Pontiff slams "wealthy few who feast on what belongs to us all."

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No, it is not. We should definitely make sure no poor person in the world has a smartphone until all of them have sanitation.

Of course, that would preclude anything like this happening. Mr. Kamkwamba was fortunate to have access to a library; now any smartphone user has access to more knowledge than is contained in major city libraries.
 
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But they still need access to clean water and hygiene.

And I didn’t say the poor shouldn’t have phones. Having a phone doesn’t make you not poor.
 
Yes, dictators keep food from their own people, or withhold it. That is 100% accurate. I did not say all the problems are caused by the wealthy alone. But the simple fact that people think the spread of unneeded items and contraception is doing all we can to remedy the problem is crazy.

The poor will always be with us. I do not advocate ridding the world of capitalism. It is not true though that we would all be just at sustainment level of that happened. There will always be those that have more than others. Nothing wrong with that. What is wrong is the top 10% controlling access to necessities, wasting those resources, and asking the poor to be thankful they have cell phones, stop having so many babies, and realize fewer are dying now than before. Educating them to have fewer are babies as well by pushing contraception and abortion. That’s something for all of us to be proud of.

I am not a fan of Pope Francis, but it is disgusting to shame those trapped in poverty. What do you think Jesus would say about this situation? Do you think he would be proud that so many are now online and that even though we can’t distribute food or water we can make sure they have access to the pill and condoms?
 
The problem that I had with what Pope Francis said was that it was wrong, it was mean, and it was not the sort of thing one says in order to get people to reflect on and improve their behavior.

If I were Pope and wanted to get people to help the world’s poor, I would say, look how far we’ve come! Where once XX% of the population was in danger of _______, now only X/2 or X/4 faces that danger. Isn’t that great, and look at how successful this work has been. With just a small amount of work more, we can reduce that to 0%!!! C’mon, let’s finish this job!!!

A far cry from, you guys are selfish fat-eaters because not everything is perfect yet.

Even the UN is not complaining because things remain imperfect.
 
13pollitos said:
It is not true though that we would all be just at sustainment level of that happened.
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There would be very little difference. There was very little difference just 2 or 3 centuries ago.
13pollitos said:
But the simple fact that people think the spread of unneeded items and contraception is doing all we can to remedy the problem is crazy.
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First of all, I am as against the spread of contraception as the next faithful Catholic, esp. when I hear (although I have been unable to verify) that PP and their ilk have been doing so in places which are in much more need of clean water, vaccinations, and mosquito netting.
13pollitos said:
What is wrong is the top 10% controlling access to necessities, wasting those resources, and asking the poor to be thankful they have cell phones, stop having so many babies, and realize fewer are dying now than before.
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Nor do I think it is right for certain people to restrict access to necessities–which I am not sure is actually happening. I just haven’t heard about people saying that water improvement projects should be ended or anything.

I do think we should stop wasting stuff. Unfortunately, the creation of that stuff creates wealth which part of is later used to fund programs to provide vaccinations to poor children in remote areas, so this part is a little confusing for me.

And so on throughout your very eloquent post.

All I am saying is that fewer people are in dire straits than even when I was a child.

And the reason more people are less bad off is that rich people invented and developed stuff, like vaccinations and easily-transported pipes, and that stuff was spread around the world.

And the people who became rich off that stuff then spent some of their money helping spread good things around the world, like water systems.
 
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I don’t think it makes sense to compare the UN to the Catholic Church in any context. Their priority is pushing contraception and abortion. The Catholic priority is dignity for all people, including the unborn.
 
Even the UN, not an organization known for doing good (altho supported by the Pope), does not “slam” people for not having yet finished the job. That is my point.
 
13pollitos said:
disgusting to shame those trapped in poverty.
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Who has shamed those trapped in poverty? Not I. All along, my point has been that Pope Francis was wrong, mean, and counter-productive in “slamming” yet another group of people.
 
Annie said:
There would be very little difference. There was very little difference just 2 or 3 centuries ago.
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More like there was no true middle class. There has always, even on Biblical Times, been a huge difference in the lives of poor and the rich. The poor have always been among us, and Jesus assured us they always will. We can’t irradicate poverty, but we can stop the oppression and ease the suffering. We can quit shaming them out of having families. We can stop having families of 3 in New York use tons more water a day than large families and their livestock in other countries, and them complaining we are going to run out of water if they don’t reduce birthrates.

You are right. It is individuals making changes. It is also governments being willing to defend the poor and suffering against their own leaders. The world has plenty of safe food and water. It is time that rich nations make sure it gets to those that need it. If we can ensure (some) vaccines and contraception, we can ensure food and water. We can get mosquito nets and malaria drugs.

We need to stop making excuses. It’s not good enough so we should admit that. Our priorities are messed up
 
Because the UN doesn’t truly have the best interests of others in mind. They really don’t care about anything unless it happens to suit their political agenda at the moment.

They have been known to slam others though.
 
I think that we are in agreement about the poor and that they should be helped and not kept down by either lack of necessities or being forced into immoral practices.
 
Can I just bang my head against the wall a few times? I feel like you are bound and determined to pick apart every single thing I say!
 
Genesis315 said:
Have you seen the Pope Francis Book of Insults? (each is linked to the source) I think they stopped updating it it got so big…

http://popefrancisbookofinsults.blogspot.com/
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Yes, looks like it was last updated over a year ago. This should embarrass him but I doubt that it does. I would like to see the same treatment of Jesus’ words for comparison. That might surprise us all! He too could be tough on us sinners.
 
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I will not argue the words of the Holy Father. I will say that one should be very careful when discussing distribution of wealth and the worlds poor. We need to make certain that we do so from a position based in Church teaching and not from societal empathy. We must make sure we do not fall victim to a Marxist Social Justice mindset that will lead us into a secular trap.
 
We probably are. I’m transporting kids around and may be coming across differently than I actually mean. I have a habit of doing that. When I get a little more time I will check back and attempt to clarify. I do struggle with written language and at times like this wish we could just talk to each other instead. Sorry if I’ve been rude. It is unintentional.

Edit: Not typing or reading while I drive. It’s when stopped waiting in parking lots.
 
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