Outline Christian teaching on wealth and poverty.
ai) Outline Christian teaching on wealth and poverty.
Christianity is regularly mistaken a saying that "money is the root of all evil". However, this is not Christian teaching. Christians believe that "the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil" (1 Timothy 6:10) as it can heavily influence and dictate peoples' lives. Wealth and riches can be used to good deeds and so it is not always bad. For example, in the parable of The Good Samaritan, the Samaritan used his money for good. He paid an inn-keeper to look after a beaten-priest who was robbed and stripped of his clothes and afterwards, didn't expect anything in return.
Idolatry according to the Oxford online dictionary is the worship of idols, adulation. It originates from the Greek eidolon "idol" and latreia "worship". The Bible teaches us not to idolise material things or anything other than God. It teaches us this in the Ten Commandments "You shall have no other gods before me". "You shall not steal". "You shall not covet your neighbour's goods". Matthew 6:24 also says that "You cannot serve both God and money". This shows that worship of anything other than God is wrong, especially as it distances us from Him. God is a jealous God and so he detests this as he wants our unconditional love.
Agape, according to the Oxford online dictionary is Christian love as distinct from erotic love or simple affection. It originates from the Greek - "brotherly love". Therefore, we must help out brothers. This does not only extend to blood-related brothers, but to everyone, including the poor. This is so that "there should be no poor among you" (Deuteronomy 15:4). However, the help that we give must be humble and out of the public-eye, otherwise the giving can instead become a receiving in terms of an improved reputation, which can help gain a person extra money. "Be careful not to do your "acts of righteousness" before men to be seen by them" (Matthew 6:1). Also, it's not the amount of money you sacrifice, it's how much you sacrifice in terms of the wealth you have. The help we give should not simply be through words, but through actions as well, as actions speak louder than words. "Little children, let us not love in truth or speech nut in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:18). Furthermore, James 2 says that "faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
In The Widow's Offering, a poor widow gave money to the temple, but the amount given was miniscule to that given by others. After seeing this Jesus said "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything - all she had to live on."
The Church's official stance on the subject of wealth and poverty is shown through the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC). 1723 "true happiness is not found in riches or well-being, in human fame or power, or in any human achievement - however beneficial it may be - such as science, technology, and art, or indeed in any creature, but in God alone, the source of every good and of all love". It also says that "Love for the poor is incompatible with the immoderate used of riches or their selfish use". This shows that being wealthy is not necessarily beneficial. Happiness is not found in money or material possessions, instead, it is found in God and the love given to Him and reciprocated from Him. Although, having material possessions is not bad. St. Clement said that a man who "holds his possessions... as gifts of God... is worthy to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven." We must also be wary that we must not be proud of our wealth - Luke 12:13-21 "Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth", as it is not we who have created it, but it is a gift from God.
Being wealthy or poor is neither intrinsically evil nor good - it's neutral. This is because it is not our wealth-status that is important, it's how we respond to it. Some people think that if you are poor, you are guaranteed to get into Heaven due to the Bible scripture - "Those who suffer on Earth will go to Heaven". However, this quote should not be taken at face value. Instead, it means that if you are poor in hope that being poor will get you into heaven, then that is wrong and instead, you will go to ...
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Being wealthy or poor is neither intrinsically evil nor good - it's neutral. This is because it is not our wealth-status that is important, it's how we respond to it. Some people think that if you are poor, you are guaranteed to get into Heaven due to the Bible scripture - "Those who suffer on Earth will go to Heaven". However, this quote should not be taken at face value. Instead, it means that if you are poor in hope that being poor will get you into heaven, then that is wrong and instead, you will go to hell. Jesus knows that being rich this is hard, and, in response, comforts us by saying (Mark 10:24-25) "How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God... It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
In conclusion, the Church Christian teaching on Wealth and Poverty is that it is neither intrinsically good nor evil - i.e. it is neutral. We must strive to help others less fortunate than ourselves as it is our duty and will also help secure a place in eternal life and His unconditional love. Poverty is not something quintessential for eternal life, instead it is how we respond to our wealth status that determines our eternal life as "the man who does the will of God lives for ever" (1 John 3:17)
aii) Explain why there is a need for world development.
Poverty, according to the Oxford online dictionary is "the state of being extremely poor" or "of being insufficient in amount". It originates from Old French poverte "poverty" and pauper "poor". Poverty can then be divided into two types:
. Absolute Poverty - not even having the barest necessities to sustain life.
2. Relative Poverty - being poor in relation to the average income in your community.
The Poverty Stricken are those who are extremely poor.
The Poverty Line (60p a day/US $1 according to Cafod) is the minimum income level needed to secure the necessities of life.
Wealth, according to the Oxford Online dictionary is: an abundance of valuable possessions or money the state of being rich, an abundance or profusion of something desirable.
There are several causes of poverty, one of these is debt. According to the Oxford online dictionary, debt is "a sum of money owed", "the state of owing money". Debt is a very big problem and is rife among Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs). LEDCs end up in debt because they borrow money and then have to repay back much more than they have borrowed. This happened in the early 1970s and made the poor countries poorer and the richer countries richer. For example, Chile borrowed $3.9 billion, but, by 1982, Chile had repaid $12.8 billion in interest, yet still owed money. This was because it borrowed money at low interest rates, however it had to pay back money at high interest rates due to recession. This is still affecting countries today as there are 41 countries classified as Heavily Indebted Countries (HIPC) and a debt that was only $55 billion in 1980 now stands at $215 billion (UNDP Human Development Report, 1997). The excess $9 billion dollars that Chile had to pay, could instead have been used to speed up its development, yet it went to rich countries. The CCC says that "Rich nations have a grave moral responsibility towards those which are unable to ensure the means of their development by themselves", however, this isn't happening.
Another cause of poverty is unfair trade. For example, farmers are paid very small amounts for their crop, but the big companies then sell the goods for a much bigger price. The farmers have little choice but to accept the prices they are paid because otherwise they will have no income and struggle to live. This is why "fair-trade" goods are now sold. They are sold at a higher price, but the consumers know that this will go to help pay farmers a fair price and are therefore willing to do it.
War can lead to poverty. People may have their homes and/or possessions destroyed due to war and so become poor. They can no longer work due to the danger and so cannot earn money. Furthermore, the people who migrate to another country and become refugees cannot carry all their belongings and so become even poorer. Cafod says that as a result of SAPs "Households are unable to send children to school" and "Some people die at home because they cant afford to get money for hospital fees".
Corruption is a major factor in poverty. It reduces economic growth which can help get people out of poverty and can even reverse it. It robs valuable funds from the public services and instead goes to buying luxuries for the corrupt. For these reasons, people are often against helping to invest in corruption-ridden countries, but, in response Cafod say that corruption shouldn't deny debt-relief. The issue should be dealt with head-on.
Poverty is a very important issue and involves billions of people across the world - about 2.5 billion people lack basic sanitation. For this reason, world development is essential. "What poor countries spend on debt repayments each year could save the lives of 3 million children and prevent 1 million cases of malnutrition" (UNDP Human Development Report, 1997). Another issue raised is the cancellation of debts. This would give countries, especially LEDCs, more money to invest to help those in poverty.
The website www.globalissues.org says that forty-eight of the world's poorest countries' - six hundred million citizens have less money than the combined wealth of the world's three richest people and that 20% of LEDCs consume 80% of the world's energy. In addition to this, 86% of the world's countries use 20% of the world's goods produced. This shows the severity of poverty today and the vastness in wealth and the sharing of resources.
The problem of poverty is difficult to tackle and is made even more so due to the MEDC's unwillingness to sacrifice. According to Cafod, the cost to give everyone access to basic service is approximately $40 billion more than is spent now, which is tiny seeing as it equals 0.1% of the world's income.
The poverty can also be overcome using Structural Assessment Programmes (SAPs). SAPs are programmes aimed at producing a greater income for a country. It involves devaluating the country's currency so as to make exports cheaper and to tempt other countries to purchase from them. Then it changes the economy by changing the goods produced by the company to more valuable ones. This will eventually generate enough money to pay off the debts. Ghana was lucky in that their SAP helped them out greatly, although this is not always the case. SAPs result in severe cutbacks in public spending, resulting in education and health services having to be paid for, despite many people not being able to afford it. Companies privatise and unemployment rates increase. Land is used for crops to export and food prices for local people rise.
World development is essential to help those who experience poverty and therefore have a terrible quality of life. This is because:
"Everyone has the right to a standard of living, adequate for the health and well-being of him(her)self and his/her family including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services...Everyone has the right to education." (Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
It isn't fair that some people live a life of luxury, yet others have to work hard simply in order to be able to eat. Therefore, world development is needed to give everyone a good quality of life.
aiii) Analyse and explain the work of one Christian agency working for world
development.
CAFOD (the Catholic Agency For Overseas Development) is one of the most famous, if not, the famous Christian agency working for world development. It is the official overseas development and relief agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It has been fighting poverty worldwide since 1962, irrespective of religion. The charity is also a member of the Caritas International federation, a worldwide network of Catholic relief and development organisations.
CAFOD works with local communities in 64 countries globally to help them meet their own needs. This is because "Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and feed him for a lifetime" (the punch-line from a famous CAFOD advert). It does this through more than 500 partner organizations - trusted, local organizations staffed by local people who are working to reduce poverty as the local organizations are best placed and the most knowledgeable people to understand local needs.
CAFOD believes that all human beings have a right to dignity and respect, and that the world's resources area a gift to be shared equally by all men and women, whatever their race, nationality or religion.
CAFOD raises funds from the Catholic community in England and Wales, the UK government and the general public. This is so it can promote long-term development - helping people in need to bring about change for themselves through development and relief work; respond to emergencies, providing immediate help for people affected by conflict or natural disasters and identify the causes of poverty and raise public awareness of them, encouraging supporters and the public to challenge the structures, policies and attitudes that reinforce inequality. It also helps CAFOD to speak out on the behalf of poor communities, explaining the underlying causes of poverty and challenging governments and international bodies to adopt policies that promote equality and justice as well as human development and social justice in concordance with Christian faith and Gospel values.
There are numinous examples of the work CAFOD carries out. Recent evidence of the work carried out by CAFOD is in Darfur, Western Sudan. Fighting in this region prompted the formation of one of the world's worst humanitarian crises in more than a decade. Two million people are in need of aid and hundreds of thousands are crowded into makeshift camps in Chad and Sudan. In response, CAFOD launched an urgent appeal for the people of Darfur, and have given £2 million in the form of food, safe water, shelter materials, sanitation and healthcare supplies from the generous donations of supporters. Furthermore, CAFOD has pledged to help refugees in the long-term by providing seeds, and tools to aid families in replanting crops and rebuilding their lives.
CAFOD does work to raise awareness of the causes of poverty and how to bring about change, through schools, churches, youth and campaign groups. It puts the spotlight on poverty and on those who have the power to eradicate it. For example CAFOD supporters promoted Fair Trade outside Tesco in Prestwich. In addition to this, CAFOD raises awareness through, media work, e-mail updates and via the latest mobile phone technologies to make sure that all supporters are up-to-date on the issues that count.
CAFOD speaks out on behalf of poor communities through policy specialists and hundreds and thousands of supporters peacefully protesting, explaining the often-complex underlying causes of poverty. The charity challenges governments and international bodies to develop policies that fight poverty and promote equality and justice. It offers suggestions based upon research for how governments, businesses and international bodies such as the World Bank and World Trade Organisation can have a positive rather than a negative effect on poor communities.
The backbone of CAFOD's work is done by the time and commitment of thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds throughout the world in the various ways. People also raise funds for CAFOD. Examples of this are the "CAFOD Fast Day" and by running the Great North Run. John McBride is an example of such people. He ran the Great North Run because he's "motivated by the fact that I [he] can make a difference from here in Consett to someone living in Brazil or Sudan... But the feeling that you're making a difference is the big thing. I [he] feel that I'm doing something worthwhile."
CAFOD campaigns on a wide range of issues which include third-world debt, unfair trade, aid-giving and the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals to banish poverty.
Information for this section was derived from the CAFOD website - www.cafod.org.uk/
George Castillo Wealth and Poverty Mr. Clark
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