Hello, my name's Mrs. Rawbone.

Welcome to this RS lesson on human rights and responsibilities.

I'm really looking forward to working with you on this topic today.

By the end of today's lesson you'll be able to explain the nature and significance of human rights alongside corresponding responsibilities.

Some keywords that we'll be using are, dignity, justice, human rights, responsibilities, and the U-D-H-R.

So dignity is the worth and value of each human life.

Justice is what is right and fair.

Human rights are freedoms and protections that every person should have because they are human.

Responsibilities are the duty or obligation to act in a way that considers the impact on others.

And U-D-H-R stands for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the United Nations in 1948.

Our lesson today will have two parts.

We'll be looking at rights and responsibilities, and then we'll be looking at attitudes to human rights and responsibilities.

So let's get started on rights and responsibilities.

The term human rights comes from Latin.

We have humanus meaning man, and rights which comes from the word rectus, meaning straight or correct.

Over time, human rights came to mean a legal or moral entitlement.

The idea of human rights developed during the Enlightenment, especially through the work of thinkers like John Locke, and was formalised in documents like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

Now, it might seem obvious to us that all humans have rights, but this has not been the case throughout all of history.

Long ago, the idea that everyone had equal rights barely existed.

In ancient societies like Egypt, Greece and Rome, rights and freedoms were reserved for a privileged few, often rich men, while most people, like slaves and women, were left out.

Some early thinkers spoke about natural justice, but these ideas were limited and did not yet challenge unfair systems. During the Middle Ages, Christianity in Europe began to influence thinking about human value.

The church taught that all people were created equal before God, planting early seeds of the idea that every person had worth, even if society did not yet treat them that way.

However, rights were still mainly connected to religious structures, and real freedom for ordinary people was rare.

A major turning point came with the Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th Centuries.

Here, secular philosophers, like John Locke, Voltaire and Rousseau argued that rights such as life, liberty and property belonged to people because they were human, and not because of any religious status.

They used reason to defend freedom and equality.

Now, these revolutionary ideas helped spark major events like the American Declaration of Independence in 1776, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789, demanding rights for all citizens.

Even so, rights were not fully realised yet.

In the 1800s and 1900s, both religious and secular movements fought for change.

Christian campaigners like William Wilberforce, inspired by their faith, battled to end slavery, arguing that human dignity came from being created by God.

At the same time, circular activists pushed for workers' rights, education and democracy.

After the horrors of the Second World War, where human dignity was brutally ignored, the world finally came together to declare that every human being deserved protection.

In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created, a mainly secular document inspired by shared values, but also reflecting the religious belief and the special worth of every person.

Today, the story of human rights is still being written as religious groups and secular organisations work to defend dignity, freedom and justice for all.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, U-D-H-R, lists 30 basic rights.

And although it is not a law, it has influenced laws around the world.

Article 1 is the foundation for all the other rights.

Article 1 says, "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." So this influences Article 3, for example, "Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person." So in other words, to feel safe, to have life and to have freedom.

It also influences 18, "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion." So everyone has the right to believe or not to believe.

And it also influences, for example, Article 26, "Everyone has the right to education." This graph shows us the extent to which people are free from government torture, political killings, forced labour, and that they have property rights, enjoy the freedoms of movement, religion, expression and association.

And we can see colour coded some different areas of the world based on the continents, and also some specific countries along the X-axis.

So have a look carefully at the graph, in which countries are people likely to be granted the most and the least human rights? Pause the video.

Have a really good look at that data, and come back when you're ready to check your answer.

So you may have noticed that people living in Sweden seem to enjoy having the most human rights, and those in North Korea the least.

Let's check your understanding.

What are human rights? Take a moment to write down a definition of that word.

Human rights are freedoms and protections that every person should have because they are human.

Well done if you wrote something similar to that definition.

Now, human rights can only be upheld if we also accept our responsibilities.

So if we have a right to freedom of speech, that means we have a responsibility not to incite hatred.

If we have a right to education, we have the responsibility to allow others to learn.

If we have a right to religious freedom, we have the responsibility to allow others to believe differently.

True or false? Rights come with responsibilities.

Take a moment, not just to think about your answer, but to also think about why.

Pause the video and come back when you're ready to check.

So well done if you put true.

But why is this true? Well, if everyone only claimed their own rights without considering others, society would become unfair and unsafe.

Respecting others' rights helps protect everyone's freedom and dignity.

For Task A on rights and responsibilities, I'd like you to complete the table below, explaining the responsibility that comes with each of the rights, and giving an explanation of how the right and responsibility are connected.

So we have three examples of rights, freedom of speech, education, and life.

So have a think about the responsibility that results from having those rights, and then explain to me how the right and responsibility are linked together.

Pause the video and come back when you're ready to see what you could have written.

So you could have said for freedom of speech that the responsibility is to use this responsibly and not to spread hatred.

And freedom of speech means allowing others to express their views too, even if we disagree, and of course, not using speech to harm others.

For education you may have said, work hard and respect the learning environment, because everyone has the right to education, but they also have the duty to use it wisely and allow others to learn without disruption.

And finally, for life, the responsibility is to respect and protect the lives of others.

If everyone values their own life, they must also value and protect the lives of others, treating all people with care and dignity.

So well done if you got anything similar at all to those examples there.

So let's move on to the second part of our lesson, attitudes to human rights and responsibilities.

Christian attitudes to human rights and responsibilities are informed by different sources of authority, including the Bible, church teachings, the example of other Christians, Christian ethical theories such as natural law and situation ethics, their conscience and their ability to reason.

They may interpret the sources differently or emphasise one more than another.

The Bible is an important source of authority for Christians when considering human rights.

Genesis 1:27 says, "So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them." It suggests all human beings reflect God's nature, and this is the foundation of Christian ideas about dignity.

"Act justly and love mercy," Micah 6:8.

"Seek justice, defend the oppressed," Isaiah 1:17.

So acting justly, loving mercy, and defending the oppressed means standing up for human rights and ensuring that everyone is treated with dignity.

Let's check your understanding.

What are the missing words? According to Genesis 1:27, humans have dignity because they were created in the.

So pause the video, take a moment to jot down your answer and come back when you're ready to check.

Well done if you put "In the image of God." Jun is talking to Asher, Tamara and James about their responses to issues of human rights and responsibilities.

Jun says, "You all go to different churches.

How do the teachings of your church influence your views on human rights?" Asher says, "My Pentecostal faith teaches that salvation is for everyone, so I believe all people should be treated with dignity.

I try to live out my faith by supporting groups like Tearfund and the Evangelical Alliance, which help people in need and speak up for justice." James says, "As a Catholic, I believe every person has God given dignity, and that we have a responsibility to care for those who are suffering.

I put love into action by supporting groups like CSFOD and Caritas, which defend human rights." Tamara says, "As a Quaker, I believe strongly in equality of all people.

Quakers have a history of opposing slavery and defending human rights.

I support Quaker Peace and Social Witness, and Amnesty International, which work for justice and dignity for all." Jun comments, "It sounds like your strong belief in human dignity is what motivates you all to support human rights." It's important to be aware that historically, Christianity has not always been used to support human rights.

So we've just considered how today Christians would agree that human rights are incredibly important, but as I said, that has not always been the case.

So some denial of human rights has happened.

In the Middle Ages, for example, the church supported feudalism and the divine rite of kings, systems that exploited people.

The church actually used violence against heretics.

So these were people that had different religious views, often denying religious freedom and fair trials.

Some Christians defended slavery and the slave trade, and the church often reinforced patriarchal structures and limited the rights of women.

So let's take a moment to check your understanding.

Which denomination has a long tradition of supporting human rights? Is it A, the Quaker tradition.

B, Roman Catholicism.

Or C, the Pentecostal tradition.

So pause if you need to and then come back when you're ready to check your answer.

Well done if you spotted that it was the Quaker tradition.

Many Christians have used their faith to support human rights.

William Wilberforce, who we can see in the painting here, was a committed Christian who believed that all people are created equal in the eyes of God.

His faith inspired him to lead the campaign abolish the transatlantic slave trade, which he saw as a grave injustice.

He worked tirelessly in Parliament for years using his position to defend human dignity and promote freedom for enslaved people.

Oscar Romero was a Catholic archbishop whose faith led him to speak out against injustice and human rights abuses in El Salvador.

He believed that defending the poor and oppressed was part of living out the gospel.

He used his sermons to challenge violence and corruption and was eventually killed for standing up for human dignity and justice.

Desmond Tutu was a Christian leader whose faith drove him to fight against Apartheid in South Africa.

He believed that all people are equal before God and used his position to speak out against racial injustice and human rights violations.

Through peaceful protests and public advocacy, he worked to bring about justice, reconciliation and equality.

Pope Francis' faith inspired him to defend human rights and promote social justice.

He taught that caring for people living in poverty, welcoming refugees and protecting the environment were core parts of Christian life.

Through his words and actions, he encouraged Catholics to stand up for dignity, compassion and equality around the world.

Christian Aid is an example of a Christian organisation that supports human rights.

They do this by tackling poverty, so helping communities to access their basic needs.

By promoting gender equality, so supporting women's rights and challenging gender-based violence.

By responding to emergencies, they are protecting the rights of people who are affected by conflict or natural disasters.

And campaigning for justice means they are speaking out against unfair systems and advocating for climate justice and fair trade.

Diane is explaining how her humanist values lead her to support human rights.

She says, "I support human rights through practical action.

I'm a member of Humanists UK, which campaigns for freedom of belief, equality and free speech.

I also support Amnesty International by signing petitions, raising awareness and donating to help protect people from torture, discrimination, and injustice." And so why do many Christians also support Amnesty International? So it's not a Christian organisation, and we can see here that Diane, who's a humanist, supports it.

But why would a Christian also want to support it? If you're able to turn and talk to someone nearby, please do.

You can always pause the video and talk to me, and then come back when you're ready to move on.

Let's check your understanding.

What are the missing words? Christians and Humanists might both support human rights by.

For equal rights and.

Organisations such as Amnesty International.

Pause the video and come back when you're ready to see what the answer is.

So well done if you use the word campaigning, and the other word was supporting.

For part one of our task on attitudes to rights and responsibilities, I'd like you to tackle this exam style question.

Explain two religious reasons why human rights are important.

And in your answer you need to refer to sacred writings or another source of religious belief and teaching as you write.

Here's some suggested guidance.

For both points, give reasons why human rights are important.

So one reason why human rights are important to Christians is, and then develop that with a because.

Now, for one of those reasons, you would also need to name a source of authority.

For example, the Bible or Jesus says.

Or perhaps church leaders say.

Say what it teaches.

So that could be a quotation, or it could be a paraphrase or just a general belief or teaching.

And then apply to the issue, for example using a phrase like this means, or this shows.

So take your time, pause the video, look carefully at that guidance and at what you've learned today, and then come back when you're ready to see what you could have written.

So you could have said, one reason why human rights are important to Christians is that all people are created in the image of God.

This is important because it means every person has equal dignity and worth regardless of race, gender or status.

The Bible teaches this in Genesis 1:27, "So God created mankind in His own image." This means Christians believe everyone deserves to have their human rights respected and protected, because each person reflects God's image.

Another reason why human rights are important to Christians is that Jesus taught people to love their neighbours.

This matters because respecting human rights is a way of showing love, kindness, and fairness to others.

So I hope you can see that I have developed each point there.

And with the first point, I've also linked in a teaching from the Bible, which was Genesis 1:27 in my example.

So well done if you've developed two different points, and if you've also named and used a source of authority.

For part two of our task, we're going to look at the statement, "Religious believers have a greater responsibility to defend human rights than non-believers." So this type of quotation is the sort of controversial quotation that you might have in evaluation questions at GCSE.

So here we're going to look at reasons to agree and disagree, or arguments for and against.

So on the for side, there are some points you can use.

Christianity teaches justice and dignity.

Christians are accountable to God.

And on the against side, we have human rights are universal, all humans feel compassion.

So your task is to use these points to write a paragraph of arguments for the statement and a paragraph of arguments against the statement.

So pause the video, take your time, use the points I've suggested or any others that you can come up with, and then come back when you are ready to see what you could have written.

Let's have a look at what you could have said.

For, Christianity teaches that all people have dignity and deserve justice because they're made in the image of God.

Christians believe they're accountable to God for how they treat others, which gives them a strong responsibility to defend human rights.

Against, human rights are universal and apply to everyone, not just religious believers.

All humans are capable of feeling compassion, so defending humans rights is a shared responsibility for both believers and non-believers.

So well done if you gave that balance of arguments and you were able to explain why someone might agree that Christians have more responsibility, but also why someone might disagree and regard everyone as having that responsibility.

We've learned a lot about human rights and responsibilities in this lesson.

Human rights are founded on the belief that every person has inherent dignity and deserves fair treatment.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights lists the basic rights of all people and has helped shape national and international law.

Not everyone enjoys the same rights equally, and in some cases, such as in Christian history, these rights have not always been supported.

Many Christian teachings promote human rights through values like dignity, love, justice and equality.

With rights come responsibilities, including the duty to respect and protect the rights of others.

So well done on thinking through this challenging content today.

Thank you for working with me and working so hard.