Christianity and global poverty

mukk_in

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This is a tricky subject. The UN released a report Thursday that India lifted 271 million of its own people out of poverty. Considering that all nations have poor in their countries, what's a better strategy to eliminate poverty? Tending to our own (looking inwards), philanthropy/charity to others (extroversion), a bit of both, or something else? Here are some links and scriptures:

271 million fewer poor people in India | UNDP in India

Poverty in the United States - Wikipedia

Matthew 26:11; Deuteronomy 15:11; Psalm 35:10; Deuteronomy 15:4-5; Exodus 23:11; Leviticus 23:22; 1 Timothy 5:8; Deuteronomy 15:7-8; Acts 9:36; 1 Timothy 6:17-18; Luke 14:13; James 2:15-16; Acts 4:35.
 

Guojing

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One of the mysteries of the Bible that I always wanted to find out is, in Acts 21, did James and the elders in Jerusalem actually accepted the money that Paul raised for the "poor saints in Jerusalem"?

Luke was silent about this issue, and I suspect that James directed Paul to use the money to pay for the ceremonies of those Jews who were shaving their heads.
 
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timewerx

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Look at Iceland, Denmark, etc.

None of their citizens are poor. These countries have practially That is literally speaking btw, NOT a figure of speech.

healthy balance of Capitalist + Social systems should do it.

The Problem with USA and any country that idolizes USA is they have unreasonable fears of social systems.

Love of money is the root cause of poverty. USA has too much of it and is reflected in their economic system. They hate socialized Capitalism because it makes it a little bit harder to be rich. They would rather a few get rich than try to help a lot more people out of poverty.

They love to assume a socialized Capitalism would would destroy the economy....

NOT supported by facts as we see in many European countries.
 
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Rescued One

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Some of the poor can't work because of depression or physical problems or substance abuse. Others have no job skills. The rich are enjoying their wealth, large homes in choice locations, cruises, travel, etc. Christians try to help, but some of the homeless don't want to stay in shelters run by Christians. I don't know the solution.
 
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timewerx

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Christians try to help, .

Only few out of many Christians know what love is.

Many Christians are deceived by wealth and love money more than God, in contrary to what they say about themselves.

1 John 3:16-18
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

Some rich Christians do give but many of them don't give enough.

These rich Christians don't give enough so they can keep their worldly lifestyle.
 
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Rescued One

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Only few out of many Christians know what love is.

Many Christians are deceived by wealth and love money more than God, in contrary to what they say about themselves.

1 John 3:16-18
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

Some rich Christians do give but many of them don't give enough.

These rich Christians don't give enough so they can keep their worldly lifestyle.

Well, if there is no love in that person, he hasn't been born of God. God knows who the real Christians are.
 
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bèlla

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The bible tells us the poor will always be with us. As some rise above it others enter. The cycle continues.

In the U.S the subject is more complex. Compassion isn’t meted out the same. Impoverishment due to loss of income or illness is viewed differently from situations resulting from addiction or poor life choices.

Our society has indigents, working poor, and many struggling in the middle class too. The latter isn’t ‘poor enough’ and bears a heavier strain than most. The financial burden generally falls to them.

I believe the Lord gives us burdens for different issues and groups of people. Mine is leading me towards philanthropic and educational solutions which foster self-sufficiency and financial wisdom.
 
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RaymondG

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The religious in india seem to be more focused on changing themselves.....Being the change they wish to see in the world... A lot in the US are focused more on converting and changing others.

A lot more light can be spread around if more people focus on keeping oil in their own lamps.....
 
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Albion

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Look at Iceland, Denmark, etc.....

Love of money is the root cause of poverty. USA has too much of it and is reflected in their economic system. They hate socialized Capitalism because it makes it a little bit harder to be rich. They would rather a few get rich than try to help a lot more people out of poverty.

They love to assume a socialized Capitalism would would destroy the economy...

NOT supported by facts as we see in many European countries.
Neither of the countries you named as ones you admire have open borders or are inviting the whole world to get on their gravy trains, do they?

How Not to Welcome Refugees, Denmark-Style
 
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timewerx

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Neither of the countries you named as ones you admire have open borders or are inviting the whole world to get on their gravy trains, do they?

How Not to Welcome Refugees, Denmark-Style

Their rich citizens gets taxed more (and they don't mind!). That's all there is to it.

If you do this in America, they will shout blood, totally oblivious to the fact, it would help the poor.
 
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Albion

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Their rich citizens gets taxed more (and they don't mind!). That's all there is to it.
Of course that is not "all there is to it."

If Socialism or something close to it is the ideal, and the ideal is to have no one left in poverty while the rich and middle classes are not destroyed, the nation cannot take in all the poor of the world and lift them up while pushing down the country's own workers.

So, Iceland and Denmark are anything BUT examples of your proposal, but if you have better ones to offer, we of course would be willing to take a look.
 
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Newtheran

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This is a tricky subject. The UN released a report Thursday that India lifted 271 million of its own people out of poverty. Considering that all nations have poor in their countries, what's a better strategy to eliminate poverty? Tending to our own (looking inwards), philanthropy/charity to others (extroversion), a bit of both, or something else? Here are some links and scriptures:

Jesus said in Matthew 26:11, "The poor you will always have with you..."

This tells me that he knew that poverty was a symptom of fallen human nature and that until the second coming, it would be something endemic throughout all of human society and history.

Thus, by definition, any "war on poverty" is unwinnable.

The best we can do is create systems within our own nation where those who don't want to be poor can chose to improve their station in life through their own efforts...and then let others emulate those systems. This should be complemented with the church's charitable acts towards those who are unable to chose to improve their lot in life secondary to a disability. Nowhere does the bible call for a system where Caesar appropriates either the production of individuals or the means of production and redistributes those for his own glory at the point of a spear.
 
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Newtheran

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They hate socialized Capitalism because it makes it a little bit harder to be rich.

The problem with socialized Capitalism isn't that it makes it a little harder to be rich...it is that the ladder gets pulled up in such a way that upward mobility for the poor or middle class becomes much harder and it becomes easier for the rich to stay rich.
 
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timewerx

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So, Iceland and Denmark are anything BUT examples of your proposal, but if you have better ones to offer, we of course would be willing to take a look.

I have a relative who now lives in Denmark. Married a local and now with kids.

She finds it a lot better than USA. She actually used to live in USA and made more money in USA.

Money ain't everything isn't really overrated, it's a fact.

She actually said this that if you love money, you will hate Denmark, otherwise, it's a paradise. Most people who lives in Denmark have no care for money, it's the culture. That she finds a lot closer to Christianity than Christianity in USA.

She isn't lazy by any degree and didn't settle in Denmark to take advantage of social welfare. In fact, she will soon leave Denmark and become a permanent Christian missions worker in 3rd world country.
 
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timewerx

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The problem with socialized Capitalism isn't that it makes it a little harder to be rich...it is that the ladder gets pulled up in such a way that upward mobility for the poor or middle class becomes much harder and it becomes easier for the rich to stay rich.

Classic American misconception and unreasonable fear of having more socialism in the Capitalist mix.

Fact is that it becomes easier for the poor to move up the ladder in a healthy mix of Socialism+Capitalism.

Only the rich have a bit of a hard time moving further up.... Ironically, I do have rich clients from these EU countries. None are complaining. It's the culture.

They could have immigrated to the USA so easily if American Capitalism is so great.....being EU citizens. But they don't.

The greatness of American capitalism is overrated.
 
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Sketcher

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Capitalism has raised more people out of abject poverty than any other economic system. It should be encouraged, with the government and the church filling in gaps that the market leaves, in ways that train up and empower individuals rather than creating more systems of dependency. Digging a well for a village, for instance, seems on its face to be a good thing - but shouldn't the people in the village dig that well themselves? Rather than handing out fish to everyone, teach them how to fish. Then they can lift themselves and their neighbors up.
 
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Newtheran

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Money ain't everything

You're right. But money isn't nothing either. The scriptures don't say that money is the root of all kinds of evil, but that the love of it is. Read Proverbs 30:9
 
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Newtheran

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Classic American misconception and unreasonable fear of having more socialism in the Capitalist mix.

Fact is that it becomes easier for the poor to move up the ladder in a healthy mix of Socialism+Capitalism.

Only the rich have a bit of a hard time moving further up.... Ironically, I do have rich clients from these EU countries. None are complaining. It's the culture.

They could have immigrated to the USA so easily if American Capitalism is so great.....being EU citizens. But they don't.

The greatness of American capitalism is overrated.

What you see today as American capitalism is a distortion of capitalism and has a tremendous amount of socialism in the mix.
 
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mukk_in

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Capitalism has raised more people out of abject poverty than any other economic system. It should be encouraged, with the government and the church filling in gaps that the market leaves, in ways that train up and empower individuals rather than creating more systems of dependency. Digging a well for a village, for instance, seems on its face to be a good thing - but shouldn't the people in the village dig that well themselves? Rather than handing out fish to everyone, teach them how to fish. Then they can lift themselves and their neighbors up.
That's a great point. Ex: India is still a Socialist nation. But, the current administration is guaranteeing rural employment that's creating usable and productive assets like roads, bridges etc. and thus incentivising labor as opposed to just digging ditches for 8 hours a day. Some initial assistance is necessary and provided for the extremely poor, or they'll starve.
 
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FireDragon76

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Capitalism has raised more people out of abject poverty than any other economic system. It should be encouraged, with the government and the church filling in gaps that the market leaves, in ways that train up and empower individuals rather than creating more systems of dependency. Digging a well for a village, for instance, seems on its face to be a good thing - but shouldn't the people in the village dig that well themselves? Rather than handing out fish to everyone, teach them how to fish. Then they can lift themselves and their neighbors up.

India raised 271 million of its own people out of poverty through policies of government regulation and social spending, not laissez-faire economic policies.
 
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