Prayer and Portsmouth: Football and Religion

I heard a really interesting article on the news this evening; could it be that Portsmouth managed to come ninth because of the power of prayer? There is an interesting documentary on 1Xtra called "Praying for a Win" tomorrow; there are a number of Christian players and staff members, who regularly pray before games, in the laundry. They do make it clear that they are not simply praying that they will win, but it is interesting that they did better this year than last ... could the power of prayer at least make some of the players more confident in their own abilities, or less stressed, or change them in some way that makes winning somewhat easier? What do you think?

Radio 4 also mentioned the case of Marvin Andrews, who plays for Trinidad and Tobago and Raith Rovers; whilst playing for Rangers he suffered a cruciate ligament injury that should have been treated through an operation. However, he believed that God wanted him to pray and not have the operation: six weeks later he was playing again, and managed to help Rangers win the league that season.

What other sports people are Christians, or followers of other religions? Do you think prayer makes a difference? How, and why? Should people pray for their teams to win, or does that trivialise prayer?

Fears over NHS drugs costs ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6652183.stm

How much should we have to pay for drugs that keep us alive? Who should be subsidised? If all drugs were to be free, where should the money come from? How do we make the decision about how much to charge for certain drugs? All these are areas relating to medical ethics ...

Stallone admits hormone charges

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6656407.stm

In the Religion and Sport unit with Year 12s, we have looked at the use of drugs in sport - what are the ethical considerations of Sylvester Stallone possessing growth hormone drugs? He was stopped in Sydney while promoting his most recent Rocky movie ... what example is he setting to his fans? What do you think?

Live Simply

If you have looked at the CAFOD site, you might have seen the Live Simply promises being mentioned. Have a look at the Live Simply webpage to find out more ... Is there a promise there that you could keep during Lent?

Fairtrade Fortnight

Fairtrade Fortnight starts tomorrow ... what can you do to help? Well, for a start you can buy Fairtrade bananas, coffee, tea, chocolate, hot chocolate ... Most, if not all, major supermarkets stock a variety of Fairtrade Products. If you can't find what you are looking for, why not ask? You can also fill in a card at most stores saying how they can improve - why not ask for more fairly traded products?

CAFOD Big Deal Homework Help

Another great site that will help you in loads of ways, with RE, Geography, Citizenship ... Click on the Big Deal Homework Help link and find out about CAFOD, Debt, HIV and AIDS, Trade, Fairtrade Fortnight, Conflict, Aid, Emergencies, the Environment ...

Legal Battle over "Right to Die"

Right to die? Read this article, and watch the clip, to find out more about Kelly Taylor's battle to force doctors to end her life.

Listen to Kelly's story ... should she be allowed to be helped to die? Or is it right that euthanasia remains illegal in the UK?

Beyond Belief

I cannot recommend Radio 4 enough. Not only does it have a huge variety of informative and entertaining programmes, but many of these can be listened to again in order to help you understand religious and ethical issues better.

Beyond Belief is one of these programmes. Click on the link, then you can choose to listen to the Conversion programme if you are in Year 11, or the Ashura, Sunni and Shia programme if you are in Sixth Form. Or just choose any of the topics that interest you!

Scientology Charity gives money to Labour

Labour given thousands by Scientology charity
Thought this could be of interest to those of you in Sixth Form who are studying Sects and Cults at the moment ... Should the Government accept money from this cult? Click on the link above to find out more about this story.

Sects, Cults and New Religious Movements

Sixth formers preparing presentations for this term's work could find the following links helpful. Remember that religion is quite a controversial subject, so some links might be biased, and I am not responsible for the contents of any links, since I've not had time to check them out.

Wiki Definition of a Sect
Religious Tolerance
Religions and Cults ... one point of view and long list!
Yahoo list of links to different religious groups
Wiki Definition of a Cult

And in general, looking up something specific on Google always helps!

I look forward to seeing your presentations. And to discovering what activities you have planned for us!

General Sixth Form RE

Just to remind you of the arrangements for after Christmas.

Week 1: I will introduce the topic of "Sects, Cults and New Religious Movements".
Week 2: Sonjay - Christian Sects, including looking at Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses.
Week 3: Errol/Vincent - Cults, including Scientology.
Week 4: Emilia - Islam and its sects (Sunni, Shia, Sufi)
Week 5: Tonny - Judaism and its sects (Kabbala)
Week 6: I will finish by looking at the response of the Catholic Church to other religious movements.

Later I will post a link to sites that can help you in your preparation.