Social Justice

"There will always be poverty, and there will always be people falling into poverty. Neither anyone, nor any large group of people, can fix poverty" -Dustin Diaz-

This is a bold statement that implies a harsh reality. If this is true, that poverty is unavoidable, then it would seem all our efforts to eliminate poverty are useless. Is it really just a continuous circle or is there something more to it?

Maybe the problem isn't with the poor people on the streets, maybe the problem is with everyone else. If someone has more , then someone else will always have less. How could we possibly create a world where everything is equal? Society has tried and failed to create that equality. So maybe Dustin is right in saying poverty always has been and always will be. I personally don't know the answer to the problem but I think there is a way to slowly alleviate the situation. Rather then trying to fix the entire problem as quickly as possible, we need to slow down and take small steps. When we get sick, we get nurtured back to heath, and in the same way when people slip into poverty they need to get a hand back up. If poverty is an inevitability, we should treat it like a sickness. We will always get sick, but we work hard to get better. When people are in a poverty state, we need to work hard to get them back on their feet.

Accepting poverty as unavoidable shouldn't be a discouraging thing but rather a way to find a new solution to the problem.

http://www.polvero.com/articles/55/2/

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"A personal gospel without a social gospel is like a soul without a body"-Kyle Dickenson-

I agree with this statement because as Christians we can't only focus on ourselves and expect to impact the world around us. Having a social Gospel does not mean taking part in activities that dishonor God but rather having an awareness of the world and its needs. Looking at some Christian business men who do good work for God through business, but live in luxury because of it, is something I disagree with. How can you justify your wealth while people are starving in the streets, by saying that your business is doing good work for God? Yes your business may be doing good work but taking the wealth for your own personal pleasure is not okay. It goes back to the problem that if someone has more, someone else will always have less. If you are on the side that has more, and your okay with it, then there is something wrong, you don't have a social gospel and I don't think that is what God has intended for us. Its not just about money either, its about taking time out to make relationships with people that need it. Give what you can. By investing your time and money into people that need it now, here on earth, you are investing in yourself because your reward will be in heaven. Ultimately that should be your long term goal because without a social gospel on earth, you will have no personal gospel in heaven.

http://www.polvero.com/articles/109

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"I am a lesbian. And because of this one word, I am denied those inalienable rights that are allowed to all Americans"-Rachel Giarraano-

In the case of this woman I think she is right to be angry with society. How can her rights be taken away because of her sexual preferences? As a Christian I don’t agree with her choices, but I am not about to treat her as an outcast. Some Christians may disagree with me, but sin is sin and I am not “less of a sinner” because she is a homosexual and I am not. We do not make the calls of what sin is worse, that is for God to decide and he tells us that all sin is the same so why do we even create for ourselves a ranking system. In our society how have we created this system? How can people decided who gets different rights because of their sexual preferences? It’s not just this woman whose rights are being treated unfairly but also the rights of her children. Her children are not biologically hers and since she is a lesbian, they get different rights. I think this is wrong. If she decided to change her lifestyle, and live as a heterosexual, would she change so much as a person? Who gets to decided what kind of person she is based on her sexuality and then establish her rights? I think society needs to take a step back and realize we are all human and we all have something wrong with us. I don’t care how high above society some of our leaders may think they are, as far as I’m concerned they are just better at keeping all their flaws hidden. We are all sinners, we all have something wrong with us, and the bottom line is our rights should not be taken away because someone says there’s something more wrong with us then everyone else.

http://www.polvero.com/articles/67/2/

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"At this point i'm starting to catch onto a theme where I have no clue how to be homeless"-Dustin Diaz

This quote was interesting to me, because I never really thought about homelessness in this sense. Is there a certain way to be homeless? Is it like having no idea how to skate, or how to dance? Maybe we are so immune to hearing about people starving on the streets, that we actually have no idea what its like and have no possible way to comprehend it unless we too are homeless. I live in a nice home, with food and water and clean clothes and a warm shower. I have a TV and a laptop; in fact, I’m sitting on a couch right now doing this assignment on my laptop. It’s life for me. Why the heck am I so comfortable with it?! My idea of being homeless, is sitting on the street, not much food, being dirty and having close to nothing. It seems like a harsh truth, but the reality is I have no idea what I’m talking about. If I went on the street, I’m sure I would be saying the same thing Dustin is about being homeless; I have no idea how to be homeless. That bothers me. I have no idea how to be homeless because I am so blessed, it’s never come up. Why am I so blessed? Why am I so lucky to have so many luxuries? I don’t think much in a day about the homeless, I just think about my own agenda. It could easily be me on the street but its not. I should feel more then blessed to be able to say I have no idea how to be homeless. I think my attitude needs to change in regards to homeless people, and start imputing more thought and effort towards them. If I have been blessed enough, to have everything that I do, the least I should do is put time back into those that have nothing so that God can bless them through me.

http://www.polvero.com/articles/25/1/