Eliminating extreme poverty with compassion and justice
When I was young, Jim Reeves used to sing a song with the words:
“This world is not my home, I’m just a-passin’ through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore”
Now, I understand what the songwriter was trying to say, but I can’t say that I agree with him. This world IS our home and we have the opportunity of making it a better place for future generations.
Peoples of Britain circa 600 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Immigration is a hot issue in the United Kingdom right now. Some time ago I picked up a copy of the Daily ? (a paper that I don’t normally read) and the story on the front page was going on about immigrants and basically implying that we should pull up the drawbridge and prevent any further immigration into our already “overcrowded Island”.
Turning to page 20 (or thereabouts) was an article about how the world economic crisis had affected Dubai and how “poor” British “settlers” were suffering from the economic fallout.
Probably the two journalists did not meet to discuss how they should handle the situation. But why are migrants to the United Kingdom demonised and called immigrants (a word with all sort of connotations) whilst British migrants to other countries were treated sympathetically as settlers? [Read more...]
Desperate thirst
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
(Matthew 5:6 NIV)
I have never known true physical hunger, but I am well aware that millions of children go to bed every night desperately hungry. My life has never been threatened by thirst, but I can well imagine that thirst becomes the overriding priority of a man crossing a desert.
The Minimum Wage is not a Living Wage
The government of the United Kingdom says that is trying to encourage people back to work and reduce dependence upon state benefits. To do this, most of the emphasis has been on reducing benefits. I believe that rather than the stick of reducing benefits, more could be achieved by the carrot of increasing the minimum wage. In turn this would reduce our benefits bill and increase our national income through Income Tax, National Insurance, Value Added Tax etc.
There are about 1,350,000 people in Britain who only receive the minimum wage with a further 4 million earning less than a “living wage” (see below). Because it is impossible to support a family on this level, a great number of these will also be receiving state benefits. It is wrong that we, as taxpayers, should be subsidising companies who fail to pay a living wage to their workers. [Read more...]
UK National Debt, excluding bank bailouts, based on official data
During the second world war we all had to suffer deprivations so that we could maintain our freedom as a country. Basically we all pulled together. Bombs were no respecter of persons. We had the political will and leadership needed so that every one had to bear the burden and pay the price for our freedom.
Now we face an economic situation which potentially could be even more serious. But where is the political will to unite the country?
We have blamed the benefit “scroungers”, the immigrants, the bankers, the Conservatives, the Lib-Dems, the Labour party: everyone but ourselves. This is a call for unity. To stop being divisive and for everyone, rich, poor or somewhere in the middle, to accept their share of responsibility, and for us ALL to work together to get us out of the mess we are in. [Read more...]
Above the Old Bailey courts in London. A sword in one hand to execute justice and scales in the other to ensure fairness.
When it comes to human relationships, love, compassion and justice must go hand in hand. In talking about social justice I am not talking about justice as retribution or punishment but as justice in the way we treat our fellow-man. When people are wronged, they may cry out for justice to be done, and often won’t be satisfied unless the wrongdoer is punished for their crimes against them. Social Justice demands that we correct the unfairness of society but does not demand retribution or punishment.
But let Justice roll on like a river,
Righteousness like a never-failing stream!
Social Justice is vital if a country claims to be morally as well as economically developed. The measure of a country is how the government and the people of that country treat the disadvantaged members of society. The Bible criticises those who exploit their workers, ignore the poor or do not look after the immigrant or the homeless. Sharing our resources is fundamental to the ideal of social justice.
In this article I am writing from a United Kingdom perspective, but the principles are true for all countries whether developed or developing. People are materially poor because of one or more of the following factors:
Beach village in Sri Lanka devastated by the Tsunami
I want to change the world! I have a vision of a world without extreme poverty; a world where everyone has the same opportunities that I have had. But I realise that I cannot do that on my own, and in any case, as an aim, changing the world is a bit vague. The world consists of people: we can only change the world, one person at a time.
So, this article is about one young lady whose life has been radically changed through a family in England who cared enough to sponsor her through Karuna Action, and a partner organisation in Sri Lanka. Buddika was brought up in a small hut built on the beach in Sri Lanka. Why build a house on the sand? Homes are built on the beach because poor people cannot afford to build anywhere else!
Without help, Buddika’s life would have been very different. [Read more...]
JUSTICE WITHOUT LOVE IS LEGALISM.”
For many years the strap line for Kingscare (the former name of Karuna Action) was, “God’s love in action”. Love is voluntary, and is an excellent motive for giving.
Beggars in India
Dependency has become a bad word in the charity business. Fighting poverty is good, but meeting the needs of people in poverty can produce dependency, which is not regarded as a good thing.
But before we “throw the baby out with the bathwater”, consider our children. A newborn baby is completely helpless and completely dependent on its parents. We do not say to the parents,” Do not feed your child: you may produce dependency”. In this case, dependency is good and it’s natural.
At the other end of the scale, if a poverty relief programme simply gives out to needy families, [Read more...]
