Revision Notes on Section 1.3 - Selfishness, Greed, Ignorance & Sin PDF

Section 1.3 Selfishness, Greed, Ignorance and Sin Objectives: Outline religious and non-religious beliefs and teachings about human selfishness, greed, ignorance and sin as the root causes for human wrongdoing Categorise how humans have different responses to sel...

Section 1.3 Selfishness, Greed, Ignorance and Sin Objectives: Outline religious and non-religious beliefs and teachings about human selfishness, greed, ignorance and sin as the root causes for human wrongdoing Categorise how humans have different responses to selfishness, greed, ignorance and sin Assess and analyse how these beliefs affect life Key Vocabulary: Greed: An excessive desire for things, such as wealth or food, which bears no relation to actual needs Ignorance (in relation to wrongdoing): Not knowing or understanding the difference between right and wrong, or what makes actions wrong Selfishness: Self-interest and concern with individual needs/wants which excludes considering those of others Sin: Behaviour which is against the law of God Differing Views on Selfishness, Greed, Ignorance and Sin: SELFISHNESS Christian View: selfish people put themselves first and may do so at the expense of others selfishness is wrong because people should have an active concern for others 'Golden Rule' (love your neighbour as yourself) the Parable of the Good Samaritan could be used to illustrate the Christian attitude towards selfishness (know this story) Jesus then says 'go and do likewise' so Christians are specifically told that they should go out of their way to help others the Sheep and the Goats could also be used (know this story) Non-Christian View: oppose selfishness especially when self-interest leads directly to the suffering of others one could argue that selfishness is natural and we have no reason to be anything other than selfish Thomas Hobbes: ✔ the most basic law of nature is to try to ensure our own survival and we are entitled to use others to achieve that means ✔ it is in our self-interest to enter a 'contract' with others and limit the extremes of our behaviour so that others would limit theirs so we would not actually do whatever we liked to others ✔ the theory of evolution is based on the idea of survival of the fittest; those that compete most effectively for the available resources will be more successful and pass on their genes GREED Christian View: related to selfishness but is specifically concerned with the use of resources (Roman Catholics) it is listed among the seven deadly sins  1 Timothy 6:10 'the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil' (money is not itself bad, but loving money is) Matthew 6:24 'No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money' Hebrews 13:5 (Loving money is also associated with lacking faith in God to provide) STEWARDSHIP: ✔ the world is created by God for the use of everyone ✔ those who take more than their fair share at the expense of those who have less are not acting in the way God would want them to ✔ people who are rich are stewards of God-given wealth and many Christians would say that they should use their wealth for the good of others 1 John 3:17 'But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?' Matthew 19:16-26 The Rich Young Ruler (Jesus showed an active concern for the poor and was critical of the rich) Acts 4:31-35 many of the early Christians shared everything that they had and whilst few Christians today will go this far most would argue that giving to charity is a Christian duty 2 Corinthians 9:7 specifies that charity must be given willingly Non-Christian View: many non-Christians would oppose greed however, there is also a positive aspect to greed: ✔ society (particularly capitalist society) depends on greed ✔ without greed there would be no incentive to work hard and try to do better ✔ if people did not want more then technology would not progress to meet that desire ✔ scientific progress is stimulated by greed; new drugs are discovered by pharmaceutical companies keen to make a profit ✔ sometimes charity can be counter-productive; can make people dependent on aid ✔ free trade is ultimately the best way to improve everyone's standard of living IGNORANCE Christian View: everyone has the capacity to tell right from wrong generally speaking ignorance is not a valid excuse although on the cross Jesus did say 'father forgive them for they know not what they do' (Luke 23:34) Thomas Aquinas' teachings about conscience: ✔ human beings are rational; can work out whether an action is right or wrong by thinking about it logically (CONSCIENCE) ✔ we are naturally inclined to do good because we are created in God's image  ✔ although the conscience is God-given and useful it is not infallible; can make mistakes ✔ mistaking an 'apparent good' (something that seems good) for a real good (something that is good) ✔ we could minimise the risk of mistaking an apparent good for a real good by educating the conscience by reading the Bible and by going to Church ✔ it is a Christian duty to avoid being morally ignorant Non Christian View: Most non-Christians would say that it is important that people learn right from wrong and society generally expects that parents and schools would play a part in this. SIN Christian View any action which goes against the law of God there are many different things in the Bible which are said to be against God's laws and therefore count as sins Fundamentalist Christians ✔ the Bible is inerrant; everything that the Bible says is a sin is and should be avoided ✔ for example, they are generally opposed to homosexuality because in Leviticus it is described as an 'abomination' Liberal Christians ✔ regard some of the so called sins mentioned in the Bible as reflections of the values of another age ✔ they do not come from God but from the human writers of the Bible Majority of Christians regard things like the 10 Commandments and Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount as genuinely reflecting God's will and they would say that going against God's teaching would lead to problems in the world. Christians believe that God is omniscient (all knowing) and omnibenevolent (all loving) so they believe that God can be trusted to have our best interests at heart and to know what is good for us. Therefore, Christians believe that the world would be a better place if everyone obeyed God's commandments and avoided sinning. Matthew 5:48 'be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect' avoid not just sinful actions but sinful thoughts 1 John 1:8-10 'If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.' Mark 2:17 'Those who are well don't need a doctor, but the sick do need one. I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners.' Greed case study: Consumerism Most people in the west have far more clothes than they need and there are many shops that sell cut price cheap clothing. However, for clothes to be available to the consumer at a cheap price they need to be produced as cheaply as possible. The best way to keep prices down is to pay the workers who make the clothes as little as possible. It was reported in 2012 that up to a third of cotton workers in India may be children. Most are not paid a fair wage, they do not work in safe conditions and they do not get an education. Read the BBC report into child cotton workers here. There are many other examples of the effect that western consumerism for goods and raw materials has on less economically developed countries. Selfishness case study: Apartheid The case above could also be used to illustrate how selfishness can cause injustice. A different example would be the way in which the whites in apartheid South Africa (or segregated America) turned a blind eye to injustice that did not directly inconvenience them. Selfishness leads people to ignore the needs of others if they themselves are fine. Ignorance case study: Edlington Brothers In 2010 two young brothers tortured and attempted to kill two cousins. In the ensuing trial their defense lawyer argued that they had a 'toxic family life' with a drug dependent mother and a violent father who beat their mother and them. They watched pornographic violent films. Child psychologist Dr Eileen Vizard said that they had no apparent ability to empathise. Brought up without boundaries and with no one teaching them right from wrong the brothers moral ignorance certainly contributed to their crime. The Causes of Hatred, Injustice, Violence and War: Generally most people would agree that selfishness, greed and ignorance do lead to problems in society. Greed causes injustice because people take more than their fair share of the world's resources. Greed for cheap consumer goods can fuel exploitation, slave labour, child labour and poverty in less economically developed countries. Greed for power, land and wealth can lead to wars of expansion. Selfishness results in people ignoring the needs of others and refusing to go out of their way to help others. Selfish inconsiderate attitudes lead to antisocial behaviour, tax dodging and unethical shopping habits all of which have an impact on the quality of lives of others. Ignorance of right and wrong often seems to be a contributing factor in crime. If a person is not taught right and wrong when they are young then they will not be able to recognise right and wrong when they are older. The Edlington brothers case is a recent example of the results of moral ignorance. For contrast: Buddhists believe that greed, hatred and ignorance are the three poisons. This means they are the root cause of actions that lead to bad karma and keep people trapped in the cycle of Samsara. Buddhism teaches that they can be overcome by following the middle way (the path between luxury and poverty). Meditation is used by Buddhist to help them ensure that they have the right attitude to life and to help them develop qualities like metta (loving kindness) and karuna (compassion). Buddhism teaches ahimsa (non-harm) towards all living things. Is all suffering caused by these factors? However, although ignorance, selfishness, greed and sin do contribute to hatred, injustice, violence and war they are not the only possible contributing factors. Injustice is caused by many things, a lot of which are out of human control. Economic injustice is certainly partly caused by human selfishness and greed but things like drought, famine and prevalence of disease also play a part. Many people in the world are born into lives of hardship caused at least in part by the harsh environment that they live in. To a certain extent God appears to be responsible. Violence can also be a response to a particular set of circumstance. It might come from greed, selfishness or ignorance but we could equally well say that a lot of violence is alcohol related. War also has many different factors. Wars can be entered into for ideological reason. The crusades were wars motivated by religious beliefs. Countries might go to war out of self defense or defense of the weak. The causes of hatred are not so easy to identify. It might come from upbringing with prejudices and dislikes being passed from generation to generation. Perhaps hatred should itself be seen as a 'root cause' rather than as something caused by other vices. Within Buddhism hatred is one of the three poisons that lead to bad karma. Finally, to attribute all suffering to greed, selfishness, ignorance implies that hatred, injustice, war and violence are caused by accidental thoughtlessness. One could argue that sometimes people deliberately try to cause suffering to others and go out of their way to do evil things. The mass murderer Ian Brady has said that he murdered to gain an 'existential experience' (Daily Telegraph). However, Brady is a paranoid schizophrenic and therefore we might regard him as 'ignorant' in that he is incapable of understanding the difference between right and wrong. The inevitability of hatred, injustice, violence and war: It is inevitable: It sometimes seems that hatred, injustice, violence and war are inevitable as long as the world includes human beings. History shows that they do seem to have existed throughout history. We can pick any century and find examples of prejudice, bad feeling, unfairness, war (and many other evils besides). A pessimistic view of the future would be that this is likely to continue. It might be a fact of human nature that we are prone to violence and will turn a blind eye to injustice provided it does not affect us. It might be that as the world becomes more over-populated resources will become scarcer which will lead to more wars and more injustice. The Christian view contains the idea that human beings are fallen and inclined toward sin. See notes on human nature and the human condition and recap Augustine's beliefs. It is not inevitable: However, we could take a more optimistic view. Society seems to have become more tolerant and less likely to support injustice. Mass media means that injustice tends to get noticed and people are less likely to get away with hate. Tolerance is perceived to be more important and society becomes more civilised. Perhaps by looking back at history we can learn from our mistakes and make the world better in the future. We might also argue that as technology develops we can make better and fairer use of the earth's resources. We won't need to fight over them because we will be able to use them in a way which means that there is enough to go around. Better infrastructure means that aid can be more effectively taken to those that need it. Christians would say that with God anything is possible. Jesus said that he had come to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. If everyone followed Jesus' teachings about loving their neighbour then this might spell the end to all the various evils that exist.