A few years ago, when still working on my bachelor's degree, I enrolled in a class called Religion in Society. I believed this class would give me insight to the interrelation between society and religion. I cannot say that I learned little from the class, but I will say that not all which was taught I agree with.
Religion in reference to socio-economics, according to this class, measured how devout a class was by income. Meaning, that lower-income classes tended to be more devout and dedicated to their religion. While at the same time, the upper-class spent less time devoted to spiritual growth. We were instructed that the poor embraced religion simply as crutch. They needed their faith for hope alone. Without hope, they had no or little value to their lives. Whereas the upper-class do not have the same void in their lives. Instead, their lives are filled with the natural wants as lower-classes, but instead of merely having wants, they also had the means to fill those wants.
An example used was that of slaves and slaveholders. The slaves, who had no rights to property, and who were considered property themselves, had no hope and no sense of importance. Therefore, they readily embraced Christianity to give their lives purpose. Whereas the slaveholders were content in their lives and had a sense of value and purpose to theirs.
To me, this makes little sense when incompassing the bigger picture. Jesus said in Matthew 19:23, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." I believe the word of Jesus over an atheist professor. What my dear old instructor failed to see is that he is only partly correct. Yes, it may be true that the rich are less devout and the poor more so, but not for the reasons he believed.
Wealth is simply an obstacle. When a person has wealth, he is more apt to fill prideful urges and push aside righteous intentions for selfish ones. Wealth becomes blinders. Money and means replaces faith and logic. It will make a person greedy and blind to the plights of others. If God blesses a person with wealth, that person should be obligated to use the influence in a manner which it should. God will always show us the way. It is up to us to listen and obey.
A person of fewer means, on the other hand, is not blinded by wealth. Therefore, they have may not have the same moral delimmas as the wealthy. However, both the haves and the have-nots do have one great obstacle to overcome...ambition. Prideful ambition is an obstacle we all face. It is another way in which wealth influences us. Whether we are wealthy or not, we all have ambitions which drive us. We must attempt to analyze our ambitions and ask ourselves who will benefit most from them. As always, prayer is the answer. Pray, listen, and act.
-Brian
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5 comments:
I believe you,re right except instead of ambition it's contentment or rather the lack of
contentment
People should be happy where they are, where God has put them in life. Science and knowledge is nothing but an evil plan, an evil trap of the devil to lure us away from following Jesus. Poor people are more moral than rich people, that's why they love God, they know God will reward them someday.
This brings several ideas to mind. First, does simply being happy make you a good Christian? Should we not strive for more. God opens doors of opportunity to us all. Should we turn our backs to the possibilites? If we do become prosperous, we should use what God has given us to use for his glory.
I can't agree completely with your assumption that science and knowledge is evil. Without science, it is true, we would not have weapons that kill, we would not have nuclear bombs and biological weapons. On the optimistic side, we use science and knowledge to save lives, feed the hungry, and yes, praise the Lord.
God has given us gifts, if is up to our own choice how we use them.
Although I am by no means wealthy, I have met some who are. Of course the wealthy are like the poor...some good, some bad. We shouldn't put a label on people because they are better off financially than we are. Dr. Adrian Rogers was wealthy, was he also evil?
-Brian
you got it right, Brian. I want to take it a step further. Many see religion as a crutch for the weak (Jesse Ventura, for example). This arrogance is a big stumbling block.
There are stumbling blocks for the down and outs as well. In their "search for significance" they may fall into cults or a type of christianity that is far from biblical.
We need to present the true gospel to everyone, and let God work through us.
My Honest Opinion:
Religion is most like a computer virus for brains. It comes complete with instructions for development and propagation of the virus, and code that prevents the person from deleting it or noticing that it doesn't conform to reality. It is orchestrated, organized, and officially sanctioned psychosis, made easily digestible and palatable to the masses.
Learn to think before you learn to believe, or you’ll soon believe that you don’t have to think.
Peace.
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