Working with Dignity: Participating in God`s Creation

Working with Dignity: Participating in God’s Creation Mr. Garcia Religion 10

1. List five ways that Free the Children works to end child labor. • Provides education to poor children the world by raising money to build or support schools • Buys cows, land, and machinery so poor families can support themselves without sending their children to work • Works for social change by speaking about child labor around the world • Works for social change by urging consumers to boycott products made by children • Works for social change by lobbying government to take action against child labor 2. What does Catholic social teaching say the value of work is? Work is valuable because it is necessary for human life, it enables people to participate in the life of the community, and it is an expression of the creativity we posses as images of God. An alternate view is that work is valuable only for what it produces.

3. Write a paragraph discussing how the story of Iqbal and Craig reflects elements of the paschal mystery— the dying and rising of Christ.

4. In your own words, restate the four purposes of work identified in Church teaching. • Supports families by enabling them to maintain a home, buy food and clothing and educate children. • Enables people to realize their dignity because it allows them to grow as people, learning and putting natural talents to use. • Promotes the common good by providing good and useful products and services for others. • Enables us to share in God’s creative work because as images of God, we make the world a better place and thus reflect the work of God.

5. Why do people have a responsibility to work? Because work necessary to maintain the basic relationships needed for justice: the relationship with one’s dignity, family, community, and God. 6. What does it mean to treat workers as a means of production? It is an attitude that regards workers merely as a way of producing goods and services—as tools, not as persons. Their treatment is determined solely by economic considerations. 7. Name at least three ways people are prevented from having good work. • Discrimination based on race • Discrimination based on gender • Poverty • Lack of education • Lack of skills • Jobs that are located far from people who are unemployed • The nature of welfare programs • Low wages 8. Create a relationship map (either by drawing or writing) describing the conditions necessary for Maria Ortega to get and maintain good work.

9. What does the parable of the laborers in the vineyard say about human work. The worker is more important than the work being done.

10. Explain the different between the subjective and the objective aspects of work. The subjective aspect of work is what the worker experiences. The objective aspect of work is what the worker produces. 11. Which aspect does Catholic social teaching say is more important, and why? The subjective aspect of work is more important because the basis for determining the value of human work is not primarily the kind of work being done.

12. List the rights of workers, including a brief explanation of each. • The right to work means that people can take care of their families, find fulfillment, and benefit others. • A just wage is a living wage, means that workers can support a decent life for themselves and their family. • Respect for the worker’s family means that a worker’s home life is taken into consideration, so that he or she has enough leisure time to develop talents and to take part in the life of the community. • A safe work environment means that workers are not given more work than they can do, work that is not suited to their age, or work that harms their savings. • Permission to join unions means that workers then have a voice in corporate decisions. • Equal treatment means that everyone is treated the same regardless of their citizenship or the presence of a disability—immigrants should be treated decently, and people with disabilities should be enabled to participate in work to the extent of their capabilities. • Because all people have the right to work, all people have the right to economic initiative and private property. • All people have the right to a good education. 13. How does inadequate education affect work? Inadequate education prevents people from developing their talents and finding work that is needed by their community.

14. Choose one of the stories about work in this chapter. In several paragraphs, explain whether the objective or the subjective aspect of work is emphasized, and why. Support your argument by explaining how the rights of workers are respected or denied. Answers will vary.

15. Explain the term indirect employer. Any policy-making institution that help regulate what employers may or may not do. 16. What are three ways that people can cooperate to change the policies of employers? • People can engage in political activism by voting or by lobbing public policy makers to protect workers through legislation. • People can use purchasing power to support companies that defend human life, treat workers fairly, protect creation, and respect other basic moral values. They can boycott manufacturers that do not have these values. • In the workplace, people can ask questions about the way their workplace affects the workers and the environment, and they can suggest just alternatives.

17. Define globalization of the economy, and explain its implications work. Globalization of the economy is a term that refers to the fact that the economies of different nations are increasingly tied together by interdependent relationships, with the result that working conditions in one country are often influenced by business practice in another country. 18. Briefly explain the role that solidarity should play in good business practices. Because they have a good deal of power to shape the working conditions of their employers and the structures of society as well, business leaders have a responsibility to work for justice in solidarity with workers, the rest of the human community, and God’s creation. Solidarity can take the form of taking care of workers, enabling poor and vulnerable people to become more fully who they are meant to be, or ensuring that people in developing countries benefit from partnerships with First World corporations. 19. Discuss how just work supports and contributes to these other aspects of justice : human like and dignity, participation in family and community, rights and responsibilities, solidarity, the option for the poor and vulnerable, and care for God’s creation.