There are many causes of poverty but many people believe one of the main reasons why poorer countries stay poor is because of the size of their families. The worlds population is growing rapidly especially in developing counties. If these countries had smaller families feeding them would be a lot easier. This may sound simple but it’s not the case. Poor families can’t survive if they are just small families. They need people to help with crops and they also provide them with extra labour. In developing countries there is no state of pension so children are expected to look after the elderly although many die young so they have to make sure there will be enough survivors. Rich countries do have smaller families although do consume most of the worlds food. This is what Christians are meant not to do, ‘When u reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field’. This means always save some spare for people not as fortunate as yourself. Disasters occur on a regular basis and this does not help their position. Disasters such as floods can cause disease and there is not much health care in developing countries so this can lead to many deaths. In richer countries like Japan buildings are made to stand earthquakes although this costs a lot of money. Another cause of poverty is war either against another country or a civil war. War costs a lot of money and also destroys things such as hospitals, roads and schools. Some countries rely on transport and when these connections are cut off it is hard to get food and water. Debt and fair-trade is also a massive problem. Countries who take out loans gather debts, which have to be paid back with interest. Many people from the rich north employ people from the poor south and pay them very little money for what they do. ‘Do not ill-treat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt. Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy – charge him no interest’. (Exodus 22) This quote is telling you not to take advantage of poorer people than yourself and this is what is going on through out the world today. ‘For I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me something to 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 came to visit me’. This is how you should help the poor and Jesus said this is these are the kind of things you have to do to gain yourself a place in heaven. A project called Jubilee 2000 was ser up to try and put pressure on governments to cancel world debt. The year 2000 was called a Jubilee year because of its commemoration of two thousand years of Christianity. ‘He and his children are to be realesed in the year of Jubilee’. (Leviticus 35: 54). This was a rule that said in the year of Jubilee, debts are to be cancelled and slaves are to be freed. Fair-trade ‘Guarantees a better deal for Third World Produces’. It basically pays the workers a fair wage. They have to provide equal employment opportunities and show concern for the most disadvantages. They must use environmentally friendly methods of production and they must provide healthy and safe working conditions. This tells people not to be greedy like the quote ‘It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God’. (Mark Chapter 10). In the poorest countries, fewer than half of all adults can read and write. Education is not free so families can’t afford to send the same child to school every year. They rotate who goes amongst the family. Child labour is a huge problem in the Developing world. In 2000 more than 250 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 were working in dangerous conditions. The UNICEF is one aid organisation, which tries to stop this. The poor really need to be taught basic skills to help them to read instructions on machinery or medicines and realise when they are being exploited.
Overall there are a lot of things being done about the less fortunate although if we are going to complete solve the problem a lot more people will have to listen the Christian teachings and help.
Religious Education Coursework
Explain how Christians put these ideas into practise.
There are many ways Christians help the less fortunate. Christians don’t just send them money they give up a lot more time and effort than this.
They might devote their lives to the less fortunate by working in a developing country as an aid worker, in a refugee camp or maybe a doctor or nurse. An example of someone devoting her life to the less fortunate is Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa was born on 27th August 1910. In her family there was not a lot of money but she shared her food with the poor. Her mother explained that the poor were ‘Gods special people.’ At 17 she became a nun because she was not interested in making money she wanted to devote her life to the poor. All through her life she helped the poor by things such as teaching and this work grew. Mother Teresa was awarded by the Indian Government and from the University of Cambridge. The work of Mother Teresa is very extreme although if Christians do not want to devote there whole lives to Charity they can work overseas for a short time. They could also have a direct debit to the poor or go door to door to collect money. A Christian could also help by living a simple lifestyle and only buying things, which are essential. The money saved could be given to Charity.
Many Christians chose to work for Aid Agencies there are many different Aid Agencies and not all of these are Christian organisations. Organisations such as Oxfam, Save the Children Fund, Comic Relief and others are not based on Christianity but they do a lot to contribute to world poverty. Christians helping the poor does not feel like a choice to them, it’s a duty. The Golden rule tells us that you should ‘Treat others as you would like them to treat you’, so this is what Christians try and do. Another quote which tells us this is from James2: 14-16 ‘what good is it, my brothers; if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed, ‘but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.’ Because of this obligation some Christian aid agencies were set up to put Christian beliefs into action.
Tradecraft is a Christian organisation, which tries to make working conditions better for the developing countries. Tradecraft aims to: ‘expand and establish trading systems which are more just and which express the principles of love and justice fundamental to the Christian faith. Its objectives arise from a commitment to practical service and partnership for change, which puts people before profit.
Another organisation where Christians put their beliefs into actions is Christian aid. Christian Aid began life in 1945 as Christian Reconciliation in Europe, responding to the needs of refugees and churches in Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War. In 1949 it became an integral part of the British Council of Churches (now CTBI) as the Department for the Inter-Church Aid and Refugee Service, becoming involved with world refugee settlement and justice issues. It worked closely with the World Council of Churches and the churches in the newly independent countries in the South. In 1964 the organisation changed its name to Christian Aid after its best-known source of income, Christian Aid Week, which began in 1957. Since the reorganisation of the Council of Churches in 1991, Christian Aid has been a separate legal entity, but remains in close relationship with it. Since its inception Christian Aid has worked on long term development projects where the need is greatest, working with people and communities regardless of race or creed. Today it works in over 60 of the world's poorest countries. Christian Aid's essential belief is summed up in the statement `We believe in life before death' now part of the Christian Aid logo. Fair trade also helps developing countries. Fair Trade is about paying poor producers a fair price, and helping them to gain the necessary skills and knowledge to develop their businesses and work their way out of poverty. ‘It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God’. (Mark Chapter 10). This quote is to do with not being greedy and this is what fair trade tries to stop.
Cafod works in a partnership with the local people of poor counties on over a thousand long-term projects. There aims are: ‘Everyone has a fair share of the good things of creation,’ ‘The rights and dignity of each person are respected, discrimination is ended and people unite as a single human family from which no one is excluded,’ ‘The voice of the poor is heard and lives are no longer dominated by greed,’ ‘Everyone has access to food, shelter and clean water, heath and education.’ This organisation helps a lot of people all over the world.
All of the above Organisations show how Christians work very hard to help the poor. Some people like Mother Teresa work very hard and devote their whole lives to developing countries.
Religious Education Coursework
Does Charity begin at home?
The statement ‘Does Charity Begin at home’ is a very debatable. Some people would totally agree with it and others would argue against it.
It is not obvious what this statement totally means. I believe it is questioning do we help our own country before we go onto helping others. For example should the rich north help the poor south or should they sort out their own problems first. At home does not necessarily mean at home. Home could mean out whole country or confident we live in, not just our local area.
People who believe Charity should begin at home have some valuable arguments on their side. They may think that because we live in Britain we should help ourselves before we go on and help others. Not everything in Britain is perfect so surely we should spend our money on some things we really need. Our health service is in a lot of debt and needs much more money that it currently has therefore we should concentrate on helping our own country first to solve problems like this. Another argument is that Britain has insufficient resources to be giving its money away and even if we do give a lot of aid to countries like Africa, how are we sure we know where the money is going. Government in Africa is often corrupt. The millions we give them might just be going to a single group of people for their own leisure. For example Nigeria contributes to about 10% of Shell's global production and is home to some of its most promising reserves, yet the country is steeped in poverty and conflict. According to Shell, it has been difficult to operate with integrity in areas of conflict like Nigeria. This is why some people are so against giving money to places like Nigeria. Another reason why people agree Charity begins at home is because they feel they get nothing back from the people they give the money to. Britain who try and help these countries often get injured and killed so why should they bother if this is going to happen? My last point in favour of should Charity begin at home is that in Britain there is a lot of homeless people. Everyday you see people on the streets needed food water and shelter. Some people may think surely you should help people like this before you start helping abroad.
On the other hand many people believe helping other countries as much as possible is very important. They may believe this for a variety of reasons. They may feel guilty and looking back at the golden rule ‘Treat other people as you would like them to treat you’ this is saying you should treat everyone the same no matter where they live or who they are. It is a Christian duty to help the poor. Most Christians believe they would not go to heaven if they do not perform basic Christian duties. ‘It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God’ (mark chapter 16) tell us that you should not be greedy. This is why many people give a lot of money to the poor and believe it is right to not just let Charity start at home. Another reason for this side of the argument is that the problems in Africa and other LEDCs are far worse than our problems. They have millions of people starving and without shelter.
My opinion on ‘Does Charity Begin at home’ has no simple answer. The problem of poverty in the poor is about the model of African leaders, the unfair international trade regulations and aid dependency. Countries like Africa will never develop if the people of that country do not help themselves politically and socially in the first place. I believe we should give a lot of money to LEDCs although we have to be totally sure where the moneys going and what its being used for. On the other hand I believe we do need to sort out our own problems because Britain is far from having no problems of itself. Overall I belie we should come to some kind of an agreement with the poor south to make sure money we give goes to good causes so that the charity we do give them is helping people who actually need help.
