Gandhi On Poverty

Circumscribed amongst the seemingly endless list of ecological problems our world is currently staring face to face with, there is one that, depending on what region of Earth is analyzed, could be considered one the world's most overlooked dilemmas. Poverty is making its way across the globe like a disease, affecting not just those without employment, but everyone. Anyone who pays taxes helps to fund America's welfare program. Anybody who lives in or frequently travels through inner-city areas knows the best routes to take on which to easily avoid beggars. What is the right way to deal with those in dire need of financial relief? The Holy Bible is very clear in it's guidance towards such a subject: It is the duty of all followers, rich and poor, to do anything they can to help anyone in need.

Christians, being dominant in America, obviously struggle when faced with a chance to help someone in need. Why is it so obvious? Well, take a look at how many homeless, hungry people there are out there. In a land full of people who supposedly agree with the book that says "He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done," it is tough to understand why poverty is in abundance and on the rise (New International Version, Proverbs 19:17). Ronald Sider is quick to summarize this verse: "Helping a poor person is like helping the Creator of all things with a loan" (Sider, 68). It is a Christian's duty to serve those who need it, for in doing so, he is serving the Lord. "Since God cares so much for the poor, it is hardly surprising that he wants his people to do the same. God's command to believers to have a special regard for the poor, weak, and disadvantaged is" one of the main themes of the Bible, according to Sider (78).

Gandhi, who was not a Christian, explored the idea of poverty in a more socially ethical way: "According to me the economic constitution of India and for that matther of the world, should be such that no one under it should suffer from want of food and clothing" (Gandhi, 118).

Sider asks an interesting question: "Is God biased in favor of the poor?...Is God on the side of the poor in a way that he is not on the side of the rich?" (Sider, 59). The answer is no. Where there is an innumerable amount of verses which teach to give to the needy, there are also many verses targeting the poor:

I know your afflictions and your poverty -- yet you are rich!...Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:8-10).

God commands His followers to help the poor, yet, at the same time, encourages the poor to "work with [their] hands," from which they will benefit greatly (1 Thes. 4:11-12). Gandhi also offers answers to Sider's question, suggesting that "everybody should be able to get sufficient work to enable him to make the two ends meet" (Gandhi, 118). There is no reason for anyone not to succeed, because if the faith commanded by God is present, there are no unreachable goals.

The reason God seems "biased in favor of the poor" is probably a result of the rich losing touch with their roots (Sider, 59). "God very frequently chooses to work through the poor and oppressed" because they are so grounded (60). They know what they have and need, and the examples used in the Bible suggest that the poor