I suppose I had better start with an explanation. I walked into the first Religious Studies of this term with some trepidation. I was only taking short course for GCSE and didn't know quite what to expect. I had heard from those taking long course that they were studying only one religion. I felt this would take the enjoyment out of the subject for me. Then the teacher told us the name of the course. 'Christian Perspectives on Personal, Social and World Issues'. I sat back and started to enjoy the lesson. So over the next two years expect a lot of philosophy!
He began the lesson proper with a story. His wife is French and so, every year, in the six weeks holiday, they go to her farm in the south of France and stay with her parents. Whilst they were there this year some friends of the family came round to dinner one night. There was the woman, her husband and their daughter. Over the meal the conversation gradually moved to bullfighting and then spanish traditions in general. One that was brought up was a tradition from one small village. Every year, they would take an old, decrepid donkey up to the top of a tower and through it off. The woman made her feelings quite clear on the issue. She felt it was totally immoral and it was the same as throughing her own daughter off. What, asked the teacher, would you do? Is it the same to through the daughter off as to through the donkey off? I'll let you discuss it for a bit and then I'll say what the class eventually agreed upon.