Italy Scuola secondaria di primo grado – classe 3ª Catholic religion or alternative activities

1. God and humankind

Religious search and key faith concepts · Jesus and the Church · Faith and science

• Faith and Science – Science and faith mostly ask different kinds of questions. Science asks how nature works and answers with evidence that anyone can test. Faith, and other worldviews such as philosophy, ask why we are here, what matters and what is right. When we know which kind of question we are asking, the two do not have to fight, and many people draw on both.

2. The Bible and other sources

Reading the Bible

Coming soon

3. Religious language

Symbols, liturgy and art

Coming soon

4. Ethical and religious values

Hope and ethical choices

• Ethics: How to Decide What Is Right – Ethics (moral philosophy) asks what we ought to do and why. Values such as honesty, kindness, fairness and respect guide choices. Three main theories help: consequences (utilitarianism, Bentham and Mill: most good for most people), duty (Kant: act on rules you could want everyone to follow; treat people as ends, never only as means) and virtue (Aristotle: build good character; virtue is the mean between extremes). Conscience is our inner sense of right and wrong. Freedom brings responsibility. Meta-ethics asks what "good" means and whether values are universal or relative. Applied ethics deals with the environment, animals, work, friendship and peace.