Loyalties

Being loyal means sticking to a belief, situation or person, and not giving up on it / them, however challenging the circumstances might be. It is always particularly difficult having to juggle loyalties or deal with a clash of loyalties. This involves making decisions about which demands priority. All aspects of life can present such dilemmas. The opposite of loyalty is disloyalty, or betrayal, another human trait which can be explored.

People who take God seriously would claim that God has to have their first loyalty. Such loyalty would be expressed through a particular concrete example, like Moses here who demonstrates his loyalty to God through siding with the underdog slave.

Pupils can explore the concept of loyalties in their own lives and then consider what Moses might have been experiencing as he grows up. What might his priorities have to be as a result of his two backgrounds?

Questions

1. How do people judge where their loyalties lie?
2. Why is loyalty considered a positive human quality? What causes some people to become disloyal to a person or cause?
3. Why should people of faith believe that God commands their loyalty? What purpose might that serve?
4. How might people have two - or more - cultural loyalties today? What problems might this present for them?

Taking a Stand for Right

Young pupils can begin to think about where society gets its ideas of right and wrong from and that religious belief can produce religious conduct, which is based on people's understanding of how God wants them to behave.

However, this is not the only approach to right behaviour. A relative stance to behaviour is taken by some people, rather than accepting absolute moral principles. Modern society favours freedom to decide on a personalised moral code. Behaviour is seen as a private matter, except in extreme cases. Might that mean that fewer people will have the courage to speak up or stand up for moral principles like justice and honesty? Will people act from greater conviction if they do not feel 'compelled' simply to do the right thing by an outside command but believe in it for themselves?

Questions

1. Where do young children get their ideas of right and wrong from?
2. How much agreement is there on a common moral code amongst them?
3. What encourages people to make a stand for their beliefs? What inhibits people from standing up in public for a cause?
4. Why would God give a murderer such an important career as Moses has?
5. Why is it easier to judge others than ourselves?
6. Are there links between religious belief and personal behaviour? Why? Give some examples.

Escaping through Fear

Most people know the fear of being found out for something they have done wrong. People have different means of escape. Some might use denial, others might try to cover up, others may try to place the blame elsewhere and some may literally run away like the biblical characters. People who believe in God know there is no ultimate hiding from God and therefore have to come clean and begin to deal with the mess they are in. They are reassured that, just as Moses was not cast off from God because he murdered, they too can be forgiven and restored.

Questions

1. Why is fear such a powerful emotion? When is it positive and when negative?
2. What sort of things should people be fearful of?
3. Why is escape sometimes such a tempting way of dealing with awkward situations?
4. What is meant by 'running away from yourself'? What might be the consequences of this?
5. Why should people take responsibility for their actions?
6. What does it mean to say that religious believers know they cannot hide from God?

Murder

It could be argued that Moses did not know it was wrong to kill because he had not yet received the Ten Commandments! But the text implies guilt because he seeks to hide his crime and then does not stay around to justify his action to the Pharaoh!

Why is killing wrong? It can be said that it takes away a person's right to life and no other person has the right to do that. However, there are occasions when it is argued that killing is justified, for example in war and capital punishment and some would say, abortion and euthanasia. Why is life so precious? Pupils will enjoy exploring values and with the younger age group it is probably wiser to concentrate on the preciousness of life. A creative response embracing all their thoughts in a class collage or class poem would be appropriate.

Questions

1. What leads people to commit murder?
2. Is murder the worst crime that can be committed? What are modern attitudes towards murderers?
3. If life is so precious why is it so abused? How is it regularly abused?
4. The Bible says 'Do not commit murder'(the Ten Commandments) and 'Overcome evil with good' (Jesus). But murder is sometimes justified by apparently religious motives. Identify some of these. Do you think murder is ever justified?
5. Might human society ever reach a point where killing has no place?

Is anyone wholly 'good' or wholly 'bad'?

Society tends to divide people up into the 'goodies' and the 'baddies'. People readily class themselves as 'good' because they do not steal or murder. Anyone who does that is of course 'bad'. But such a simplistic approach to human behaviour reveals a lack of understanding about what it is to be human. Perhaps it results from a deliberate lack of reflection on the human state and a superficial assessment of it.

People who take God, and therefore religion, seriously are forced to reflect on their own human state. In the light of standards set for them by their religion, it is not difficult to be aware of all the areas where they fall short. The conclusion that has to be drawn is that everyone is a mix of good and bad potential and everyone has a personal responsibility for their behaviour. If people were more aware of their human vulnerability and willing to be more honest about themselves there might be less of the 'blame culture' now so dominant and more understanding for people who commit crime.

Pupils of all ages can contribute to the 'Good or Bad?' debate from their own personal experience and they should be encouraged to share their thoughts and understand others' views.

Questions

1. Why are people so ready to label themselves as 'good'?
2. How much of the concentration on others' guilt is to cover up our own?
3. What does the saying 'there but for the grace of God go I' mean? Has it something to say to people today?
4. What prevents a person facing up to the unpleasant aspects of their personality?
5. 'Without religion and belief, people have less interest in personal behaviour performance.' How true might this be?

Moses' character - Everyperson?

The main characters encountered in the Bible have fascinating personalities. They are far from the 'holier than thou' stereotype of the religious person. Rather the protagonists appear as larger-than-life but, at the same time, true-to-life people.

Here is Moses who has adventures from the moment he was born. His slave and regal backgrounds form an unusual setting for his eventful life. The only quiet moment when he settles down to married life as a shepherd in Midian is interrupted by a challenge from God himself.

But what of his temperament? Moses is the mixture noted above. He takes things seriously, otherwise he would not be angered by the slave foreman's behaviour. But he acts impetuously, without thinking of the consequences. He acts outrageously by killing the man in a moment of anger. He then flees in a cowardly fashion. There is plenty for pupils to explore and discuss even in this short narrative:

Questions

1. What characteristics are considered desirable in a person? What are considered undesirable? Are characteristics ever wholly one thing or the other (see the debate on 'Good and Bad' people above).
2. How much is personality inherited and how much developed from other influences?
3. Is it possible for people to overcome their weaknesses and change their characters?
4. What efforts are put into their children's personality development by families? How is a 'desirable' personality achieved and who says what it is?
5. Is personality more important than career as far as most parents are concerned when they express hopes for their children?
6. Education claims personal development is important but in what way do schools and other education specialists demonstrate that it is?
7. Why is the individual person with all their attributes and defects seen as so important in Christianity?
8. If you could redesign human beings, what changes would you make?