According to UNICEF, 26,500-30,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.”
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.Matthew 5:8
came over to say merry Christmas…now, not so sure.
i hate the reality of this post. wish it wasnt so….
By: tam on December 26, 2008
at 1:57 am
It is a troubling balance between caring for our own, and thinking (and contributing to help) those in such dire need.
On the other hand, frequently the problem is that the governments (what can be termed “croneygarchy) are so over ridden with corruption, that the food and other supplies never reaches the people in need (and not just in Africa–for example, if I recall, after the Tsunami, corrupt officials in Sri Lanka were withholding supplies in lieu of bribery).
By: logiopsychoambrosiaivorytowerpath on December 26, 2008
at 3:14 pm
Joy to the world, indeed. If not for the reality of Christ’s birth, this type of suffering would be rampant. Where are the atheist relief agencies? Anyone? Beuller?
By: Steve on December 26, 2008
at 9:37 pm
[...] must be crazy about gift giving. There’s no joy in the world. Everybody talks about ending poverty. Everybody does not understansd what he is talking about. A [...]
By: No Merry Christmas « RLTJ’s Weblog on December 27, 2008
at 1:09 am
“Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.”
As depicted by the cheap wooden crosses, there must be a second interpretation to it.
By: rltj on December 27, 2008
at 3:19 am
Relief (charity) is reactive. You would think that Christians would be more proactive.
“You can’t just keep pulling bodies out of the river; you’ve got to send somebody upstream to see what or who is throwing them in.” -Jim Wallis
By: Christian Beyer on December 27, 2008
at 10:24 am
Honestly–in this day and age of instant everything, relief can be flown from the U. S. to the worst parts of Africa in a matter of hours (remember how fast we helped Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, and India after the Tsunami).
In my opinion, for some sick, cruel reason, the Have governments don’t want to help these Have Not people, or they would.
By: logiopsychoambrosiaivorytowerpath on December 27, 2008
at 2:59 pm
We would rather spend billions on sending people to the moon for God knows why, than to help our starving neighbors.
By: logiopsychoambrosiaivorytowerpath on December 27, 2008
at 2:59 pm
Maybe relief should be sent only during natural calamities.
More than that we could be prolonging the agony in the third world. Right now the UN’s food tor the hungry program is feeding poor Filipino farmer families setting on idle fertile lands.
By: rltj on December 28, 2008
at 2:15 pm
And to think that third world countries are heavily indebted to IMF-World bank “for development of agriculture”!!!
By: rltj on December 28, 2008
at 2:17 pm
I presume the picture of the dying malnourished child was from UNICEF. I presume the intention is to draw attention and implore for donation to UNICEF for victims of poverty. Well, that’s the good intention and that is also much in spirit of Christianity.
The sad news is that the big part of the Fund goes, firstly, to maintain the organizational bureaucracies [allowances & salaries, rentals, transportations, hotels & accommodations, conferences etc.,] and yes, corruptions! What’s left goes to the intended beneficiaries, showcases-showoffs that some people can prate about, a drop in the bucket actually relative to the magnitude of the problem worldwide. The problem is barely scratched at the surface.
I have ceased to spare some loose change to beggars in the streets. It won’t solve the problem of vagrancy. I think I would be contributing to perpetuation of it that way. I believe all the beggars should be at the gates of our Malacañang Palace, not demanding alms but for a solution to their problem. [And it saddens me to see government beating them up when sometimes those miserable did!] The talks about ending poverty have been crazy. They don’t know what they are talking about.]
By: rltj on December 29, 2008
at 1:30 am
Actually I had no intention of encouraging support of UNICEF or any other particular organization. I just chose that picture at random.
I only wanted to draw attention to the fact that the work started by the one who’s birth we celebrate at this time of the year is far from over. And that generally speaking, as Christians, we are not doing such a great job of following Jesus’ teachings.
I was reminded of this on Christmas morning, While suffering from a mild egg-nog hangover, I surveyed the contents of the garbage bag I was taking outside. I realized that, even with all that we had consumed the night before, we were discarding as waste that which might easily and happily feed a family in need. And though that didn’t help my hangover any nor did it make my Christmas any more joyous, I was glad that this though had occurred to me.
By: Christian Beyer on December 29, 2008
at 1:41 pm
Fact is, there will always be needy people somewhere in the world. There’s nothing bad about contributing for the needy. Right way and wrong way will always be debatable.
[I dont like pictures of people donating while they all show those "cheese" for the camera.] Not you, not me, somebody out there maybe.
By: rltj on December 30, 2008
at 9:36 pm
True. I often hear Christians say that “Jesus said that the poor will always be with us” yet the poor are rarely ‘with us’, they are usually someplace where we would never think of visiting.
Then again maybe ‘with us’ means that we need to be aware of the plight of the poor and make sure that we do not conveniently forget their plight and how we are a part of it.
By: Christian Beyer on December 31, 2008
at 9:40 am