The Christian Teachings on Social Harmony
Social harmony is essential in modern day life. It can be defined as
people living together in harmony, accepting each others beliefs,
culture, appearance and background as well as learning from each other
and exchanging views. However social disharmony also appears in the
world frequently, it is generally created by social unrest and the
need to focus the blame on a group of society that is easily
recognisible and somewhat distant. Conflicting views are also another
reason for social disharmony; racism can also create an atmosphere of
disharmony, believing that a certain group has exclusive rights to a
certain area. A main factor in social disharmony is the obvious fact
that different people feel that they are superior to another group.
This idea is generally formed because the other group carries out
their lives in a different and unique manner.
The four main area topics that appear in the theme of social harmony
are the role of men and women, multi-faith societies, multi-ethnic
societies and war and peace. It is clear that men and women have
different appearances but this does not mean that they are unable to
fulfill exactly the same roles in society. Although they have
different strengths and weaknesses, the Christian view is that they
are equal. "God created men and women in the image of himself, in the
image of God he created them."(Genesis 1:27)However the Catholic
Church believes that women are unable to fulfill the role of deacon,
priest or bishop, due to the fact that part of mass involves
representing Jesus, he was a male and thus it would be unacceptable
for a woman to represent him. "The Lord Jesus chose men… to form the
college of the twelve apostles…"(Catechism of the Catholic Church
1577)
One of the main problems that social harmony faces concerning the role
of men and women is the rigid view that society has adopted. It is the
responsibility of the younger generation to break this false belief
through their actions and achievements.
In Devor’s article, “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the social Meanings of Gender” one can better understand how society has a big impact on how gender is perceived. Understanding
The society wants to contain all individually that a person might have by never letting the people see what individually even is. They say we instead of I, they ban freedom of speech, they claim that ‘"We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE..."’(19) Men would slowly start to go insane if they were to be held like this for a long period of time, they would have nightmares, they feel like they have to keep their feelings locked away, and they would be terrified of what would happen to them if they were to do something
As meaning making creatures, humans attempt to categorize and definitively understand anything they observe. Although this crusade for understanding is not inherently bad, it often produces unintended negative consequences. As humans sort, classify, and define everything, they simultaneously place everything into a box that constricts creativity and fluidity. Concerning gender, these boxes create harmful conceptions of each person on the planet. Although these conceptions of gender are constructed and not “real” by any means, they have real implications in the process of socialization that influence how each person lives his/her life. In the United States, the commonly socialized “boxes” of gender have done a great
Throughout history our understanding of the world has been manufactured through the judgment of human beings. The overall change and shift in paradigms can be explained by social construction theory. An article written by Carole S. Vance discusses the topic of social construction theory and illustrates how it impacts gender roles. Social construction can be defined as: a critical subject of reality that analyzes the ideas of a particular group or culture based on society and the aspects of society (education, religion, government etc.) Another article “Feminist Critiques of the Public/Private Dichotomy” written by Carole Pateman explains how men had placed women in a hypothetical bubble that is dominated by men. Men have always been looked
Gender theorists argue that gender is a social construct not a biological or genetic characteristics. There has been no agreed universal way to be a man or a woman. Scientists have argued that our ways of defining gender is shaped by social cues and influences. Gender is a label in society that also decides the behaviors about what it means to be either a male or female, and is often regarded in terms of masculine or feminine, respectively. David Gilmore, the author of “Manhood in the Making” (1991), sees internalized gender ideologies as collective representations that pressure men and women into acting in certain ways. These pressures are always present in society; however, they differ in the amount of intensity there is in the differences
view holds that gender is not biologically based, but rather it is a cultural construct that is
Society has planted a representation into people’s minds on how each gender is supposed to be constructed. When one thinks of the word gender, the initial responses are male and female but gender may be represented in many additional terms. As defined, “Gender refers to the social expectations that surround these biological categories.” (Steckley, 2017, pg.256) Gender is something that is ascribed,
The social construction theory claims that gender, along with gender inequalities, are conceived by society and are not innate (Klement lecture notes September 27 2016). Instead of agreeing that gender and its inequalities are biologically determined, this theory explores how society, culture and norms influence our understanding of the variances between masculinity and femininity and govern our practices, customs and rules concerning the way we “perform” our gender.
Ignoring the gender roles placed on them at birth, over time women learned to provide for themselves. Society being more open to gender fluidity over the years but , men are threatened. No longer accepting the outdated matra “ boys will be boys and men will be men”. Gender fluidity paralyzes the binary definition of masculinity. Hypermasculinity pushed through media, family and school ,in attempts of perverting the definition of masculinity.Advocating for the binary gender roles , men are blind to the damage of these roles. "..men are society's official scapegoats and [should be] held responsible for all evil, including that done by the women they have deluded or
In emphasizing the gender theory it has evolved into a social phenomenon “gender is what we
With male hyper masculinity being a predominate image that is stuck in our heads, part due to institutions and social interactions that
Society is based upon a set of rules created for all men and woman. It represents
“Who is a man, and who is a woman? Are we not one?” (Anonymous, N.D.). As juveniles, we do not categorize ourselves as girl or boy. We play with each other as if we are just one, not realizing the fact that we are from two different genders. We forget that society has set out different standards for a male and a female. We are born vacuous, to thoroughly understand the different paths that are chosen for us. As adolescents, we do not discriminate against one another for being a female, we consider ourselves equals. However, as we get older, these beliefs start to fade away as we enter adulthood and begin to process the reality of how different a woman is considered from a man. How weak a woman is portrayed by the society and how she is meant
Society has stamped an image into the minds of people of how the role of each gender should be played out. There are two recognized types of gender, a man and a woman, however there are many types of gender roles a man or a woman may assume or be placed into by society. The ideas of how one should act and behave are often times ascribed by their gender by society, but these ascribed statuses and roles are sometimes un-welcomed, and people will assume who they want to be as individuals by going against the stereotypes set forth by society. This paper will examine these roles in terms of how society sees men and women stereotypically, and how men and women view themselves and each other in terms of stereotypes that are typically ascribed, as well as their own opinions with a survey administered to ten individuals. What I hope to prove is that despite stereotypes playing a predominant role within our society, and thus influencing what people believe about each other in terms of their same and opposite genders, people within our society are able to go against these ascribed stereotypes and be who they want and it be okay. Through use of the survey and my own personal history dealing with gender stereotyping I think I can give a clear idea as to how stereotypes envelope our society, and how people and breaking free from those stereotypes to be more individualistic.
When considering morality, worthy to note first is that similar to Christian ethics, morality also embodies a specifically Christian distinction. Studying a master theologian such as St. Thomas Aquinas and gathering modern perspectives from James Keenan, S. J. and David Cloutier serve to build a foundation of the high goal of Christian morality. Morality is a primary goal of the faith community, because it is the vehicle for reaching human fulfillment and happiness. Therefore, great value can be placed on foundations of Christian morality such as the breakdown of law from Aquinas, the cultivation of virtues, the role of conscience in achieving morality, and the subject of sin described by Keenan.