Hunger and Poverty

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Jen Pascoe 14th November

Religious Studies Coursework

Hunger and Poverty

Ai) Christians believe that there are reasons for people catching diseases. They believe that if you catch a disease you must have sinned against God, disease is caused by ignorance. When God is displeased with someone’s behaviour or actions he will give him or her a disease as a punishment. Christians believe that people starving in poorer countries also get diseases for a reason. For example, they would say that the reason people get diseases is that the rulers of the countries are spending too much of their money on weaponry instead of food, greed is another main cause of disease.

We are also very ignorant. Most of the world’s economy takes place in the north so we hardly ever think about how it is in the south. The north south divide is to blame for this.

As you can see from this map, the world is split into two groups, the north and south. The south is very poor as all the business and economy is used up in the north. If the north was not so greedy and ignorant we could share the economy with the south. This would mean that there would be less poverty in the south. Also, large companies based in the north pay workers in the south very poorly, northern workers would never be paid so badly. If these large and wealthy companies were not so greedy the amount of poverty would also be reduced. The inequality of the worlds riches is clear from this diagram. In 1980 the Brandt report identified that that northern hemisphere and Australia contained 25% of the world population, and received 80% of the worlds income.

Aii) There are many teachings that Christians would use when explaining their ideas. The first is the parable of the sheep and the goats. The parable tells of judgement day when the world ends and everyone is judged by Jesus to see whether they will go to heaven or hell.

This is a preview of the whole essay

‘Jesus split the people into two groups, the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Jesus turned to the sheep and said, “You have eternal life. When I was hungry you bought me food, when I was thirsty you brought me drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you visited me.”

The people replied, “ But lord when did we ever see you needy?”

And their lord said to them “Whatever you did for any one of my brothers, you did for me.” Jesus then turned to the goats on his left and said “ Go to the eternal life prepared for devils. When I was needy you gave me nothing.”

The people replied, “When did we ever see you needy?”

And the lord turned and said to them “whatever you didn’t do for any of my brothers, you didn’t do for me”.’

Matthew 25:35-36

This tells us that during our life times we should help other people as well as ourselves, if we help only ourselves we will go to hell. We need to learn not be greedy or ignorant of other people who need our help.

Christians would also use the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man lived in a huge house and dressed in purple robes, he lived in luxury every day. At his gate lived a beggar named Lazarus who longed to eat some of the rich man’s leftovers.

Eventually the beggar died and was carried by angels to God’s side, the rich man also died and was buried. The rich man was taken to hell and called to Abraham “ father, please send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue as I’m in agony here.”

Abraham replied, “in your lifetime you had many good things and Lazarus had many bad things, now he’s in comfort and you’re in agony. Between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, those that want to go from here to you cannot nor can anyone cross over from there to us”.

The rich man called “I beg you send Lazarus to warn my brothers so this does not happen to them.”

Abraham called “no they have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them”.

“No father, the rich man called, but if you send someone back from the dead they will repent”.

And Abraham replied, “if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”

This also teaches us not to be greedy and to share any good things that come to us.

Finally, Christians would tell of the parable of the rich fool. A man said to Jesus “ Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me”.

Jesus replied, “Who appointed me as judge or arbiter between you? Be wary of your own greed, your life does not depend on possessions. The ground of a man produced good crop. He wondered where to store his crops, as he didn’t have enough room, so he decided to tear down his barns and build bigger ones. He thought to himself, you will have many good things for many years, take life easy. But God cried ‘You fool!! Tonight your life will be taken from you. Who will take all this that you have prepared for yourself?’ this is how it will be for anyone who is rich towards himself but not towards God”. This also teaches us not to be greedy and to share our belongings.

Jesus himself told his followers that:

‘It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

Luke 18:25

Finally, Christians tell us to share our goods and fortune. Jesus said:

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.’

Mark 12:30-31

b) Christian aid is a charity that tries to help people. They aim to make a lasting difference to the hungry, poor and diseased. Although Christian aid is a Christian organisation, they do not only help Christians. Christian aid brings long-term aid to people. Long-term aid is when someone is helped to rebuild their life; they are given food, clothing, education etc. they do not give short-term aid (i.e. a small amount of money), as this is not useful over a long period of time, it is only a quick fix. Christian aid does not send people over to foreign countries either; they send large amounts of money to fund projects so that people can become self-sufficient. These schemes include schools, farms and water treatment areas. Religious people believe that they should work towards ending poverty and help others to improve their living standards.

The First Article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says:

‘All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.’

c) ‘Christians are responsible for each other, no matter where in the world they live’.

I do not agree that with this statement, as although all these people have the same religion this does not mean that they should be responsible for each other. These people, from all over the world love each other, and care about each other but should not need to feel they are in any way responsible for each other.

I understand that some people could say that Christians should be responsible for each other as they share the same faith and the same beliefs but I do not agree with this. They share the same faith but in the end they are not the same person and so are entitled to their own ideas and to be responsible for their own actions.