“South Carolina’s poverty rate is ninth highest in the nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey.” It is a circumstance in which most South Carolinians’ live, and many of them not by choice. Thus, what does poverty look like? Poverty is working hard and yet still struggling to make ends meet. Poverty is working a full time, year-round minimum-wage job, but many South Carolinians are unable to feed, house, clothe, and educate their children. Poverty is too many South Carolina children going to school or bed hungry. Poverty is not knowing where their next meal is coming. Poverty is real! As Christians, we are the body of Christ, and have been called to love more than ourselves as we work together to achieve …show more content…
Society believes those living in poverty are often perceived as lazy, not hardworking or uneducated. Which is often not the case, but rather these families are doing everything in their power to meet daily needs. For instance, my home point of view during my childhood and adolescent years were surrounded by women whom are all educated, and exemplified great independence, strength and work ethic. The woman that was most influential in my upbringing is my mother. My father was absent in my childhood. Therefore, my mother played both parenting roles. Which made things tough. It was not the best situation, but it has molded, and benefited me in many ways: For starters, it taught me how to survive with a limited supply of food, money, and/or resources, etc. My family was not rich, but as my mother would often say, we were “one paycheck away from being poor.” My sisters and I never went to bed hungry, but I can remember on numerous nights we had to be creative with making dinner to feed our four family household. My mother often worked two and three jobs just to try and make ends meet. Women like my mother were expected to raise families entirely on their own financial resources, however inadequate. I was raised watching my mother break her back to provide for our family. Although, my home point of view was not one that ended in poverty, however, it became one of the greatest threats my family feared on a day to day …show more content…
It clearly outlines our obligation to care for the poor in general. Biblically, God says, in Deuteronomy 15:11, “11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.” The beauty of this Scripture teaches us through experience that caring for the poor is a moral assessment of whether our faith is biblical and unpretentious. Caring for the poor is an ethical responsibility for which we will all be held accountable - if we do not seek to help the poor as we have been commanded by God. Those we help is not a far-off issue. God sees our efforts for helping the poor as a means of sustaining our relationship with him. And for upholding a vision of morality, with special care to the poor and concern for the most vulnerable and needy. Nevertheless, we should not stop here, we ought to delve deep into Scripture for guidance and direction. The authority of Scripture helps measure our ethics and decision making. Stanley Hauerwas, points out in his article, “The Moral Authority of Scripture:” “Scripture should be used as an ideology for justifying the demands of the oppressed. The authority of Scripture derives its intelligibility from the existence of a community that knows its life depends on faithful remembering of God 's care of his creation through the calling of
Poverty as defined by Wikipedia “is general scarcity, dearth, or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money.” According to “Brevard County Income and Careers,” 12.51% of Brevard County’s population is living in poverty. Seminole County, a neighbor to Brevard has 10.78% of their population living in poverty. As you can see the percent of population in poverty in Brevard
Boyer.) I feel like that is what is wrong with America today the farther we get away from our original morals and values the more criminal acts we see on an everyday basis. I think it is a great idea for wealthier individuals to give to charities and to have mercy toward families that are poor, but I don’t feel like the government has the right to tell someone that they are obligated to give. With my personal religious values I feel you should give but you should not announce it with trumpets (Mathew 6:2) so I feel like if the government had a hand in your personal decisions you would be announcing it.
Chapter 1 Things were monotonous in my early life. On the 20th March 1890, I was born to Henry C. Gatz and his wife in rural North Dakota. This was the same place that I spent the first 16 poverty-stricken years of my life. I can’t remember the exact details of my family life, as I have long since forgotten my parents, but I will never be able to forget my lifestyle on that farm.
One of the biggest issues today in not only America, but the world is poverty. There are so many spectrums as to why poverty happens, and why someone ends up in that situation. There is no specific reason as to why it happens, nor is there a single solution to solving it. According to statistics from GlobalIssues.org, almost half of all 3 billion people on Earth, live on less than $2.50 a day (Shah). People find themselves in this situation for a number of different reasons.
Lastly, according to Reinhold Niebuhr, “No nation can ever be good enough to save another nation purely by the power of love. Justice is probably the highest ideal toward which human groups can aspire. ” From this perspective, we must reach further than loving our neighbor, we have a duty to use justice as the catalyst as our highest moral behavior to help promote and understand poverty. This stance stems from this passage of Scripture, Proverbs 29:7, “The righteous care about justice for the poor.” Based on this view we should stop seeking to engage in social justice but instead, follow the example of Jesus which addresses all of humanity’s needs by caring and being the voice for God 's poor and destitute.
Poverty is affecting billions of people around our world and the number is growing with each day. Many people think they can avoid the effects of poverty, but it is something that affects all of our daily lives. Many people see poverty as a person who lacks money, although this is true poverty is caused by many more things than being without money. Just the fact that one in two children live in poverty can help people see clearly the impact it has on our world. Poverty truly does influence the type of care and treatment a person will receive when they need it.
Poverty can be a vicious cycle for some families that goes from generation to generation. Another personal issue that can lead to poverty is illness and unemployment which puts someone out of work and there is little to no income coming in. Along with these personal issues that I stated there are also many
Poverty and the Working Poor “When the poor or newly poor are asked to define poverty, however, they talk not only about what’s in the wallet but what’s in the mind or the heart” (Shipler 10). The United States of America is a place which has an enormous population filled with foreigners and immigrants. Many enter America to get a better job, a fresh start, and to live the American Dream. In the 21st century, the gap between the rich and the poor has greatly widened even though America’s economy has skyrocketed as the years go by. Poverty has been a major issue due to various occasions but people who are in the middle and higher classes do not know the hardships these poor workers go through just so that they could have a chance to own valuables.
As Mattison noted, in every encounter, Jesus taught his followers by his actions to not reject the poor, the sick, or sinners, but, instead, enrich their lives (pp 283-284). For example, a latter day organization that helps the needy would be The American Red Cross. When disaster relief is needed in the area, one of the sponsors is the American Red Cross that helps with food donation and shelter for the homeless. As noted on the American Red Cross website, “ Volunteers carry out 90% of the humanitarian work of the Red Cross” (American Red
Poverty is one of the most horrific epidemics in our society today. Poverty is the state of being extremely poor. It is a very serious problem that many people suffer from today. Many issues such as illness, hunger, and bad sanitation are all causes of poverty. Statistics show that there are over 35 million Americans that live in poverty.
God doesn’t just hear the poor, he also rescues the poor. “He will take pity on the weak and needy and save the needy from death.” this verse shows just that. God hears and rescues the poor, but he also blesses the people who help the poor. In many verses, including Proverbs 14:21 it says “it is a sin to despise one’s neighbor, but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.”
Poverty Empowered Me to be Successful Poverty empowered me to want more in my life. The struggles of my childhood gave me the determination to succeed. When I was just three years old, my parents split up, leaving my mother to take care of my older sister and me on her own. To put a roof over our heads and food in our bellies, my mother had to work two jobs and have an abusive boyfriend because he said he would take care of us. My mother became addicted to drugs and after three years she made the change in her life to get off of drugs and be a better mother.
The bible passage of Deuteronomy 15:10 reminded me of the Christian virtue to serve unselfishly. To serve the poor means to obey God’s law. It is ironic that I will serve those people who disobey the law of men and/or probably disobey the commandments of God. The sincerity of the service I provided relies on my relationship with God. The forgiving nature of my existence shows my empathy for those who experienced unfortunate circumstances bringing hardships or sufferings.
Today there are many people living in poverty, in local places you see many people sleeping on the streets and trying to make a living where they stand. Poverty is a huge problem in today 's society and it 's not something only a few people have to deal with, one way or another the whole world has to deal with it. Poverty is defined as being in a state where you lack reliable basic needs such as food,water and technology. Where you do not make enough financially to support or help yourself and in some cases even your family. There are different stages in where someone would consider a person to be living in poverty, Some believe it to be when a family is living check to check, day by day and then there are some who would agree that people
To understand who I am, it is necessary to know my past. I was made by refugees. Refugees who fought hard to stay in the US, who paid their taxes and was still discriminated upon, who failed to finish school because I was created. Refugees who work day by day just to ensure we have food in our fridge, a roof over our heads, and a warm bed to come home to at night. Refugees who gave me hope to thrive and reach beyond what society thought about children who were born into poverty.