Download Marriage and the Family

Marriage and the Family
Sex outside Marriage
• pre-marital sex (promiscuity,
cohabitation)
•Extra-marital sex (adultery)
SEX
Sex outside marriage = premarital sex AND adultery
Changing attitudes to sex
1960’s
No sex till married
1-2 sexual partners
Married by 25
Married in church
Cohabitation not
good
2000’s
Most do
10 or more
Married in 30’s
Less in church
Cohabitation OK
Christian attitudes to Sex
• Pre-marital
– Wrong:
– sex given to humans by God for procreation
of children which should be in marriage
– BIBLE says its sinful
BUT some accept cohabitation as long as a step
towards marriage because Church has to
accept modern life and Jesus said love is most
important thing
Christian attitudes to SEX
• Adultery
– WRONG:
– Breaks wedding vows said before God
“forsaking all others”
– Breaks Ten Commandments “Do not commit
adultery”
– Condemned by Jesus in Sermon of the Mount
Islam and Sex
• Pre-Marital
– Wrong:
– Forbidden in Qur’an
– Shari’ah says sex is for the procreation of
children so should take place in marriage
– Qur’an says girls and boys should be socially
separated after puberty to prevent this
Islam and Sex
• Adultery
– Serious sin
– Condemned by Allah in Qur’an
– Breaks the marriage contract
– Likely to harm the family
MARRIAGE
Christian Marriage
• Main Features of
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Wedding ceremony
Readings from the Bible
Exchanging vows
Exchanging rings
Welcome and talk from
priest about nature of
marriage
Prayers asking God’s
blessing on the couple
and help of the Holy
Spirit to make the
marriage work
• Purposes of Marriage
• So that a couple can have a
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life long relationship
So that the couple has love,
support, companionship of
each other
To have sex in the way God
intended (within a marriage)
For the procreation of children
For bringing up a Christian
family
For a relationship which is
blessed by God
Islam and Marriage
• Purposes of Marriage
• Follow example of
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Prophet Muhammad
Have children
Bring them up as Muslims
Have sex
Love
• Features of wedding
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ceremony
Stating in front of
witnesses both partners
agree to marry
Signing marriage contract
Sermon, prayers,
readings from the Qur’an
DIVORCE
Outline how attitudes to divorce
have changed (6 marks)
• Used to be: difficult to get and
expensive so very few took place. People
looked down on if divorced and couldn’t
remarry in Church.
• Now: accepted as normal, cheaper and
easier, no stigma attached, can remarry
in Church
Explain WHY attitudes to divorce
have changed/there are more
divorces now (8 marks)
• Expectations of marriage changed
• Women not prepared to accept unequal
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treatment
Women financially independent
Changes in life expectancy – “life” is much
longer now than it used to be
Divorce has been made easier and cheaper
Islam and Divorce
• SOME – marriage for life; no divorce Hadith
says divorce is the most hated of things allowed by Allah
• MOST – divorce allowed; marriage is a
contract; allow remarriage
- Qur’an permits divorce; has rules to follow such as man must
announce his intention to divorce 3 times with a month in between
= iddah – try to make marriage work, live together but sleep
separately
- marriage is a contract and contracts can be broken
- better to divorce than live in hatred and argue all the time
Christianity and Divorce
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Some Christians - CATHOLIC
NO DIVORCE AND NO REMARRIAGE
Marriage can only be dissolved by death
Jesus taught divorce is wrong
Couple made promise to God in sacrament of
marriage – cannot be broken
Christianity and Divorce
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Some Christians – PROTESTANT
DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE ALLOWED
Lesser of two evils
Jesus allowed divorce for adultery
Christianity is about forgiveness – should have
second chance
Better to divorce than live in hatred and quarrel
all the time
FAMILY LIFE
Family life has changed…
• More single parent families because
attitudes to sex have changed
• More parents are not married because
attitudes to cohabitation have changed
• More step families because attitudes to
divorce have changed
Christianity/Islam and the family
• Teachings on family life:
• Parents should love
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children, provide them
with food, shelter, etc.
raise their children in the
religion
Children should respect
their parents, look after
them when they are old
• Why family is important
• Created by God to keep
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society together
Children taught right and
wrong so less evil in the
world
To continue the faith
• ISLAM also to follow eg
of Muhammad
How Church/mosque help family
life
• CHURCH
• Family services
• Brownies, Cubs,
• MOSQUE
• Madrasahs
• Social activities for
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Scouts, youth clubs
Church schools
Sunday schools
Counselling from
priests\ministers
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young people
Family committees –
distribute charity to
help families
Muslim schools