Can you make people be Good Samaritans?

On the 13th October a two tear old girl was run down in China by a hit and run driver. These things happen you might say but what happens next is hard to believe. Over the next minutes, 18 people walked past the small child and did not help; another van ran over the child's legs and did not stop. What kind of society do we live in when people do not stop to help an injured baby?
The story has led many people in China to question their morality. There had been occasions lately where people had helped those in distress and then been held accountable for their actions. Is this why no one helped? Should China now introduce a Good Samaritan law making it a legal requirement to help those in need?
What ever the outcome of this event, it is too late for the little girl. She was taken to hospital in a coma and has now died of her injuries.
Read the full story using the links below to the BBC and consider your own views. What would you have done in the situation? What was the morally right thing to do?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15398332?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15386700?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Peter Singer on Project Nim

Project Nim reminds us of our responsibility to the great apes

How the chimpanzee Nim Chimpsky was treated was wrong, and such invasive research should be consigned to history.

In this article for the New York Times review of books blog, Peter Singer discusses his views on using chimps in research.

Read the article in full at: 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/27/project-nim-chimpsky

Pope condones condom use in exceptional cases

Pope Benedict XVI has said the use of condoms is acceptable in exceptional circumstances, according to a new book.

This seems to be a revisionary step forward by the current Pontiff considering traditional Catholic views on contraception, especially when we look deeper into the HIV/AIDS pandemic around the world and how often Catholicism's strict anti-condom message may have hindered progress of reducing this.

See the full article on the BBC LINK

Also look at how the Vatican is keen to play things down... who knows how liberal the Church is prepared to go?

RE Keywords - Unit 8

Why Is Justice Important for Christians?

Human Rights in the UK