Many biblical teachings show that if you have the wrong attitude to God, wealth can lead you away from God.
“Go sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will have riches in heaven” Mark 10:21
The bible teaches that people who are rich and who care too much about their possessions should sell what they have and give the money to the poor; otherwise they will never be able to have a proper relationship with God.
Sikhs believe that wealth is only acceptable if it is used to help other people, such as giving them work or food. Hard work is also essential for a Sikh - begging or not working is lazy and selfish.
It is the responsibility of the rich to look after the poor:
Blessed is the godly person and the riches they possess because they can be used for charitable purposes and to give happiness.
Guru Amar Das
Charity is a very important part of Sikh teachings because equality and compassion are essential for a spiritual life. All religions and all nations must be helped to live a good and peaceful life.
Charity begins with caring for the family - Sikhs have followed this teaching in their social policies, building hospitals, care homes, special schools and hospices. Many Sikhs also take part in charity work all over the world such as Oxfam and Christian Aid.
Sewa or service to the community (Sadhsangat) is essential to the life of a Sikh. They should be prepared to give up some of their time and energy to help others.
For a Sikh it is a privilege and a duty to provide langar (food) in the Gurdwara for the whole congregation after the weekly service of worship. The langar is part of the act of worship and a very important aspect of Sikh life.
Guru Nanak wanted everyone to be able to eat the same food in the langar, to share the tasks of preparation, cooking, serving and cleaning.
ii) The world is split into three world’s first world, second world and the third world. The third world is regarded as the poorest countries of the world! Millions of people in the third world live in absolute poverty; they have no food, no shelter and no security! Many of these people do not even have access to education or health care! This is because
- Countries spend BILLIONS on warplanes, tanks and armoured vehicles.
- The countries borrow money from developed countries like USA, UK etc. These countries charge high rate of interest on the loans.
- Most less developed countries are situated in South America and Asia, these places are prone to natural disasters like floods, tornado’s and earthquakes.
- The World Trade forces less developed countries to sell the goods at extremely low prices for example football shirts cost as little as £7 to develop and the clubs sell them for £40.
- Allot of less developed countries sell their crops to countries to help pay their debts and because of this, people in the less developed countries have no food and starve.
- Many people in third world countries have a lack of education, this stops them from getting better job’s because they can’t read or write.
iii) Christian aid is charity from the UK that works for and with poor people. It supports local organisations, which are best placed to understand local needs, as well as giving help on the ground through 16 overseas offices. It believes in helping people to find their own solutions to the problems they face. Christian aid began life in 1945 as Christian Reconciliation, then in 1949 it became Christian Aid. They believe in life before death! They want everyone to:
- Have enough food to eat and clean water to drink
- Have somewhere safe to live
- Have medicine when they are sick
- Be able to go to school
Christian aid helps whomever regardless of their religion. Christian Aid also provides help for emergency’s recent examples include:
- Sending food, antibiotics and shelters to the victims of the hurricanes in Honduras in 1998
- Sending food to drought-stricken Zimbabwe
- Sending blankets, tents and food to war refuges in Bosnia and Rwanda.
Christian Aid is involved in long-term programmes. Examples of this are
- Funding a group of Christian health workers who have built a factory in Bangladesh to make basic drugs that they cannot afford to import.
- In Lesotho, Christian Aid I financing a local Christian agricultural school, which is trying to increase food production by reducing soil erosion and bringing in new, but cheap and practical, farming methods.
Christian Aid raises money every year through house to house calls every May and through fund raising events.
C) “There should be no rich people as long as there I poverty in the world”
I think this statement I partially true. I think this because people that are very rich do not know how to spend all the money and some people do not have a penny to their name, no shelter and no food! The Christian bible states God created the world and it’s resource for the people to share. Some families work very hard in Africa and third world countries and can only pay for food! But on the other hand some rich people have worked very hard and paid a lot of taxes for their money and deserve to keep what they have earned! The Muslim religion teaches that Muslims should give 2.5% of their wages to Zakah!
