WJEC AS Religion in Contemporary Society: Past Paper Questions and 2015 Guesses

Photo: Wikimedia

I've collected together the WJEC Religion in Contemporary Society past paper questions from 2009 (except for Religion and TV and NRMs as I don't teach these), which you might find useful for exam prep and essay practice. You can find them here (you may need a Google account).

I've also had a stab at guessing what might come up this year and have come up with these dummy questions, which I set as a mini mock for my Year 12s.

Medical and Environmental Ethics

(a) Outline religious and moral arguments concerning the use of animals as pets and entertainment. [30]

(b) ‘Religious believers should support animal rights.’ Assess this view. [15]

Religion and Community

(a) Outline the evidence for the concept of secularisation. [30]

(b) ‘Religion has little relevance in the modern world.’ Assess this view. [15]

Religion and the Individual

(a) Examine Jung’s view of religious belief [30]

(b) ‘Psychological explanations of religion have no value.’ Assess this view. [15]

These are just my guesses, of course, based upon what has and hasn't come up in the last few years, and just so we're clear I have no knowledge of the actual exam paper! But my reasoning is as follows:

The use of animals as pets and entertainment is on the syllabus, but has never been the focus of an exam question, so might come up this time. I tend to think that part b questions are a little harder to guess, but there's something on the syllabus about the compatibility of animal rights with religious principles, so perhaps we are due for a question on this area.  Euthanasia came up last summer, which is why I've plumped for Animal Rights, but there has been a fairly even spread in recent years. If the question is on Euthanasia, I wonder if the focus might be on religious arguments for and/or against.

In Religion and Community, again there's been a fairly even spread in recent years so the only reason for picking a question on Secularisation is that Fundamentalism came up last year. It's been four years since a question on the evidence for secularisation, so I wouldn't be surprised if it came up this year. Last year's Fundamentalism question looked at the characteristics of fundamentalism, so that's unlikely to come up this year - so something on the causes of fundamentalism would be a better bet if I'm wrong about the question being on secularisation.

In Religion and the Individual, Freud has been the focus of the last three summer questions, so I think Jung is a pretty good bet to come up. The question I've come up with is pretty general, but the might me a more focused question - on the archetypes maybe? A part a on Jung may well be followed by a Jung part b, but you have to go back four years to find a part b question which assesses the general validity of psychological approaches to religion, which is why I've plumped for my part b question.

So those are my thoughts. If you teach (or study) RICS, let me know if you think my questions are along the right lines or if you think something else might come up.

Secularisation / Fundamentalism Revision Games

Revision time for GCSEs and A Levels is upon us, and students up and down the land are no doubt spending every possible hour practicing past papers and creating technicolour mind maps. Or am I just being wildly optimistic?

Here are some revision activities on Secularisation and Fundamentalism, from the WJEC Religion and Community topic for AS. I find they work nicely as quick starters, helping students consolidate their knowledge of key terms, while giving me an overview of what areas might need extra clarification and revision. Included are keywords for an Articulate style game, keyword pairs, and some suggestions for different revision activities using the keywords. Plenty to keep your students busy!

Also of use might be these student revision self-assessment sheets for fundamentalism and secularisation.

RS Question of the Week - Music to Die For

This week's Questions of the Week come from the news that Monty Python's Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life has become the most popular song at British funerals.

The questions I've asked around this are:

• Why do people choose music for their own funeral, when they won't be around to hear it?
• Which song would you choose for your own funeral and why? 

You can download the posters for the QOTW to use in your own classroom here.

My choice would be Otis Redding's Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay, with Nirvana's cover Jesus Don't Want Me For A Sunbeam on standby for any encores. What would you choose?

Euthanasia - A Few More Resources Added

I've added a few more resources on euthanasia to the Religion and Contemporary Society Resource Page. Added since last time are some worksheets on the sanctity of life and Christian views on euthanasia, plus supporting video and web links. I'll hopefully get the rest of the unit, plus an outline scheme of work posted up in the next week.

Euthanasia Lessons

I've been meaning for a while to start to post some materials and lessons related to the Religion in Contemporary Society AS module for WJEC, with a view to (eventually) building up a fairly comprehensive set of resources to support teaching the whole unit.

Things get in the way (as they do), so I've not made much progress towards so far, but the first couple of lessons on euthanasia, plus an introduction to RICS, are now up. You can find them on the Religion in Contemporary Society Resource Page.

Matrix Jesus Bingo

My Year 12s are currently studying the A2 topic on Religion and Film, and we've just started looking at the theme of religious ideas in film, using the Wachowskis' The Matrix.

I've put together this little game to help my students spot some of the many Neo/Jesus parallels between The Matrix and the gospels.

Created at bingo.saksena.net/

Usual bingo rules apply: students tick off each parallel on their card when they spot it on screen. Instead of calling "house", the winner has to shout out "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!"

Incidentally, I was surprised to find out that only one of my students has actually seen The Matrix before, and most of them seem to think that a film made in 1999 is  virtually prehistoric.

This makes me feel very old.

BBC Article on Biblical Films

My Year 12 class has recently started their A2 course, looking at the topic of Religion and Film.

This BBC article explores the history and continuing popularity of Biblical films.

2014 Religion Philosophy & Ethics Essay Competition

Photo credit: freeimages.com/tpacific

If you're missing Religious Studies after your exams, then the University of Gloucestershire's 2014 Religion, Philosophy and Ethics Essay Competition might be for you.

The competition is open to AS and A2 students in the UK, and the winner will receive an iPad. All you have to do is write 1500 words on one of the following titles:

1)  What is the proper role of religion in a modern, secular, society?
2)  If you had a time machine, would it be wrong to travel back and kill Hitler?
3)  Does science give us an accurate picture of "how the world is"?

Easy peasy, eh?

Even if you don't win, entering competitions like this one is an excellent way of developing your writing skills, and preparing you for the deeper research and reading required at degree level study (and that good universities will look for in UCAS statements).

You can find out more here. The deadline for entries is 24th October 2014.

Features of Fundamentalism Mnemonic

Mnemonics are ways of remembering complex chunks information by linking them to simpler or more memorable words, phrases or images. If, like me, you learned the points of the compass through the phrase "Never Eat Shredded Wheat", that's a good example of a simple mnemonic.
 
Below is an acrostic mnemonic I've come up with to help remember and revise some of the key features of religious fundamentalism:

If you've already studied fundamentalism, then most of these should be fairly familiar, but if you're not, then here's a brief explanation of each feature:

Science - Rejection of scientific views when they conflict with sacred texts. However, many fundamentalists have made effective use of modern technology to promote their message.
Elect - The view held by some fundamentalists that they are part of a spiritual elite, chosen by God for a particular mission. In some cases, this may justify violence.
Patriarchy - The view that men and women have different roles, with women subordinate to men. In fundamentalist groups this is seen as being ordered by God, not the product of culture or history.
Authoritarian - Blind obedience to authority, as opposed to individual freedom and conscience. This may involve obedience to the teachings of a religious text or a religious leader.
Reaction Against Modernity - Fundamentalism is seen as being a reaction against the modern world. Fundamentalists view themselves as being distinct from, and separate to, modern secular society.
Apocalyptic - The view that we are living in the last days, and that the world as we know it will shortly be brought to a sudden end.
Texts - Belief that a sacred text is inerrant (contains no errors). Fundamentalists hold that their sacred texts are literally true, and are hostile towards attempts at historical or literary criticism of them.
Ethically Conservative - The moral commandments of religious texts are seen as being binding for all time. In practice, this tends to lead to a conservative moral position, for example opposing homosexuality.
Dualism - Dividing the world into clear categories of good and evil, right and wrong, "with us" and "against us". There is little room for ambiguity or grey areas in fundamentalist thinking.

Some of the above might be open for debate, and some scholars might include other characteristics, but if you can use the SEPARATED mnemonic to remember these characteristics, and can explain and give an example of each, you should be well on your way to getting a decent grade in a Part A question on the features of fundamentalism.  
 
I've also put together a short PowerPoint that (if you're a teacher) you could incorporate into a revision lesson.

Farsi Beyond Driven - Iranian Heavy Metal

Photo Credit: Danesh Sarouie

The BBC World Service's Freedom Songs programme profiles Iranian metal musicians and the challenges they face in a country where women are banned from singing in public, and rock music is seen by the authorities as Satanic. You can listen via iPlayer here.

If you got the pun in the post title, it's worth a listen!

Evangelical Students Running (or Ruining) Courses?

An interesting article article about the impact that evangelical Christians are having in Religion departments in an era of increasingly student influence:

Teaching religion: my students are trying to run my course

Via the Put RE back into the English Baccalaureate facebook group.

Though Experiment #2: Hot Bricks and Wet Fur

Photo credits: sxc.hu

I came up with the following simple thought experiment that I used with my year 12s today:

Imagine that you are walking home one evening when you notice a fire in your neighbour’s house. Do you have any moral responsibility to try put the fire out (or at least call the fire brigade)?
 
Assuming that your answer is yes, is your duty to your neighbour or to the house itself?
 
The next day you are talking a walk along a nearby canal bank when you see your neighbour’s dog: it has evidently fallen into the canal and is unable to get out again. It is still swimming but seems exhausted and in danger of drowning. Do you have any moral responsibility to try to rescue the dog (or at least call the RSPCA)?
 
If your answer is yes, then once again: is your duty to your neighbour or to the dog itself?

The aim of this particular thought experiment was to illustrate the concept of moral status, and particularly how it might (or might not) apply to animals. Adapting a definition found here:

Moral status means that a particular thing matters for its own sake, so that we must pay attention to its interests when we consider actions that might affect it.

Moral status is different from moral goodness. Some beings may act in a morally good way, some may act immorally, and others may be incapable of moral action (e.g. new-born babies), but deserving consideration in others' moral reasoning is different from acting morally oneself.

When a thing has moral status, we may not act toward it in any way we please, disregarding its well-being, preferences, or continued existence. We owe some moral obligations to that being itself. As moral agents (beings capable of doing right or wrong), we must care to some degree about what it wants or needs, or simply what it is; this imposes some limitations on how we may act toward it.

In the first scenario, of the neighbour’s burning house, most people would agree that we have some duty to act, by trying to put the fire out or dialling 999. They would, however, be motivated not by any sense of duty towards the house itself, but instead by concern for the house’s occupant, because their life may be at risk, or because of the distress and difficulty they would suffer if they lost their home in a fire. Houses therefore, and I would say all inanimate objects, have no moral status. If we do consider such things in our actions, it is only because of their relationship to some being that does have moral status (in this case, our neighbour).
 

Photo credit: sxc.hu

In the second scenario, of the neighbour’s dog, if you would not act to try to save the dog, or your action to save the dog was motivated only by a desire to save your neighbour from distress caused by losing the dog or the financial inconvenience or buying a new one, I think that you would agree that animals have no moral status. Dogs, you would say, deserve no more consideration for their own sake than inanimate objects.

However, I suspect that most people would act to try to save the dog. Furthermore, I'd say that in acting, most people would be primarily thinking about the dog (recognising that it might be distressed or its life in danger) rather than the dog’s owner. That is, they would see their duty as being to the dog, not to some other being. 

If so, I think you’d have to conclude that animals do have a moral status. Of course this doesn’t tell us whether the moral status of animals is the same as or different to that of humans, but I’d argue that it would be morally inconsistent to rescue the dog in the above scenario, but then act as if animals have no moral status in ethical questions such as the use of animals for food, entertainment, or medical experiments.

My year 12s seemed to mostly agree with this line of reasoning, but as always I’d be interested to hear any feedback. How would you respond in the house and dog scenarios and why? Or do you think there are problems with the though experiment or the conclusions I’ve drawn from it?

Teen Exorcists

How could a TV programme called Teen Exorcists not be on some level awesome? This BBC show follows three karate-chopping all-American girls as they tour the UK, visiting churches, exorcising evil spirits and generally kicking demon butt.

Teen Exorcists. Photo: BBC

As you might expect from BBC Three, the focus is more on the girls and their unusual lifestyles than on the evidence for the reality (or otherwise) of evil spiritual entities. 

The show does raise some interesting questions about how popular culture might influence religious beliefs and practice: for a group who claim to reject much that the modern world stands for (they see Harry Potter as dangerous black magic), the three girls seem to have more than a hint of Buffy The Vampire Slayer about them...

The show is available on iPlayer until September 18th.

Young Catholic Minute

I've been trying to put together some resources for the AQA Religion and Contemporary Society course I'm teaching for the first time next term, and I remembered the Young Catholic Minute website, which I though I'd share here.

The site is run is run by and for young people, and has a number of short videos giving Catholic views on issues of ethics, politics, and relationships. When I've used them in class students have found them pretty amusing (perhaps not always intentionally) - click the video below to get an idea.

Dead Men Tell No Tales (But They Might Send The Occasional Email)

BBC

I've been putting together a few resources for a GCSE unit of work I'm teaching next term immortality and the afterlife, and I remembered an interesting story the BBC ran a year or so ago. 

A few months after the death of Pennsylvania man Jack Fröse, some of his friends began to receive emails from the dead man's account that referred to private conversations, as well as events after Jack's death. You can watch a video about the story here.

OK, as evidence for life after death, it's not exactly compelling. Even a non-techie like me can work out a few more rational explanations for Jack's posthumous emails (e.g. giving his email password to another friend before his death).

Even so, the story shows some of the ways that the possibility of an afterlife can help people deal with the grieving process. It's also an interesting illustration of how ancient beliefs about immortality can be adapted and reinvented for the modern world.

Notes on Jung

Here are a couple of resources on Jung's views on religion, both courtesy of the Richmond Philosophy pages. The first is a Powerpoint introduction to Jung and his work, the second focuses on Jung's concept of individuation, and also some criticisms of Jung's work.

Also of interest, there's an In Our Time episode on Jung, available here. 

Why did the Atheist go to Church?

No, not the start of a slightly naff RS joke. The BBC has an interesting post on Atheist "church services", complete with sermon, scripture reading, and even a hymn (with Stevie Wonder standing in for Charles Wesley).

More here.

Christianity in Decline?

Census 2011 – Christianity in Decline?

Tucked away under a headline on The Rise of Foreign Born Residents, you might have noticed that the 2011 census statistics on religion have been published today, and they appear to show a marked decline in the Christian population of England and Wales.
Christianity remains the largest religion, with 33.2 million people (59.3 per cent of the population), but this represents a marked drop compared to the previous census, in which 71.7% of the population of England and Wales self-identified as Christian.

A quarter of the population (25.1%) now self-identify as having no religion, compared to 14.8% of the population in 2001.  

Non-Christian religious groups have grown, most likely due to a rise in immigration since the last census. Islam remains the largest non-Christian religious group, the 2.7 million Muslims now making up 4.8% of the population, compared to 3% in 2001

No doubt the findings will be taken up by proponents of secularism and secularisation as evidence that religion is of declining importance in the UK, while I daresay some Daily Mail columnist or other will be wringing their hands about the growth of Islam in tomorrow's paper.

As with all statistics on religion, the findings need to be interpreted with some caution. The census is measuring religious self-identification, not belief in God, active religious participation in religion, or any other measure that might give us a clearer understanding of the changing place of religion in modern Britain.

For example, I wonder whether the decline in the Christian population reflects a substantive change in the past decade, or whether there is more going on behind the figures. In a post 9/11 world, where religion is frequently portrayed as a cause of war or terrorism, perhaps some people are reluctant to self-identify as religion, or at least no longer feel a moral obligation to declare an affiliation with a religion they do not practice?

The British Humanist Association also ran a series of adverts calling for people to tick "No Religion" in the census, so the rise in the non-religious population may reflect the success of that campaign.

Interestingly, Norwich turns out to be a hotbed of godlessness with 42.5 % of the city’s population reporting that they have no religion – the highest proportion in the country.

More on the census results here and here.

First Sikh Guards Buckingham Palace in Turban

A solider who is the first Sikh to join the Grenadier Guards features in today’s Mail on Sunday after wearing his turban rather than the Guards’ famous bearskin. According to the Mail, Jatinderpal Singh Bhullar has been given permission to wear a turban while on guard duty outside Buckingham palace.

The British army allows the 25 or so Sikhs currently serving to keep their turbans, except where a hard helmet is required for safety reasons. You can read a little more about Sikh and Muslim soldiers in the British army here.

In a religiously diverse modern Britain, should the Army make allowances for the different faiths of its soldiers? Or should those who volunteer to join up put Queen and country before their religion?