As the daughter of a missionary, having lived in third world countries and seen poverty the likes of which most Americans are incapable of conceiving, I would like to say how sickened and shamed I am that any "Christian" would blame poverty on the victims.
Millions of good Christians around the world live in horrific want. They go to church. They obey Christ. They die of starvation.
Claiming they are at fault for their own poverty shows a lack of humanity that is breathtaking. Stating this position publicly brings shame to Christians everywhere. I cannot begin to express how much.
I am almost afraid to discuss poverty with another person that is a member of the "Cult of the Nobel Poor", since I seem to be gaining a lot of enemies. However, I will try to summarized the past discussions so you can make your own opinion.
There is no question that poverty exist, the question is what causes poverty and thus what is the best cure for poverty. The two most discussed reasons for poverty and solutions are:
1) Most poverty is caused by the abuse of the poor by the rich and the denial of opportunity, so the solution is Socialism and redistribution of wealth. This reason for poverty requires defining most of the rich as evil and most of business as evil.
2) Most poverty is caused by excessive wine, women and song (or from a Christian perspective, failure to follow the commandments/doctrines of the Bible), so the solution is salvation (accepting Jesus Christ as Lord/Savior and committing to following the commandments/doctrines of the Bible). This reason for poverty defines most poverty as being the result of the personal decisions of the poor. This solution still allows Capitalism as a valid economic model.
This discussion of causes of poverty has profound political implications because the Socialism solution is advocated most by democrats and the Christian Capitalism solution is advocated most by Republicans.
Some would say that the Christian Capitalism solution is ridiculous because most of the poor are Christians, however a closer examination reveals that most of the poor call themselves Christians, but are deeply into the worship of mountain gods, etc.
I first heard of this as part of a PBS show about a country in South America. The people attended a Catholic service on Sunday, then prayed to a mountain god the rest of the week.
Then I found out that white rum and coca was considered to be a necessity of those that called themselves Christians.
Saw a recent PBS show on Somalia that said chewing some narcotic plant was creating a water shortage.
Some would say there is no linkage between poverty and personal decisions, but a woman with an illegitimate child is in instant poverty. Some would say many women are raped or the custom is casual sex, but that custom needs to be rebuked and it would be better for a woman to die by killing (defending herself) during a rape than to carry the genetic of a rapist into the future.
Both adultery and homosexuality are condemned by the Bible yet both are being allowed, because Socialism/democrats have a soft on sin approach where the person is not responsible, but rather society.
I believe God requires every Christian to be missionaries, but I believe missionaries need to present the gospel without bringing a sandwich. If the person accepts Jesus Christ as Lord/Savior and commits to following the commandants/doctrines of the Bible, then they are entitled to personal Christian charity of one Christian to another as required by the Bible. If they refuse to give up the excess wine, women and song, they should be given Bill Gates telephone number and let Bill Gates deal with their poverty.
Some say the Good Samaritan Parable requires Christians extend Charity to Atheists, but I believe the Good Samaritan Parable only applies if you cannot determine quickly what the person is. A Christian needs to quickly find out what the person is and then either offer further Christian charity or to offer salvation.
Some would say the children are innocent no matter what the status of the parents, but the sins of the fathers are visited on the children, so the concept of innocent children is not totally valid. I believe the best way to deal with innocent children is to deal with the guilty parents.
So what do you say?