Exploring Social Issues as Writing Topics Discussion

1. Check the rubric to see how you will be graded.
2. Read 1 John 3:16-18.
3. Watch the Christians and Social Issues video. (Although this video focuses specifically on Christians, many of the ideas are helpful to think about no matter what your spiritual beliefs.)
4. By the end of day five, respond to all of these prompts:
   1. What does 1 John 3:16-18 say about how we should act towards other people? How does this seem to fit with the way you see people treating each other in our world today? (Give a short example to explain your response.)
   2. Quote two of the Bible verses discussed in the “Christians and Social Issues” video. Explain how each verse relates to your thesis.
   3. List some ideas about how the average person could make a difference in the area that you focus on in your thesis.
5. By the end of the workshop, reply to at least two of your classmates’ initial posts, including both of these things:
   1. Based on what you know about the teachings of Jesus, how do you think Jesus would respond to some of today’s social problems? (You may base your response on these verses if you wish: Matthew 7:12, Matthew 25:34-40, Matthew 5:1-10.)
   2. Give another example of how the average person could make a difference in the area discussed in your classmates’ thesis.

(Remember that all discussion posts are expected to be clear, specific, supported, interesting, and on-topic.)

Resources:

1. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Joh…

2.

3. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matth…

4. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matth…

5. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matth…

Discussions for comments:

1. What does 1 John 3:16-18 say about how we should act towards other people? How does this seem to fit with the way you see people treating each other in our world today? (Give a short example to explain your response.)

It says that we should love others the way God loves us. If we have and someone doesn’t give to those people. Show pity for our brothers and sisters and be willing to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. There is a tremendous amount of division in our world today. Politics is a big one, Liberal versus Conservative. We can all have different views and still love one another. It is okay to agree to disagree and move past it. We should not let this ruin our love for each other, our relationships, or our ability to unite as a country and as God’s children.

Quote two of the Bible verses discussed in the “Christians and Social Issues” video. Explain how each verse relates to your thesis.

Jeremiah 22:3 Attend to matters of Justice.

Without a policing body, it would be difficult to tend to matters of justice. Tending to matters of justice would be left to the individual and could turn to unrighteous and unnecessary acts towards our brothers and sisters.

Proverbs 31:9 Open your mouth, judge righteously.

Nothing is solved with silence, so speaking up about the issues with policing that currently exist is the only way that the problems will be resolved. Staying quiet and letting the system’s issues fly under the radar will not solve anything. Speaking up and speaking out is the right thing to do. However, there are better topics to speak up and speak out about rather than defunding the entire policing force.

List some ideas about how the average person could make a difference in the area that you focus on in your thesis.

Rather than demanding the defunding of police through protest, one could both protest ways to fix the system, write their ideas down, and get the signatures necessary to petition their ideas. Doing this would be a more peaceful and more productive process than demanding defunding.

2. In 1 John 3:16-18, the Bible talks about how we should love each other as much as God has loved us. That we should not care more for material things, but instead we should be willing to sacrifice that which we perceive to be important to us in order to help those around us. 1 John 17 talks about how we cannot say God is in us if we see our brothers hurting and do nothing to help them. 1 John 18 talks about how words are not meaningful and that our actions speak more about who we are. It says we should not talk about how we love each other but let our actions prove our love by sacrificing to help each other. I think this relates to everything we see in the world today. People care more about material things than they do with helping lift each other. The thoughts of most people you see on the internet or tv are self-serving. Our political environment these days is the biggest example I can give. People are so divided on issues that there seems to be no common ground. You see families splitting apart over political ideology when they should be coming together to help support each other through the hard times our economy is going through.

B. 1. Jeremiah 22. To deal with matters of justice. To talk about them. To address matters that are unjust: I think this quote relates to my thesis in that we must address matters that are unjust and hurting our people. Addiction affects everyone is a certain way, whether it be self-inflicted, dealing with it on the micro level or on the macro level just the same. It touches all of us through our loved ones or our community.

B 2. Jeremiah 6:14. They dress the wounds of my people as though it were not serious. Peace, peace they say, when there is no peace: I believe this quote relates to my thesis in that with addiction people want to paint a pretty bow on it or act like it’s not a real issue. They label addicts as morally bad people when in truth addiction can happen to any of us.

When it comes to the field of addiction there are many ways people can help out. First off people should educate themselves on addiction. They can work as peer support or sponsors for those going through treatment. They can help sponsor AA or NA groups. There are many outreach programs to help those dealing with addiction but most importantly people can help out by showing empathy and compassion for those dealing with the disease of addiction.