Lesson video

Hi everyone and welcome to today's lesson on Christian practises.

My name is Mrs. Day and I will be taking you through today's lesson.

So in today's lesson, we are going to look at application to human issues and looking at abortion and euthanasia.

First thing that you need to do is to make sure you have everything that you need.

So can you please get yourself a pen or a pencil or something to write with, paper to write on and a different coloured pen to add corrections with.

If you need to pause the video and go to get these now, please do that and press resume when you come back.

So what will we be learning in this lesson? So today we will firstly be looking at definition of key terms. Then we will look at situation ethics and then we will look at sanctity of life.

So we've got lots to get through today but hopefully you will find that really interesting.

Really important to say that in today's lesson, there will be some sensitive content.

And if this is a sensitive topic for you, we recommend checking with a trusted adult before starting the lesson or doing the lesson with a trusted adult nearby.

As I said, some of the content we will discuss has potential to be quite sensitive so please do, either tell an adult or do the lesson with the adult nearby.

So firstly, let's start by looking at some definitions.

So what is abortion and what is euthanasia? So abortion is the deliberate termination of human pregnancy.

So to terminate something means to stop it.

So it's the deliberate stopping of a human pregnancy.

Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma.

So that means that someone in euthanasia, someone is being killed but they have to have an incurable disease.

So it is not anyone being killed, there is someone who has an incurable disease and is suffering a very large amount.

So we are going to look at a few key questions in this topic.

And this topic is all about life, the value of life, when it begins, when and who gets to decide this? So, one first key question that you need to think through is when does life begin and end? So I want you to come up with your own ideas on this as well.

We're going to look at what Christians think but it would be great if you could also have your own views.

So when do you think life begins? So is it at conception or is it when the foetus has a heartbeat or is it when the foetus is born? So what do you think, when does life actually begin? When is something alive? And then on the other end of that, when does life end? So does it end when a heart stops beating? Does it end when a brain stops working or does it end when there's such a large amount of pain but the quality of life is not very good? These questions are so important for this topic because they decide what your view is.

When you think life begins and ends will determine how you view these issues.

We also need to discuss who should have the power to decide this? So you might have thought, oh, I think life begins here and ends here but who should actually have the power to make that decision about someone else's life? Because this is quite a major issue.

So who has the power to say actually your life doesn't begin then or does it end then? Who gets that power? I wonder what you think? It'll be really interesting if for the next minute or two, you just pause the video and write down, when do you think life begins and ends? And who do you think should have the power to decide the answer to these questions? Is it the government? Is it medics? Or should it just be the individual person themselves? I'm sure lots of you will have a range of different opinions on this but it's really useful to have a think about what you think before we move on to look at what Christians think.

So firstly, we're going to consider abortion.

So as we said, this is the deliberate termination of a pregnancy.

And most abortions in this country are carried out before 24 weeks of pregnancy.

And they can only be carried out after 24 weeks in extreme circumstances.

So if people want an abortion, this has to happen before 24 weeks.

It can only happen after 24 weeks if the mother's life is at risk or in an extreme situation like that.

So what I would like you to do now is to spend two minutes, making a mind map of reasons why someone might want an abortion.

So have a think, what can you come up with? And you can use the images on the screen to help you if you get stuck.

So why might someone want an abortion in today's society? So you can pause the video here to complete your task and resume once you have finished.

So they might want an abortion for these reasons.

With a pen you can add some different ideas around your mind map, so use your different coloured pen.

So it could be fear, they could be afraid of having a child.

It could be an unplanned pregnancy that is quite a major reason today for abortions.

So people had not planned to have a baby at that time.

Could be pressure or expectations from people around them.

So people might convince them that it's not a good idea.

It could be their age or their life stage.

They might think actually I'm too young or actually I'm at university at the moment, now is not a good time.

Or finally it could be a lack of money or resources.

So they could think, actually, I can't really afford that.

I don't have, I need to look after a baby.

So any of those reasons you can take or you can add anything extra that you didn't get.

You might have also came up with some other ideas, which is great.

And secondly, we need to think about the issue of euthanasia.

So as we said, this is the deliberate killing of a patient due to an incurable disease.

So it's really important with euthanasia to understand how it works.

So this is a very long process.

You can't simply say you want euthanasia and it happens that day.

This will take place over months and this will be checking on the patient's physical health, mental health, their personal beliefs.

It will have to be a decision from them and not their family.

So there's a lot of checks and it's done over a really long period of time so that mistakes can't be met.

This practise is currently illegal in the UK but it is legal in some countries around the world and in Europe.

So in Switzerland, for example, euthanasia is legal.

But what this means is that not just anyone can have euthanasia, a patient must prove that they have a terminal illness that it's incurable, that their quality of life is pretty much unbearable.

So there's a lot of things that have to line up in order for euthanasia to happen.

It can't just happen to anyone.

So now I would like you to spend the next two minutes, making a mind map of reasons why someone might want euthanasia? So have a think, what could lead someone to want it? What might their situation be? And I want you to pause the video here.

You should spend about two or three minutes doing this and then resume the video once you have finished.

Well done, let's have a look at some answers.

So again, you can use your second coloured pen and add these ideas around your mind map.

So firstly, we have fear.

You'll notice that, that comes up in both.

So people might be afraid of what will happen at the end of a terminal illness.

They might think actually I don't want the pain and the suffering to get any worse.

Secondly, we have the idea of to die with dignity.

Now what does that mean? Dignity is simply self-respect.

So someone might think actually I want to die with self-respect.

I want to still be able to feed myself and go to the bathroom myself.

When I die, I don't want people to have to do that for me.

I want to die with dignity.

They also might want to remove pressure from family.

So they might think they are a burden.

They might think actually it's a lot of pressure for their family to look after them.

So they might want to remove that pressure.

They might also not want to become dependent on others.

So they might think actually I want to be independent until the end of my life.

And finally and probably the most common reason is that they want to end their suffering.

You might disagree with a lot of these reasons.

A lot of people do.

A lot of people think actually this doesn't make sense.

Family want to look after elderly people.

It is a part of life to become reliant on others.

And we will look at that in a minute because that is a main Christian idea where they think actually community is important and people should rely on each other.

But these are some reasons why some people might choose euthanasia at the end of their life.

So we are now going to think about two different theories that can be applied to make these decisions.

And the thirst ethical theory that we're going to think about is situation ethics.

So what is situation ethics? It is simply a theory that is based on the idea of doing the most loving thing in every situation.

So situation ethics was created by someone called Joseph Fletcher and he was a Christian but he thought actually Christians have got too obsessed with following rules.

And if we look at Jesus's life, he lived a life of love.

He always did the most loving thing.

So he came up with this theory of situation ethics, where he said that in every single situation, we should do the most loving thing for the largest amount of people.

So it's not about what's right or wrong or what's in the rules but it's about doing the most loving thing all the time.

At his best, his whole idea on this verse, where Jesus said, love your neighbour as yourself.

He thought actually in Jesus's life, he shows example again and again of love, of doing the most loving thing for individuals, of not following laws but of loving people.

One example that you could use is when he decided to heal someone on the Sabbath.

Even though this was not allowed in Jewish tradition, he said, actually, I'm going to put the laws to one side and I'm going to do the most loving thing for this person.

So love your neighbour as you love yourself.

So let's think about how this would apply to the human issues of abortion and euthanasia.

So with abortion, Fletcher might say that actually, this could argue either way.

So he might say actually in some cases, abortion is acceptable because it is a loving thing to do for someone who might feel like they don't have enough money to look after a baby, for someone who has been raped or for someone who's terrified, Fletcher might say actually the most loving thing to do is to let them have an abortion.

He wouldn't say that outright in every situation but it would say in that situation, that is the most loving thing to do.

But then there's another side of the argument where Fletcher might say, actually in some situations is more loving to let the child be born.

He might say, in some situations, abortion is not the most loving thing to do.

And having the child and then either placing the child in adoption or yeah, with other parents who would love the child, is a more loving thing to do.

And then let's think about euthanasia.

So with euthanasia, Fletcher's situation ethics is again, quite similar where he could fall on either side of the argument.

So firstly, he might say in some situations, euthanasia is acceptable because it is the most loving thing to do to end someone's suffering, to end their pain.

That is a loving thing to do.

However, he might also look at the other side of the coin and say, actually, in other situations, it's more loving for the person to stay alive, to be there with their family until the end, to allow their family to care for them.

So as you can see, Fletcher's situation ethics doesn't give you a rule.

It doesn't say this is what should always happen but it requires you to think about each situation separately.

So what I would like you to do now is to draw out this table and to fill it in based on what we've just discussed.

So what might situation ethics say about abortion and euthanasia? So one might agree and one might disagree with both.

So you can pause the video here to complete your task and resume once you're finished.

If you need to remind yourself of situation ethics, just rewind the video back and you can play that little section again.

So yeah, please press resume once you're finished and we will go through these answers together.

Really well done.

Let's have a look at your answers together.

So why might situation ethics agree with abortion? So it might say that the most loving thing to do, might be to allow it in the case of someone not being ready, being too young or the pregnancy been unplanned.

Why might situation ethics disagree with abortion? It might say that in some situations, the most loving thing to do for the foetus may be to allow it to be born.

And then let's think about euthanasia.

So why would situation ethics allow euthanasia? It might say the most loving thing to do might be to allow it in the case of terrible suffering and an individual losing their ability to care for themselves.

However, it might also disagree with euthanasia, as it might say, the most loving thing to do might be to allow it, as it allows the family to care for the patient and would maybe be more loving for the family.

You can pause the video here and jot down any of these answers that you didn't get in your second coloured pen.

Well done on that.

So one thing that you might have noticed as we were discussing this, is that situation ethics is very subjective.

What does the word subjective mean? Simply that there's no one answer, it changes all the time.

People perceive it differently.

What you think is the most loving thing to do in a situation, might be different to what I think.

So subjective literally means that there's no right and wrong answer, which might make this really useful.

As people can apply it to situations differently but it could also make it quite difficult to follow because there's no right or wrong and it's up to the individual.

But now we need to consider what is the value of human life.

So we've thought about the most loving thing to do but we need to think now about this question, what is the value of human life and who decides that value? To consider the Christian view of this, we are going to look at the idea of the sanctity of life.

So the sanctity of life is simply the idea that all human life is valuable because it is created by God, in the image of God.

So notice the key points of this definition.

All human life is valuable because it is created by God and in the image of God.

Notice here that we are just talking about human life.

So we're not talking about animals, we're not talking about plants, we're talking about human life, valuable because it is created by God.

So we read in the book of Genesis that God created human beings, so it's created by God, but also in the image of God.

The Bible doesn't say this about animals.

It doesn't say about plants.

This is just for human beings.

What do you think it means to be created at an image of God? That's quite a complex phrase.

So Christians would understand that, to mean that, it simply means that humans have a higher level of understanding than animals.

That their brains work in the way that God has designed.

That they can reason, that they can think like God.

Obviously, humans are not identical to God but the Bible indicates that they have a likeness to God that it's not possessed by animals.

So that is the sanctity of life.

So the sanctity of life says all human life is valuable.

It doesn't matter if you have a serious illness, it doesn't matter if something is wrong with you, human life is valuable.

Doesn't need to, humans don't need to get a good job.

They don't need to be good at sport.

They don't need to be beautiful, just because they are human means that they are valuable simply because they're created by God in the image of God.

And this is the verse that Christians often refer to when they talk about this.

So God created human beings, making them to be like Himself.

So this shows them to be created by God in the image of God.

God created human beings making them to be like Himself.

So how does this apply to human issues? So if we look at this, we can see with the abortion, sanctity of life is going to have a lot to say.

So many Christians believe that life begins at conception.

And this means is that they will think abortion is always wrong because human life is always valuable.

So they would say before the foetus is born, it is still human life.

And this comes down to where you think life begins.

Because if you say all human life is valuable, if you think that human life starts at conception, then abortion is totally wrong.

If you think that human life starts when heart beats, then you might say abortion before that is okay.

But as soon as the heart starts beating, then abortion is wrong.

So largely a lot of Christians would disagree with abortion because of the sanctity of life principle because they think all human life is valuable, born or unborn So even before birth that human life is valuable.

Sanctity of life also has things to say about euthanasia.

And it might say that actually all human life is valuable even if this is at the end of life, when the person can't do much for themselves.

So they would say, actually, it's not about your experience of life, it's not about how much you enjoy life or how much you can do? But just because you're alive, just because your heart is beating, you're valuable to God.

So that life shouldn't be taken away.

You might disagree with some of these points but you can understand that if Christians believe that all human life is valuable because it's created by God, then it's not about how good life is.

It's not about the situation, whatever the situation people should stay alive.

You should not be able to choose to end life because of suffering.

So what I would like you to do now is to have a go at completing this table.

So what might the sanctity of life say about abortion and euthanasia? You will see that I have cancelled out the agree square in euthanasia because I think it's quite hard to come up with something that people who believe in the sanctity of life would say that would agree with euthanasia.

But you should be able to get and agree and disagree for abortion.

I will give you a hint for agree with abortion, have a think about the mother.

So in what case might Christian say that abortion is acceptable, according to the sanctity of life principle when thinking about the mother? So have a go at this, take about five or 10 minutes and then press resume and we will go through these answers together.

Really well done.

Let's have a look at your answers together.

So why might abortion be allowed under the sanctity of life principle? So simply because it might be allowed if the mother's life is at risk.

This is because the mother's life is valuable and has been created by God.

So Christians who believe in the sanctity of life principle, would be allowed to get an abortion if the mother's life is at risk, this is because her life was valuable and has been created by God.

Why would they disagree? This is because the sanctity of life would argue that the life of the foetus is valuable because it was created by God, so they would say, actually the unborn baby is valuable because it's created by God.

So it can't be taken away.

And then let's think about euthanasia.

So again, I said, it's quite hard to think of a reason why the sanctity of life would agree with euthanasia but we can definitely get a disagree.

Sanctity of life would argue that the life is still valuable even if it is in pain and suffering.

So they would argue that sanctity of life is valuable, even if it isn't pain and suffering and therefore, shouldn't be taken away.

Really well done on that.

And you can add any extra information that you got onto your sheet, well done.

We are now going to finish with some quick fire questions to test what you have learned today.

So in each of these questions, you're choosing between situation ethics and sanctity of life.

So which approach focuses on the most loving thing to do? Is it situation ethics or sanctity of life? You can point at the screen or write down your answer.

Five, four, three, two and one, it is of course, situation ethics.

Situation ethics says that, Christians should do the most loving thing in every situation.

Which approach is based upon the idea of loving your neighbour? Five, four, three, two and one.

The answer is of course, situation ethics.

Situation ethics is based on this idea of loving your neighbour as yourself and the idea of living a life of love as Jesus has done.

Which approach is based upon the idea that all human life is valuable as is created by God? Five, four, three, two and one, The answer is of course, the sanctity of life.

So that all human life is valuable because it is created by God in the image of God.

Which approach would struggle to ever justify euthanasia? Situation ethics or the sanctity of life? Remember, euthanasia is the deliberate end of life due to unbearable suffering.

Five, four, three, two and one, and the answer is sanctity of life because it believes that life is valuable in all cases because it is created by God.

So I wonder what theory you agree with more? Is it situation ethics or sanctity of life? Have a think about this now.

And if you have to base your decisions in life, based on one of those theories, which one would you choose? You can write down what you think.

I'd be really interested to know your ideas.

After you've come up with your ideas, I want you to put them into this format.

So do you agree more with situation ethics or the sanctity life principle? So write a paragraph to explain your viewpoint.

And you can use the following sentence starters.

So I agree more with, , this is because.

I agree less with, , this is because.

So I might say, I agree more with the sanctity of life principle because I understand that each human life has value.

That would be my first sentence.

And then this is because and then I would explain why that of that.

So you can press pause here.

This should take you about five minutes and then press resume once you are finished.

Really well done.

I would love to read some of your ideas.

Really well done on today's lesson.

And if you would like to share some of your work with Oak National, we would love to see it, especially your last paragraph that you just wrote on whether you agree more or less with situation ethics or the sanctity of life principle.

So if you would like to share this, please ask a parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter and tag at @OakNational and #LearnwithOak.

Thank you so much for joining in today's lesson.

It's been great to see you.

And I hope that you have learned some new knowledge and that you've really started to think about some of these big questions in life.

What we did today is really big topic.

So feel free to speak to your parent or carer or trusted adult about what you've learned today because I'm sure you might have more questions or want to discuss some of it in more detail.

Thank you for joining and please do have a go at the summary quiz to see what you have learned.

I look forward to seeing you again soon.