The religious tradition that I shall look at is Christianity and within this tradition I will be particularly exploring the Christian principles that create the foundation of two Christian Aid Agencies that I have chosen. The aid agencies that I have chosen are World Vision and Caritas. Both of these agencies offer foreign aid, and based on the principles and work ethics off Christians.
There are two types of aid, and they are short term and long term. Long-term foreign aid involves providing local communities with education and skills for sustainability development. While short term aid is aid needed after sudden disasters such as the 2000 Mozambique floods or the 2004 Asian tsunami. Foreign aid can be considered as an ethical issue as some
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World Vision is an international NGO that works to improve the lives of children and families in the developing world through sustainable, community-based initiatives. World Vision work alongside community members, encouraging local ownership of development projects to ensure they continue long after World Vision leaves.
Their mission statement is “World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. As followers of Jesus, we are motivated by God's love to serve all people regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender." World Vision aims to combat poverty in 3 main ways:
- Transformational development
- Disaster management and response
- Advocacy
The other Christian aid agency that I have chosen to look at is Caritas. Caritas is a confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development and social service organizations working to build a better world, especially for the poor and oppressed, in over 200 countries and territories. Its mission is the same as the one of the Catholic Church to serve the poor and to promote charity and justice throughout the world. It has many different areas in which they provide aid and help out in. They include:
- Conflict and Disasters
- Food
- Health
- Migration
-
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Every person in the crowd ate and was full, and when they were all full there was 12 basketfuls of leftover food. This was one of the miracles that Jesus preformed as he fed a crowd of 5 thousand men, besides woman and children will only 5 loaves of bread and two fish.
The incident of Barnabas and the Early Church (Acts 4:32-37)
In this text we lean about believers of God and Jesus were one in heart and mind. None of them claimed any material positions to be his or her own and shared all that they had. In this group of people none were needy and were
Winthrop, J. (2008). A Model for Christian Charity. In N. Baym (Ed.), The Norton Anthology of American Literature Volume 1 (pp. 82). New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
The work that Caritas Australia does, mainly addresses the issue of poverty. They believe that poverty is a direct link to a lack of education in young children, as almost half the world lives on $2 a day. Caritas Australia set out to help fix this problem, by vowing to improve education for young children in third-world countries such as Samoa, Peru and Cambodia. One of their programs (Rural Development Program) aimed to increase teacher training in schools and emphasise the importance of ecological sustainability in schools. The result was that attendance went up (with 98% of children involved now attending school) and a drastic change in student results, from the 30th percentile to the 90th. Their work follows the teachings of the New Testament, including this passage: Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. (Romans 12:13). This quote relates to the work of caritas Australia as it explicitly states what they do. They believe that it is up to them to help eradicate the problem of poverty. They gather up donations from all around the world and use them to help those around the world, with the ultimate goal of breaking the poverty cycle and ensuring that every single citizen...
In 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Company set sail to the New World in hope of reforming the Church of England. While crossing the Atlantic, John Winthrop, the puritan leader of the great migration, delivered perhaps the most famous sermon aboard the Arbella, entitled “A Model of Christian Charity.” Winthrop’s sermon gave hope to puritan immigrants to reform the Church of England and set an example for future immigrants. The Puritan’s was a goal to get rid of the offensive features that Catholicism left behind when the Protestant Reformation took place. Under Puritanism, there was a constant strain to devote your life to God and your neighbors. Unlike the old England, they wanted to prove that New England was a community of love and individual worship to God. Therefore, they created a covenant with God and would live their lives according to the covenant. Because of the covenant, Puritans tried to abide by God’s law and got rid of anything that opposed their way of life. Between 1630 and the 18th century, the Puritans tried to create a new society in New England by creating a covenant with God and living your life according to God’s rule, but in the end failed to reform the Church of England. By the mid 1630’s, threats to the Puritans such as Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, and Thomas Hooker were being banned from the Puritan community for their divergent beliefs. 20 years later, another problem arose with the children of church members and if they were to be granted full membership to the church. Because of these children, a Halfway Covenant was developed to make them “halfway” church members. And even more of a threat to the Puritan society was their notion that they were failing God, because of the belief that witches existed in 1692.
The Catholic Church habitually donates billions of pounds to overseas charities – The Economist stated in 2010 that the American Catholic Church alone donated $4.7 billion to charities, not to mention the amount given to local charities through the Sunday collections in churches all over the world. 26% of all world HIV/AIDS help organizations are run in some way by the Catholic Church, and especially in Africa where Catholic missionaries and charities have successfully managed to greatly alleviate the rate of HIV/AIDS. It’s not only about the physical relief of the poor – it’s about the message that the Church preaches: a message of hope and
The primary mission of a social worker is to enhance human rights to those who are vulnerable, oppressed, or living in poverty. Caritas Processes was created to make the connection between caring, love, and human living processes (Watson, 2007). Caritas Processes has 10 factors that are identified to help make the connections. Social workers should be using Caritas Processes to successfully achieve their mission. This article will discuss Caritas Process and its relationship to social work. Caritas Process, human rights, and social workers work as a team to help vulnerable clients, without each other there would be no solution when people struggle in life.
If one is a Christian looking to establish a business in a third world country, instead of just falling into the secular worldview of thinking that it is okay to dump waste into their water because there is no law against it; one might look at from a Christian worldview.
The impoverished, particularly those widowed or orphaned, and the ailing or injured, are generally regarded as the proper recipients of charity. However, according to Christian belief, we have to exercise wisdom and discernment. God doesn’t call us to blindly give to every need, but to seek his will on the matter. This paper sheds light on the multifaceted nature of sadaqavoluntary charity.
The United States is one of the leading suppliers of Foreign Aid in the world, and even though the US gives billions, European countries give aid money to the same countries, this causes many areas of the Middle East, Africa, and Asia to be almost fully dependent on foreign aid. This means that without aid from other countries, they would not be able to support themselves at all. Foreign aid is meant to help countries that are struggling with civil unrest, disease, or natural disasters, it is not meant to help keep the country out of debt, but that is where more and more of the US and The EU’s foreign aid budget is going. The question is, does all this money actually go where it is intended? It should be going towards the government and to help the people, but in many cases, the countries government does not have the resources to properly track the flow of money. The countries in most cases have poor infrastructure and corrupt or oppressive leaders, not always at a national level, but in the towns and cities. So this means there is almost no way to oversee the flow of foreign aid through the country, all we can see is that their situations aren't getting any better and the countries are still impoverished. If this is the case, where are the millions of dollars going? Countries like Afghanistan and Iraq receive the most money from American foreign aid and European aid, yet they are still under oppressive governmental rule and there is still an extreme difference between the rich and poor. Garrett Harding’s theory of “Lifeboat Ethics” exemplifies how not giving aid to others will allow the strongest of society to thrive, while teaching the impoverished to help themselves. He believes that giving aid to poor countries will only make ...
Christian Science is an idealistic and most radical form of transcendental religiosity. The study of Christian Science teaches a feeling of understanding of God's goodness and the differences between good and evil, life and death. The purpose of this paper is to address how the study of Christian Science helps us better understand the impact of globalization in America, as well as the impact of American on globalization. This paper is important because globalization features a dominant worldview. All throughout the world people believe, study and teach different types of religious movements that impact others. People need to better understand how certain religions modify, conflict with, and impact the world. First, it will discuss the life and work of the founder, Mary Baker Eddy. Secondly, it will examine the primary rituals and religious services of the Christian Science movement. Then, it will outline the precursors and history of the religion. In the conclusion, a response will be offered to the question of how Christian Science helps us better understand the impact of globalization on America and of America on globalization.
Wuthnow, R. (2009). Boundless Faith: The Global Outreach of American Churches. California: University of California Press.
However, such a definition is open to much controversy. Who can authorise such interventions? What is classified as human suffering, and furthermore, what type of action is considered a legitimate response? (5- pg155) These are the questions that underpin the issue of humanitarian intervention, questions that remained unanswered today.
The churches in the world play a huge role in the determination to access of food, clean water, and shelter. No matter what religious affiliation, people will donate money to churches to help this growing problem that has arisen. This is important because churches are a good way to give those in need the supplies they need. The churches give the money raised by the offerings that people donate. This is effective because there are so many churches around the world. If most people donate a little bit of money, a substantial amount of people will be helped. The Christ House is a p...
There are countless social justice issues that Christian ethicists have the opportunity to address. The aim of Christian ethics is to determine one’s moral responsibility based off of a biblical framework. When discussing many social justice issues, it is easy to decipher precisely what scripture has to say, and what humanity’s moral stance should be. Yet, in many ways, humanity will still struggle to accept that moral and ethical responsibility, even when that moral stance is clearly mapped out in scripture. One such issue is poverty. This paper will look closely at the biblical teachings on poverty, the key ethical standpoints of sacredness of life, love, and justice, as well as the moral responsibilities Christians face. It seems,
One of the most basic teachings in the Catholic Church is to ?Love one another as I have loved you.? This can be implied towards people living in poverty as we can follow the steps that Jesus had undertaken to love other people even if they are your enemies. By showing love and compassion we can create a world that is aware of poverty issues and help the declination of poverty. Countless organisations are heavily involved in carrying missions to help ultimately eradicate poverty. These charities and organisations include CARITAS, World Vision, Oxfam, St Vincent de Paul and many other non profitable organisations which help carry out work to help those who are in need.
There are legitimate concerns for the environment, for the fair and proper assistance developed nations must extend to developing nations, and for equitable educational opportunities for women. The Holy See Mission at the UN consistently promotes these authentic goals minus the snags of population control measures. It is the Catholic task to promote the human good without eliminating the humans.