at 9:13 pm
Hi Bethan, glad you’ve got it!
The “Other” perhaps doesn’t help… You need to say what religious texts say about the issue. Probably two or three of them!
Bethan
October 11, 2010 at 8:30 pm
Thankyou! =P
Charlotte
October 7, 2010 at 6:22 pm
Hi Mr Bigg,
I am a bit confused as for section 1 point 1 you have said that i need to include pros and cons of the argument and how religious people may respond, but I think I have already included that in the introduction and I do not know what more to add. Could you possibly help me on this post or see me a break or lunch at school so I can show you what i have done so far on my essay?
Thankyou
Charlie
Mr Bigg
October 7, 2010 at 9:12 pm
Of course you can come and see me!
You shouldn’t be going into too many pros and cons in your introduction though. The introduction should only say what kinds of things you’ll be talking about. You need to actually talk about them in sections one and two!
Jemma
October 7, 2010 at 6:27 pm
Hi,
like KD, if I were 50/50 would I write that and then explain why i am?
Jemma
Mr Bigg
October 7, 2010 at 9:10 pm
Yes. Explain which bits you agree with and which you don’t. However, be careful not to sit on the fence… You need to clearly justify why you can’t come to a definite conclusion!
Sarah
October 7, 2010 at 6:37 pm
Hi,
I was wondering if to get a level 8 you have to say about your conclusion in your introduction?
Thanks,
Sarah
Mr Bigg
October 7, 2010 at 9:09 pm
Hi Sarah,
Yes – it’s good to say in your introduction where your argument will go…
However, that doesn’t mean you can just ignore other opinions. You need to show you have thought about a variety of opinions, then explain why you disagree with them…
Daren
October 8, 2010 at 10:51 pm
This blog really helped me on remembering this stuff.
Thanks
Daren
trevstar
October 9, 2010 at 11:57 am
hey mr Bigg its Trevstar i would like to use this opportunity to ask when the homeworks due and visit my site *removed*
Mr Bigg
October 10, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Thanks Trevstar.
It’s due next lesson (Tuesday).
Nice website – unfortunately I can’t let you link from here. I’m not allowed… Sorry!
Nicky
October 9, 2010 at 4:31 pm
i am confused i you saying to put a small concluding sentance in our intro?
Mr Bigg
October 10, 2010 at 3:56 pm
I’m not saying you have to conclude as such, just try to tell the reader where you are going…
eg. “I am going to argue that this statement is…”
Nicole
October 10, 2010 at 11:27 am
Hi Sir,
Can you give your opinion on wither the title / statement is Relative Truth & Absolute Truth in the Introduction? Or should I save it for the conclusion ?
Nicole
Nicole
October 10, 2010 at 11:37 am
Hi Sir,
I can’t think of an Example of Relative truth.
Please Help !
Mr Bigg
October 10, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Perhaps ‘”Titanic” was the best film ever made’?
Some would agree, some would disagree. It’s a relative truth, you can’t argue that it will be true for all people…
Mr Bigg
October 10, 2010 at 3:58 pm
It depends. Do you think this statement is true in all circumstances? Is it false in all crcumstances? If it’s one of these you think it’s absolute truth.
If you think it might be true in some circumstances but false in others then you’re arguing that it’s relative truth.
HTH
Hollie
October 10, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Hi sir,
I was wondering how to structure my conclution if I think that it is a relitive truth. Have you got any tips?
Thanks,
Hollie
Mr Bigg
October 10, 2010 at 5:04 pm
Hi Hollie,
I’d sum up your evidence to show that there are some situations in which the statement might be true, and some situations in which it might be false. You could also sum up your evidence that shows the statement is not absolutely true, and no absolutely false. (Clarifying why this is, of course!)
Once you’ve done that you can conclude that the statement must be a relative truth
Rebecca
October 10, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Hey,
I’m not really sure who would and would not agree with the statement because some athiests would agree and some wouldn’t and not all thiests would either, so what do I write for that?
Mr Bigg
October 10, 2010 at 5:10 pm
Hi Rebecca,
I’m not sure many atheists would agree, because it rather implies that God exists. In fact they would probably disagree precisely because they would think killing is wrong, but not because God says so!
Some theists might agree. A theist who believe right and wrong come from God might say the statement is true, but I guess others might say it’s true anyway! It’s an age old question – if you believe God somehow tells is what is right and wrong there are two options:
(1). Something is wrong because God says it is wrong (the wrong-ness comes from the fact that God calls it wrong). People who agree with this would also agree with the statement.
(2). God tells us something is wrong because it just is (the wrongness exists either way, God just tells us about it). People who agree with this would disagree with the statement.
Not sure what you think, but if you get the difference it makes for an interesting discussion! Would be delighted if you were to talk about it in your essay.
Rebecca
October 10, 2010 at 4:55 pm
Hi,
What is a Hypothesise?
In our books it says:
Propose wider effects of beliefs and behaviour on others and society,
and underneath I wrote ‘is abortion killing?’ But I still don’t understand what it is.
Mr Bigg
October 10, 2010 at 5:12 pm
A “hypothesis” is a theory.
Not sure of the relevance of what you’ve written in your book. I’d guess it has something to do with the ideas required to get to Level 8.
ie. Is abortion killing? If it is, and it is therefore wrong according to the statement, how would this affect our society and people in it? This is getting quite advanced now! Please come and see me if you’re still not sure…
Rebecca
October 10, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Thanks. This Blog Really Helps A Lot!
Lotan (Mr Bigg's Favourite Student)
October 11, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Yo Mr BIIIIIIIG
nice site
erm how would i add the pros and cons? into my parts 1 and 2?
Lotan
Mr Bigg
October 11, 2010 at 4:52 pm
Yep. So in part one you explain why some people might agree, then try to explain whether the reasons people might give are actually any good or not…
Lydia
October 11, 2010 at 4:39 pm
Hi,
thankyou for putting this up, it’s helpfull!
From Lydia
Lydia
October 11, 2010 at 5:06 pm
hi again,
you know when you put: killing and will of God. Make it clear what you mean by these terms.
I’m not sure how to explain it..?
Please help!
Mr Bigg
October 11, 2010 at 11:33 pm
It’s just that you need to explain what you mean by “killing”. Is it murder? Killing animals for food? Killing soliders in a war?
Lydia
October 12, 2010 at 3:55 pm
thankyou!
Archie
October 11, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Hey MR BBBIIIGGG
How long should it be because i feel like i have all the infomation in there but it is not very long .
Mr Bigg
October 11, 2010 at 11:32 pm
I’d expect it to be a page of A4 or two, Archie…
Annie
October 11, 2010 at 5:37 pm
hi mr Bigg
im really stuck on what to write i think i have done
it all wrong !!
please help explain
annie
Annie
October 11, 2010 at 7:13 pm
Hey Mr Bigg
I have written the essay but i think that i have done it wrong can you give me any extra help?!?!
Annie
Mr Bigg
October 11, 2010 at 11:32 pm
It’s a bit late now! I’m sure it’s absolutely fine…
Tiaa
October 11, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Thankyou for the blogg mr biggg.
Helped.
Rebecca
October 11, 2010 at 7:51 pm
Hi,
I don’t understand what you mean by pros and cons of the argument. Please Help!
Rebecca
Mr Bigg
October 11, 2010 at 11:30 pm
What are the good and bad points about each view? Are the reasons they give good ones or not?
Emily
October 12, 2010 at 6:12 pm
this blog is a great idea it really helped
all the teachers should have a blog too
Thankyou
Emily
charlotte hall
October 12, 2010 at 6:21 pm
if you are a religious person, and you dont eat meat, will you have weaker muscells as you need the meat to make your muscells grow stronger.
Darren
October 12, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Thanks Mr bigg, this really helped me understand what to do!
Darren
rohan
August 31, 2012 at 3:33 pm
very helpful extremely well written. thankyou