Is poverty a moral failing?
- Thread starter UncleRogi
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Its a moral failing of rich Christians..who follow a Jewish preacher who was dirt poor. Oh the irony!
Prosperity gospel is an oxymoron
The answer to your question is "no."
More a failing to understand how the system works. It not absurdly easy, but at the same time it isn't impossibly hard to understand either.
Nope, it's open to everyone. There are far more non-affluent Christians, than affluent ones.
As the apostle Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament and who some of these same Christians use to justify their views on the role of women in the church and homosexuality - 'For the love of money is the root of all evil'
Now how many of them take note of that part of the Bible?
Now how many of them take note of that part of the Bible?
Context?
Ben Carson
That's a name, not context.
Context: The rise of the influence of the Prosperity Gospel on American politics.
The answer is "no."
The weird thing, though, is that most of them aren't wealthy...the whole Prosperity Gospel cult (to speak figuratively) is mostly driven by poor and lower middle class whites in the US -- that's who fills the megachurches. People who idolize wealth and who also see it as attainable. Who see their own poverty as a temporary result of circumstances and that of others as moral failing. People who believe that they can actually achieve anything if they work hard enough, and who pin their failures on a myriad of bogeymen (blacks/affirmative action, queers, liberals, feminists, big government, etc.). "If only _____ would stop holding me back." This is how you get such huge numbers of poor, white conservatives consistently voting against their own interests.
I don't care about being rich. I care about what Jesus taught.
- Jesus showed compassion for all and helped them: the poor, the despised, the outcasts, and wants us to do the same (Matt. 4:24-25;9:9-13).
Poverty is the moral failing of society, not of those who suffer under it.
Well - on a different tack - poverty is also a state of mind.
Plenty of people in the world are VERY poor and still make it day to day. They often don't even consider themselves poor - since money in some countries is absolutely worthless (1 billion dollar notes?) and they are able to feed their children and survive.
It's important to note that for many, having family and friends is more important than money...
Plenty of people in the world are VERY poor and still make it day to day. They often don't even consider themselves poor - since money in some countries is absolutely worthless (1 billion dollar notes?) and they are able to feed their children and survive.
It's important to note that for many, having family and friends is more important than money...
Sorry, but that argument is a red herring. Poverty isn't just absolute, it's also relative to the society one lives in. So, my wage would make me a rich man in a Third World country, well I don't live in a Third World country.
And yes, family and friends are more important than money, but that's not the issue. Yes, family is more important than money, but having a family also costs money. I personally make minimum wage in Germany, I'm lucky I'm single (and actually don't want to have children), because while I can make do with what I have for myself, I could never feed a family from what I make.
And friends?! Yes, a social life also (usually) costs money. Going to the movies together, you gotta pay for a ticket. Going to a game together, you gotta pay for a ticket. Going for drinks, you better be able to pay for them.
So, don't be fooled by that argument (also often used by the rich and politicians who support the rich), because the poverty in other countries doesn't justify the poverty in your own. Poverty (and not the poor) must be fought whereever we find it.
Which is why Jesus said 'the poor you will always have with you', some Christians use that as an excuse to damn the poor rather than recognise that statement as a sad reflection of human nature. Humans are selfish and greedy little bastards which is why communism will never work and caring capitalism is still waiting to show her face.
There needs to be an economic & moral balance between the two.
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