The Fight Against Poverty is the Path to Peace
Tags: Religious Leaders.
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But not the sort of fight against poverty, perhaps, that we think of here in America:
Presiding over the celebration of Mass for the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God, Pope Benedict XVI re-emphasized the need to fight poverty to build a society of peace. Violence, hatred and mistrust, which he called “forms of poverty,” must be brought to an end, especially in the Holy Land, he exhorted.
The Holy Father began his homily by commemorating the Incarnation, “a light which will not go out and which offers the faithful and men of good will the possibility to construct a civilization of love and of peace.”
“The Second Vatican Council said, in this regard, that ‘by His incarnation the Son of God has united Himself in some fashion with every man,’” the Pope noted.
With his birth in Bethlehem, Benedict XVI said, Jesus reveals to humanity that God chose poverty for himself in his coming among them. “The scene that the shepherds saw first and that confirmed the announcement made to them by the angel is that of the stable where Mary and Jesus looked for refuge and of the manger in which the Virgin laid the Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes.”
Turning to today’s celebration of the 42nd World Day of Peace, the Pope explained that its theme– Combating poverty. Building peace– contains two elements: “the poverty chosen and proposed by Jesus and of combating poverty to make the world more just.”
The second consideration is that “there is poverty that God does not want: a poverty that impedes individuals and families from living according to their dignity; a poverty which offends justice and equality and which threatens peaceful coexistence,” the Pontiff said. In addition, he pointed to forms of spiritual poverty: “marginalization and moral and spiritual misery.”
“To combat unjust poverty it is necessary to rediscover sobriety and solidarity, those evangelical and at the same time, universal values,” Pope Benedict asserted.
We wrap ourselves up so much in income levels and judge peoples’ wealth or poverty by the amount of things they have. Now, to be sure, there is actual, physical poverty which we must, as far as possible, end. Those who lack their daily bread, and a roof over their heads, and clothes on their back – they must be succored by a world which does not pause to count the monetary cost of such aid. But while such physical aid has its vital place in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t attack the real poverty of our modern world, which is spiritual.
Most of the people in the world today are poor. Most of the people who have ever lived were born in to poverty and never rose out of it. And yet with poverty being the normal condition of Man, it has only been in the past century or so that we’ve gone down into the depth of human degradation.
In the last century, at least 100 million people were murdered for political reasons. We abort millions of our children every year. Pornography has become mainstream and the objectivication of our fellow human beings – mostly women, but a large number of men, as well – is considered a right so important that we daren’t place even mild restrictions on it. We think people have a right to lie on our streets in their own filth. We’re teaching our children to massacre their school mates. People set off bombs to kill the innocent. These are the actions of people who are spiritually impoverished – people who may, especially in America and the larger West, live in the greatest of ease and surrounded by wealth kings of the past couldn’t dream of, but who are so morally bankrupt that they can’t bestir themselves to even so much as see evil, let alone do anything about it.
We’re given the simple solutions – just give the Palestinians some land. Just provide sex education. Just withdraw from Iraq. Just ban racial profiling at airport security. Just control guns. Just increase foreign aid. Just go through the UN. Just to this. Just to that. Just do the other thing. But almost nowhere in this world is there the leader who doesn’t merely give lip service to the concept of hope, but who seeks to make it manifest. In other words, the leaders who understand that the problems of the day are fundamentally spiritual are few and far between. You could give the Palestinians all the land you want – give them Alaska and throw in half of Canada for good measure, and it won’t change the fact that the people who strap bombs on themselves don’t really need land, they need a moral revival. Provide all the birth control and sex education you want, and it won’t cure the person who has been degraded to the point where they say, “yeah, give me some money and I’ll allow a stranger to f**k me on camera”. Triple the budget for Head Start and develope the most comprehensive anti-violence education in school and it won’t do anything to sway a kid who is learning, step by step, that its cool to take guns to school and massacre the student body. We’re bleeding to death and we keep trying to put a band aid on the societal lacerations.
Sobriety and solidarity are, indeed, the keys to a revived human society and the restoration of an advanced civilization. Sobriety – not just not getting drunk and stoned, but a set of mental attitudes which refuses excess and which places self indulgence on a much lower plain than self sacrifice. Solidarity – an understanding that we really are our brother’s keeper and that even those who are doing the most wicked deeds must not be allowed to make hatred and despair grow in our hearts. Naturally, as a Christian, I believe I know where one can get this – tap in, that is, to the wellsprings of sobriety and solidarity. But not all my brothers and sisters are Christian. But, still, it remains something we must do – Christian or not – in order to survive as humans rather than die off as a failed experiment, or regress entirely into savagery.
Thank you for visiting Blogs For Victory. If you enjoy our content, please consider making a donation to help us cover the costs of our servers.Mark Noonan is co-author (with Matt Margolis) of Caucus of Corruption: The Truth About The New Democratic Majority. He also blogs at Nevada News and Views. Follow Mark on Twitter.
26 Responses to “The Fight Against Poverty is the Path to Peace”
Caucus of Corruption
The 320 richest people in the U.S have the equivalent money as the poorest 1.6 BILLION people in the world. If we expect to eradicate poverty, we must have the rich on board. Luckily, a lot of them are.
Mule,
We can have all of them on board, and it won’t matter unless we address the spiritual dimension. Realize the utter despair which results in a pornographic movie being made, or a suicide bomber detonating himself…that is what we must tackle…with money to alleviate physical poverty, to be sure, but if all you’re doing is passing ’round the swag, you’re doing nearly nothing…
One problem that must be tackled, Mark, is energy poverty. In wide swaths of Africa and Asia, people lack electricity. Without electricity, no matter how much money they recieve, they will still be poor.
Mule,
You’re not getting it, and I blame myself. I’d direct you to the Pope’s homily so that you can read it, yourself, and be better instructed by the Holy Father than I can provide…but unless you read Italian, it won’t do you much good.
Its not material – its spiritual; that is the key.
Soooo, mule, should we go over to Africa and build nuclear power plants? How ’bout coal-burning power plants?
Should we go over there at all? Let’s let the U.N. handle it…
The most basic path to peace is treating all people as if they had inherent worth. This is the wellpring from which all else flows. It is what Christ did that was so revolutionary. Jesus wasn’t just some high and mighty moralist – he was God’s love with skin on it. His teaching had authority because he lived the truth every day.
The Incarnation was indeed a gift to all mankind, not just to the wealthy and well-connected. Christ met people’s needs at the most fundamental level; he showed genuine compassion for the very least, which enabled them to be receptive to his teaching on spiritual matters. He never patronized or treated people condescendingly.
It was fascinating to read someone’s description of Palestinian people on this blog a few days ago as “pseudo human.” When individuals are treated as if they had no worth, patronized and condescended to, it is no wonder that they develop negative self-images or respond with hostility.
Everyone is a sinner in need of grace. When the privileged look upon the less so with condescension or make their “help” conditional upon some tacit acknowledgment of inferiority it only perpetuates hostility and division. When people look down from high moral perches on their presumed lessers and hector them, it generally is the opposite of what is needed to pave a path to peace.
“And yet with poverty being the normal condition of Man, it has only been in the past century or so that we’ve gone down into the depth of human degradation.”
Human barbarism is not a recent innovation. In biblical times and in many pre-Columbian civilizations (ref. the Incas and Aztecs) human sacrifices were offered en masse to pagan gods. The era of slavery in America was far bloodier and more degrading to both the enslaved and the slaveholder than is ever acknowledged in official histories and textbooks. In short there is nothing unique about the past century in regard to human degradation. It’s just that now we can watch it in HD video.
The era of slavery in America was far bloodier and more degrading to both the enslaved and the slaveholder than is ever acknowledged in official histories and textbooks.
Says you? Look, we’re tryig to get over this white guilt. Yeah, that slavery thing was a bad thing, but it’s over, and now we have a Halfrican-American getting ready to move into the White House. Enough about this oppression thing, about how cruel and brutal White America is. I for one and sick of hearing about it.
I for one and sick of hearing about it.
Oops–”am.”
so when Jesus threw the hucksters and shucksters out of the temple and called them thieves/robbers….He only called them what they were…thier inherent worth was shown them with whip in hand…
“It is said that Jesus never used force, but this verse proves otherwise. It is a moot question whether or not Jesus actually used a whip on any of the money changers, the usual interpretation being that he did not; but the very existence of such a weapon in the strong hand of the vigorous young carpenter from Nazareth was a threat of force sufficient to deter any of the money-changers from contesting it. The whip was necessary in driving out the animals; but, with regard to the money-changers, the moral indignation of the Holy One crying out against the callous commercialization of the very house of God was far more effective than any physical threat could have been. Needless to say, such action by Jesus was requited by the undying hatred of the godless Sadducees who were the principal operators of the temple concessions.” (http://www.searchgodsword.org/com/bcc/view.cgi?book=joh&chapter=2&verse=15#Joh2_15)
much like we should be doing today…to those whose greed compells them to thousands of percent profit….to make the wealthy beyond dreams and reason…and give them a taste of poverty…so they learn to respect it and regard it with honorable intent…
js, you andother Conservatives scream about how we want to dismantle the free-market system. And do you know what would happen if we went totally unregulated, as you might suggest? We would become a very greedy, profit oriented society! Gee, can you say hypocrisy?
We would become a very greedy, profit oriented society! Gee, can you say hypocrisy?
Soooo, profit is evil? Gee, where would GM, Ford, and Chrysler be, if they had some profit?
And besides, mule–according to you and your kook friends, we are a greedy nation. Capitalism is an evil beast, huh?
No, profit is not evil. A society in which profit means stepping on your workers and having unethical business practices is evil. But js was saying profit was evil. Consult him.
Mark’s point is that peace will only come when the world eliminates spiritual poverty by embracing the Pope. As soon as the world fills it’s empty spiritual pie hole with the teachings and power of men in big hats, there will be peace.
You guys thought he meant money or food or shoes or justice? As if.
It has been a very long two years. Argument and acrimony have been flung by both sides. Disagreements over policy have enraged and embittered. Yet now time has passed, tempers have subsided, and the opportunity for perspective has arisen. Clear your mind of all of the preconceived notions you have accumulated, read your own words, which I have quoted above, and watch this.
I remember during the early days of the general, when someone had asked what anyone could see in Obama, because his speeches were all fluff and no substance, and I tried to explain that is was bigger than that, that the fundamental part of Barack Obama’s essence was not an issue of policy, but of mentality, yes, even of spirituality, though not usually articulated in those terms. She did not understand, but now you, without even thinking about Barack Obama, have captured the essence of what I was trying to say.
Is he telling the truth? Does he truly believe the things that he says? If so, we he be successful? These questions were paramount in all of our minds, liberals even more so than conservatives. Remember, the Democrats are the ones who gave the world the likes of Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, and John Kerry. We are used to screwing things up royally, and are deeply, deeply cynical. Obama’s biggest challenge, more than emerging from obscurity, more than defeating the Clinton machine, was to convince us to give him a chance. We decided to do so. Now is your opportunity to do the same.
Mule
We would become a very greedy, profit oriented society! Gee, can you say hypocrisy?
can you say MORON?
Deleted – off topic.
bozo,
I said we must give physical aid, regardless of cost – but without a spiritual revival, all the material goods in the world won’t amount to anything, in the long run.
Sergei,
We’ll certainly soon find out – my view of Obama is that he doesn’t know about non-liberal things and thus he’s terribly unequipped to learn from the very large errors he’s certain to make at the start of his Administration. Its like this – I know what liberalism wants and, in theory, I could try liberalism if conservatism proves ineffective…Obama doesn’t know what conservatism actually advocates, so when liberalism comes a cropper (and it will, as it always does), he’ll be without any sort of fallback position.
The sad thing about the left these days – well, to be more correct, among the many sad things about the left these days is the fact that they have been propagandized into believing a cartoonish view of what conservatism is about…we can see it in the liberal comments on this blog when, for instance, its held that a defense of traditional marriage is a reflection only of fear of homosexuality…the truth of the matter is that there is a rational position against gay marriage, even if one has decided that gay marriage is a good thing.
My fear is that Obama will end up floundering from bad to worse…
Fmr, you left out the country of Indonesia. Not surprising, actually, since it doesn’t comply with your facts. It has 206 million people, 86.1% of which are Muslim. They have no conflicts, internal or external, occuring at the moment. They are a leader in persecution of Al Qaeda militants. There is no sharia law – though many still don traditional outfits – and they are, in fact, a Republic.
“they will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs”
And Jews push for Kosher. They haven’t been blowing up to many people lately.
There is no tax on infidels in Albania, Qatar and Sudan.
The United Arab Emirates is only 75% Islam, being it is quite diverse, and has fgreedom of religion. it is a center of business. It has no sharia, no persecution of non-believers.
You try to connect Islam with the chaos in many of these countries. This is impossible to do. One of the biggest reasons that there is trouble in these countries is because they are geographically shitty. It is desert. Not to mention the fact that imperialism dominated the area until the beginning of last century, and infrastructure has been slow to fill in the imperial gap.
I have a time-share in the United Arab Emirates. Lovely place. Maybe I’ll ask you to stay a week with the masseuse, then you can decide if Islam is bad.
I know what liberalism wants
No you don’t. You’ve invented this weirdo conception of what “liberalism” is and decided, absent actual facts, that’s what “liberals” want. I’d say it’s ignorance on your part, but it’s too carefully cultivated an ignorance; as others have pointed out, you don’t want to learn reality because you find your invented world much more comforting.
The punchline is that in the very next paragraph, you offer up this classic whine:
they have been propagandized into believing a cartoonish view of what conservatism is about.
You have offered up a Webster’s-worthy example of hypocrisy–the hypocrisy that lies, sadly enough, at the foundation of your worldview. This hypocrisy plus your Manichean outlook leads to some of your more drastically wrong pronouncements. Again, it’s a situation that is easily remedied–all you have to do is deal with the world as it is instead of how you wish it to be. But you don’t have any desire to do that.
athiestASS
A society in which profit means stepping on your workers and having unethical business practices is evil.
Kinda like ambulance chasing LAWYERS huh?
Mark
Im not sure my post 16 was of topic.
I do not believe how much or little poverty exists will deter the barbarism of islam.
Fmr, stop being so offensive. Do you know any Muslims?
asshatmule
Fmr, stop being so offensive. Do you know any Muslims?
Do you know any NAZIS ?
what is your take on the KKK, do you know any of them?
You really need to be less offensive towords your fellow Americans.
As for me? If you tell me you hate me, want to kill me, and destroy our way of life I will take you at your word, thus you are now considered my enemy….very simple.
asswipemule
RE; # 23
I didnt write this but it about sums it up…….
“Islamophobic & Proud Of It
May 27, 2007 by Sniper One · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Anti-Dhimmitude, Islam, Personal
If being an Islamophobe means that you believe that Islam is an evil and misogynistic belief system; hell bent on conquering the world; that was brought forth from the delusional mind of a sick man who was at heart a hedonist and a pedophile; then I am an Islamphobe, and I am proud of it.
If being an Islamophobe means that I will stand up for the rights of my fellow human beings, no matter their sex, color, or religion (Including equal rights for Muslims); then I am a proud Islamophobe.
If being an Islamophobe means that I will actively oppose Jihad, be it Islamic in nature, Christian, Jewish, or any other sect; then I stand proudly as an Islamophobe.
If being an Islamophobe means that I do not believe in special rights for any group, no matter the color, sex, or creed of the group, then I stand in testament of Islamophobia.
This country was based on the belief that all men (and women) are created equal, and that all people have the same God given right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As such, just because you are Islamic, you do not get special rights over those around you. The same goes for Christians, and Atheists. You do not get special rights or treatments due to your beliefs.
We all get the same pile of shit.
That is all…”
Then how is it that what he said in 2004 is so similar to what you said in this post? Are you a closet liberal sympathizer? I think that you are.
Interesting answer.