To increase the earnings of the south, the world trade should encourage the poor countries to utilise the natural resources. This would thus give the poorer countries a bigger part in world trade and would enable them to again work out of poverty themselves.
Christian Teaching On
Poverty
As said previously, the ‘rich’ North has better income than the south, but how can there be 86% of the worlds profit in the North and yet ¾ of the worlds population in the South? And what do Christians think and teach about this?
Christians believe that money is ok, but love of money is bad, and they teach that don’t just think of you but think of others too. Finally they teach greed is bad and is a sin in the eyes of God. For proof of this you merely have to turn to the bible. In several parts both old and new testaments, the bible describes in great detail about what Christian’s attitudes towards poverty and the less fortunate should be.
For example in Deuteronomy 24:19 it states: that if you are harvesting in the fields and you leave behind your sheath, don’t go back for it, leave it so others can use it to gather food. In other words if you have lots of food and wealth leave some for others and don’t be greedy. This shows that god meant for wealth and food to be spread among all of the people in the world and not just a select few in a certain area. The bible also teaches that money is not bad in itself, but love of money is and thus if you love money it again is a sin. Finally it states that we brought nothing into this world such as clothes and money etc, and thus should take nothing out of it. This is shown in the section Timothy 6:6-10 which says: ‘But godliness with contentment is a great gain for we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of it But if we have food and clothing we will be content with that. People who want to get rich will fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction’ This also states that we can have what we are given or work for and we will be happy and satisfied with that. It states that people who want to get rich will be leaded into ‘temptation’ and ‘greed’ for more.
Many Christians choose to do the best they can in life and after paying their bills and feeding their family, they give 10% of their earnings to a charity or to the church. As a result of this they feel as if they are doing something to help charities and the churches. Christians teach everyone as their neighbour and do not bare a grudge against anyone. They try to practice good stewardship, which means taking care of something that does not belong to them, even if this means sacrificing part of their lives or other things.
Overall Christians try to help many in poverty in many different ways, whether this means showing good stewardship or tithing it all helps in some way and that is all part of Christian nature. Helping the less fortunate and not being greedy is something in Christian culture today and was many thousands of years ago when God first made man.
Tear Fund UK
There are several Christian charities helping countries all over the world, one of which is Tear Fund UK.
It was formed in 1960, which was World Refugee Year. But many members of the Evangelical Alliance send money to missionaries who were working with refugees. And thus over the next few years donations continued to grow. Then in 1968 Civil war broke out in Nigeria and leads to Famine. The Evangelical Alliance decides to give aid and thus develop into Tear Fund. At this point their annual income is approximately £34,000. Many Christians are fairly wealthy, but don’t give money to help the people in poverty. One of the few exemptions is Sir Cliff Richard, who in 1969 gave his first Tear Fund Concert in aid of raising money o support the projects that Tear Fund undertake.
With the 60’s over, Tear Fund continues to raise money and when Pakistan divides as a result of civil war, Tear Fund are ready to step in and help over 20,000 people. Now the annual income of this charity is approximately £308,000. Many projects take place during the 70’s which include Heeding in Bangladesh in 1972, and in 1973 a drought causes 20 million people to face starvation in India, and thus Tear Fund’s overseas Personnel department is formed and begins to gather skilled people to help out in emergencies. To help raise funds, Tear Fund supporters are approached to give £5 a month to help sponsor children in orphanages in Bangladesh. Another big natural disaster hits Guatemala killing 22,000 people, Tearfund in response to this open regional offices in Belfast and Glasgow. A cyclone hits India claiming the lives of 85,000 people and Tear Fund make they’re biggest ever response for development. Towards the end of the 70’s Tear Fund’s annual income is approximately £3,289,000.
The 80’s don’t give Tear Fund any time off or relief, with several natural disasters in Uganda, Lebanon, Ethiopia and Sudan. At the end of the 1980’s there is the Revolution in Eastern Europe when the Berlin Wall comes down and leads to the downfall of the president. This gives Tear Fund a perfect opportunity to really reach out to their local communities. After Tear Fund’s 21st year, Weekend for the World and 3rd Track are launched and their annual income is approximately £14,439,000.
The 1990’s rolled along and Tear Fund was kept on its toes, due to its partners in the Philippines, Iran and Peru they were able to respond immediately after earthquakes had devastated parts of these countries. Then in 1991 the Gulf war broke out, Tear Fund sent out an emergency team out to aid in the Gulf. Then in 1992, there is a drought which thousands of lives are threatened in Africa. Tear Fund responds by sending over £2 million towards famine and relief. Civil war erupts in Zaire and Sierra Leone and Tear Fund’s partners join forces. By the end of the year, Tear Fund had approximately £36,500,000 per year as annual income.
Finally, in the year 2000 Tear Fund helped Africa and South Asia out of famine and floods. They donated over £1.5 million to help. In 2001 massive earthquakes damage parts of El Salvador and India, the state then mourns the death of over 50,000 residents.
But why does this agency do this? This is because Tear Fund is a totally Christian based organisation offering relief and development to countries all over the world. They do this because it is in Christian teaching that you should help the poor and not ignore the poorer than yourself. This is supported by many chapters of the bible, as stated earlier on in the essay.
‘There should be no rich people, as long as there is poverty in the world.’
There are many different types of Christian in the world. But they all have similar views about religious matters. Many of them believe that as long as there is poverty in the world then there should be no rich people. But not all Christians believe this.
In support of this statement a suitable example would be St. Francis of Assisi. This is because he realised that life was not all about money and the pleasure that money brings. He was bought up by a rich merchant and spent his childhood ‘throwing money around’ not worrying what was going on around him. Being put in a POW camp turned his views around, thus making him realise there must be more to life than money. Even though he tried to revert back to his old ways, he could not. He found that he spent more time in prayer and slowly he felt God wanted him to do more. This inspired him to help lepers and rebuild broken churches. His father deeply opposing this locked him up and disowned him. Francis then asked help from the bishop and gave all his belongings back to his father. Then one day whilst listening to a gospel he realised Jesus’ message, leave everything behind, God was calling him and he had only just realised. From that day on he spent his life living with the poorest of the poor, teaching them and helping. Many people thought he was mad, some gave him scraps. But others joined him becoming friars and nuns. Now the Franciscans are the largest religious order in the world. The bible supports this in saying that no man can serve both God and money. This is shown in using the example of two masters, in saying that if a man has two masters he will either love one and hate the other or visa versa.
Yet not all wealthy people are greedy. One example of this is Sir John Templeton. He grew up on a farm in Tennessee, USA and then went on to become educated at Oxford and Yale. He became a financial consultant on Wall Street, NYC. Even at his poorest he gave 10% of all his earnings to the church. Due to his natural talent and careful management of money, Sir John became very wealthy. Up until 1992 he ran a multi-million-dollar group of investors who helped others invest their money. He sold the business for $400,000,000. He combined his Christian beliefs with his business and still gave 10% of all his earning to the church. In 1972 he started the Templeton prize which is now worth more money than the Nobel Peace Prize. His money now goes towards supporting worldwide projects. In 1987 HM Queen Elizabeth II for services to philanthropy (caring for the human race) knighted him Sir John Templeton. Sir John’s view is supported in the bible in Luke 16:19-31. This is when a rich man who lives in luxury did not help the poor man sitting at his gates. When the poor man died he was taken to heaven, but when the rich man died he was taken to hell. On asking why, Abraham told him that if he had helped the poor man he would have gone to heaven but because he ignored him he was buried in hell.
I believe that the statement ‘there should be no rich people as long as there is poverty in the world.’ Isn’t necessarily correct. As we saw, both St. Francis of Assisi and Sir John Templeton gave immensely to the church and charity. Even though many Christians believe the above statement is true, many also believe it does not matter whether you are rich or poor, as long as you do something to help others in some way however big or small gesture it is. I personally agree with the latter of the two views. This is because you can’t give lots of money if you are not immensely wealthy, but it still makes a difference in some way. Whereas, by the same token even if you are immensely wealthy, you can give slightly more. As many people believe, it’s the thought that counts and I am one of them. Thus in conclusion I think that the statement ‘There should be no rich people as long as there is poverty in the world.’ As said before, is not necessarily correct, as a matter of fact, I think it is quite incorrect.
I have used the following sources in my research:
The Internet: The Christian aid and Tearfund UK Sites.
Books: Christianity in today’s world and Today’s Issues.
Class Notations.
Videos.
