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1 posted on 11/23/2015 2:27:02 PM PST by NYer
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To: Tax-chick; GregB; SumProVita; narses; bboop; SevenofNine; Ronaldus Magnus; tiki; Salvation; ...
Such concern has obviously been with the Christian community from the beginning. But, at first sight, at least, something is found in Cardinal Sarah's remarks that I had never heard of before. He seemed to maintain that efforts to eliminate poverty were contrary to the Gospel. "I remember being disgusted," Sarah remarked, "when I heard the advertising slogan of a Catholic charitable organization which was almost insulting to the poor: ‘Let us fight for zero-poverty’."

Ping!

2 posted on 11/23/2015 2:28:39 PM PST by NYer (Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy them. Mt 6:19)
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To: NYer

The spirit of anti-Christ has been in the world since Adam, “the” man.


3 posted on 11/23/2015 2:30:49 PM PST by Original Lurker
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To: NYer

Yes... the poor will “always be with us.”


4 posted on 11/23/2015 2:32:20 PM PST by kjam22
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To: NYer

The problem is “poor” is being defined upwards. Practically everyone in the USA is above world median income; our “poverty line” is 85th percentile. We can’t have a meaningful discussion about what constitutes “poor” until we have an objective definition and accept that in some areas there are no poor.

I’m all for helping the poor (and do), but if you’ve got full availability of 1500 calories a day + nutrients, 65°F shelter, >100 sq ft personal space, running hot drinking water, flush toilet, a few other incidentals, and a nearby free library & school, it’s gonna be hard to include you in “the poor among us”.


5 posted on 11/23/2015 2:43:09 PM PST by ctdonath2 (History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the week or the timid. - Ike)
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To: NYer

My mother pointed out that poor was a state of mind. I had asked her if we were poor. She said, “We have very little money, but we’re not poor. I buy hamburger and potatoes. The poor would buy beer and cigarettes. Poor people will always be poor. If you give them money they will fritter it away, not save it or spend it on things that will improve their lot.”


6 posted on 11/23/2015 2:43:29 PM PST by Gen.Blather
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To: NYer

Yes.


7 posted on 11/23/2015 2:43:59 PM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: NYer

Anymore, “poor” means the bottom fifth of society.
It sure doesn’t mean lower living standards than
most of the rest of the world. And inasmuch as
there will always be a bottom fifth, the poor will
always be with us. Brother Dave Gardner put it this way...

“Don’t take poverty away from poor folks.
Good lord man, it’s all they have!”


8 posted on 11/23/2015 2:53:07 PM PST by sparklite2 (Islam = all bathwater, no baby.)
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To: NYer

There needs to be pro-poverty advocacy. Here’s the logic:

1) Not everyone has the same priorities in life. There are many people who are “content with their lot”, but more so, who are willing to work for what *they* want, *not* what other people think they should want.

2) Many people shun doing what it takes to not be poor. They neither want an education, nor do they want a job, in the traditional sense of the word. Often they also shun all the trappings of wealth, such as being a “public person” with an ID card, a Social Security card, credit cards, a license to drive, a fixed address, etc., etc., etc. They see such things as chains, not advantages.

3) Many of the homeless are deeply distrustful of government of any kind. Likewise they disdain larger NGOs, much preferring local ad-hoc charity done by a church with no demands or expectations put with it. The two exceptions are the Salvation Army and free prepared food given by some of the off-brand religions.

So all told, if a place provides opportunity to rise out of poverty, this is good enough. Fretting that they chose what you would not have chosen just means you are a busybody.


9 posted on 11/23/2015 3:11:53 PM PST by yefragetuwrabrumuy ("Don't compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative." -Obama, 09-24-11)
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To: NYer

As long as some communities crank out 7,700 feral children for every 10,000, then, yes, some communities will always be poor.


13 posted on 11/23/2015 3:36:19 PM PST by headless_thompson_gunner
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To: NYer

Of course they will. People want to be rich. You cannot be rich if you have no poor people.


15 posted on 11/23/2015 3:42:39 PM PST by Fhios (Anti-depressents aren't a good replacement for a good economy and national pride.)
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To: NYer

Libtards like poverty. They can get elected by making promises to get big government to help the poor.So the more poor, the more they get elected. Of course, because of their hatred and distrust of capitalism,their policies create even more poverty, so their vicious circle never ends and there will always be poverty.


18 posted on 11/23/2015 4:35:44 PM PST by mjp ((pro-{God, reality, reason, egoism, individualism, natural rights, limited government, capitalism}))
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To: NYer
Will the Poor Really Always Be With Us?

Yes. Just as a staircase will always have a top and bottom step.

Poor just means relatively less well off than others. There will always be a bottom group who is not as financially well off as others.

19 posted on 11/23/2015 4:36:34 PM PST by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: NYer

Most of today’s “poor people” have poor habits


20 posted on 11/23/2015 6:13:34 PM PST by goodnesswins (hey..Wussie Americans....ISIS is coming. Are you ready?)
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To: NYer

Most of today’s “poor people” have poor habits


21 posted on 11/23/2015 6:13:36 PM PST by goodnesswins (hey..Wussie Americans....ISIS is coming. Are you ready?)
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To: NYer

Most of today’s “poor people” have poor habits


22 posted on 11/23/2015 6:13:39 PM PST by goodnesswins (hey..Wussie Americans....ISIS is coming. Are you ready?)
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To: NYer

Georgetown sure misses leaders like Father Schall.


23 posted on 11/23/2015 6:47:23 PM PST by Defiant (I wouldn't have to mansplain if it weren't for all those wymidiots.)
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To: NYer

Yes...but only here, not in heaven.


24 posted on 11/23/2015 6:48:31 PM PST by halo66
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To: NYer

Bums International, LLC


26 posted on 11/24/2015 6:09:36 AM PST by onedoug
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To: NYer

Yes. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make it a goal to eliminate poverty. That just means we should keep in mind that we’ll never meet that goal completely this side of the Second Coming, though we can make great progress in alleviating it. As that great Catholic social theologian Vince Lombardi once said:

“Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence. I am not remotely interested in just being good.”


27 posted on 11/24/2015 10:20:45 AM PST by RichInOC ("Catholic doctrine and discipline may be walls; but they are the walls of a playground."--GKC)
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