Topic title: How have the teachings of Jesus motivated/inspired others to stand up for what is right?

Year group: 8

When taught: January-April

What are we learning?

• In this module we will explore how the teachings of Jesus have inspired Christians to stand up for human rights.
• We will explore what human rights are and then explore case studies of people and places where human rights have been violated (e.g. Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Desmond Tutu, Oscar Romero, Elizabeth Fry).
• In light of our learning, we will evaluate our own views on the importance of human rights and those who have defended them throughout history.

Why is this important to know? 

• The prior module leads directly into this module. Students have the opportunity to explore at least two Christians from the past and present and make connections between their faith and the social action they took to regarding human rights.
• Students will explore what human rights are and then explore case studies of people and places where human rights have been violated (e.g. Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Desmond Tutu, Oscar Romero, Elizabeth Fry.
• This module enables students to identify how faith affects action.

Where does this link into our past and future learning? 

• This module is the third part of a three-step module. Students have already studied why Jesus is important to Christians (as God incarnate) and how Jesus was seen as a revolutionary. This leads on to this module looking at how belief in Jesus motivates others to act. It is therefore important to look at why Jesus is important to Christians (as God incarnate) before looking at how and why Christians are inspired by him.
• Students will be able to connect belief with action.
• Knowledge of religious teachings are fundamental to understanding different approaches to ethical/social issues which are explored in our year 9 ethics topics.

How will we be assessed on this topic?

• Ongoing assessment of knowledge and understanding of key terms through Satchel: one quizzes/homework/retrieval tasks in lessons.
• An end of year assessment in the Summer Term comprising of Section A: Short Q and A to test knowledge and Section B: longer written answers to test application.

What makes a strong piece of work in this topic?  What are teachers hoping to see? 

In PBE longer answers we use codes to identify what makes a good answer. These include:

• Use of key terms (KT)
• Knowledge of key terms (K)
• Use of sources of authority (SOA) to help explain different views. For example: quotes from the Bible, religious figures such as Aquinas, Fletcher.
• Explanation of points in detail (EXPN)
• Giving different views towards the topic studied (DV)
• An understanding of how religious beliefs motivate people to act (I)
• Evaluation of different views looked at (EV) using critical sentence starters e.g. ‘It could be argued….’, ‘on the other hand….’
• Linking points back to the specific question asked (L)
• In evaluation questions, concluding/reaching a judgement is important (RJ)

What key words are there in this topic?

Quizlet: Click here

What can I try if I want to stretch and challenge myself on this topic?

• Use key terms in your written work but also when you are contributing to class discussions.
• Use the Quizlet cards to continually remind yourself of key terms. Create your own flashcards for these to use for revision. Create your own key quotes flash cards.
• Use key terms that you have studied in previous modules in year 7 and 8 and try to apply these to this module.
• Do some further research on Christians who have been motivated by their faith to stand up for beliefs such as Martin Luther King Jr, Desmond Tutu, Oscar Romero.
• Read the news and consider how human rights are being protected/denied in the world today. Consider how people have responded to this.
• Attend Philosophy Club to engage in further debate with students from a different year group.

What wider reading can be done on this topic?

• BBC KS3 webpages – find out about key beliefs about people who have been inspired to stand up against injustice: Click here: Historical figures – KS3 Religious Education – BBC Bitesize
• Martin Luther King – book in the Aird Library: Click here

 

Supporting document/links:

• Knowledge organiser (see below)

 

How have Christians been motivated by the life and teachings of Jesus?

Martin Luther King

America in the 1950s and 60s. For many years black people in were separated from whites; in schools, on busses, were kept separate in cafes, in theatre and sports grounds. Black people were not allowed to vote and lived without freedom. People could be arrested if they used toilets or drinking fountains, cafes or sports fields which were only for a certain colour of skin.

Martin Luther King Jr was born in America in 1929.

HOW did MLK protest?

King actively campaigned against racism by:

• Organising peaceful marches
• Writing to and meeting with the president (President Eisenhower) about racist policies and laws
• He encouraged people to boycott busses which made black and white people sit separately.
• Sit ins held where people would go in and ‘sit in’ cafes that they were not allowed to legally (but morally they were)
• He gave speeches – his most famous being ‘I have a Dream’ in Washington to 250,000 people.

How was Martin Luther King persecuted?

• his house was bombed
• he was arrested for protesting peacefully
• he was stabbed and he was punched
• he was murdered in 1968 – he is a martyr – he died for his beliefs, for standing up for the oppressed – like Jesus did

WHY did MLK Protest? (How did MLK’s Christian beliefs motivate him to act?)

• Christianity believes everyone is equal – God made everyone and every life is a god given gift to be treasured.
• Jesus, God incarnate, treated people equally. He is a role model for all Christians.
• The Bible also says ‘love your neighbour as yourself.’ (Matthew 19:19), so he was willing to stand up for the rights of all people.
• MLK stood up for fairness and justice because Jesus said: ‘blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness’ so those who campaigned for righteousness (fairness) à heave
• MLK was willing to stand up for the rights of black people, even though it resulted in him being picked on (persecuted). This is because Jesus said: ‘blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake’.
• that hunger and thirst for righteousness.’
• Jesus was a pacifist (a peaceful person) and so MLK would have protested PEACEFULLY
• Also Jesus said “blessed are the peacekeepers” and God said “thou shall not kill” so MLK would not have wanted to kill.

How have Christians been motivated by the life and teachings of Jesus?

Modern situation: South Africa and Apartheid

For many years South Africans lived under apartheid. This was an unfair system. Black people were separated from whites; on the beach, theatre and sports ground. Black people were not allowed to vote and lived without freedom.

Some of the ways in which Black people were mistreated were:

• They Had to carry passbooks for special identification
• Not allowed to vote
• Arrested if they used toilets for whites as well as drinking fountains, beaches or sports fields.
• marriages of mixed race were made illegal (you were not allowed to marry someone from another race)
• Had to live in townships (under developed areas)
• 1955 – Bantu Education Act = Verwoerd (one of the apartheid leaders) presented the idea that non-whites should stop learning subjects such as science and maths.

Desmond Tutu was born in South Africa in 1931. He first followed in his father’s footsteps as a teacher, but abandoned that career after the passing of the 1953 Bantu Education Act, which enforced separation of races in all educational institutions. After this he joined the Church and was strongly influenced by many white clergymen in the country, especially another strong opponent of apartheid, Bishop Trevor Huddleston. Tutu actively campaigned against Apartheid by:

• Organising peaceful marches
• Writing to the prime minister about the diabolical policy of apartheid (when he became Dean of Johannesburg)
• 1979 called for economic sanctions against South Africa. This is where he encouraged other countries to stop trading with South Africa. (The government took away his passport so that he could not travel to spread awareness.)
• Through his role in the church he tried to work against Apartheid through speeches.

How did Tutu’s Christian beliefs motivate him to act?

• Desmond Tutu is a Christian and therefore follows the teachings of the Bible. In Genesis 1:26 in the Bible it states that ‘God made mankind in his image….’. This clearly shows that all people, regardless of their skin colour, are equal in the eyes of God.
• Jesus, God incarnate, treated people equally. He is a role model for all Christians.
• Further to this the Bible also says ‘love your neighbour as yourself.’ (Matthew 19:19), As a result, Tutu was willing to stand up for the rights of all people.
• Tutu was willing to stand up for fairness and justice. This is because Jesus said: ‘blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness.’ so those who campaigned for righteousness (fairness) à heaven
• Tutu was willing to stand up for the rights of black people, even though it resulted in him being picked on (persecuted). This is because Jesus said: ‘blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake’.
• All of Tutu’s methods of protest were peaceful. As a Christian, this would have been important to Tutu as in the Bible Jesus says to; ‘love thy enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’ Jesus was a pacifist (did not use violence) and so Tutu would have protested PEACEFULLY
• Also Jesus said “blessed are the peacekeepers” and God said “thou shall not kill” so Tutu would not have wanted to kill.

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