Most human efforts have failed to eradicate poverty because they do not address the root cause of the problem. Taking money from the rich and giving it to the poor will not solve the problem. This kind of system will foster dependency among the majority of the poor. Centrally planned economies have not solved the problem, and government regulations to disperse tax revenue like in the European Union have led to the EU economic disaster. In the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson launched a “War on Poverty” as part of his plan to build a great society, but yet millions of Americans live in poverty. Government, philanthropists, and organizations like the United Nation with its Millennium Development Goal, “to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger,” targeted the elimination of poverty by 2015, but we are now in 2017, and half of the six -billion world population is still living in poverty, and the number of people living in extreme poverty is unacceptably high. Poverty can be defined, as the inability to satisfy basic needs to live in human society. Poverty manifests itself by hunger, lack of shelter, inadequate housing, lack of sanitation, little or no access to clean water, illnesses, lack of access to education and adequate health care, unemployment, and illiteracy. Even the World Bank with its mission “Our Dream Is a World Free of Poverty” carved into its headquarters in Washington, DC, says that in spite of a reduction in poverty worldwide, those remaining in extreme poverty are harder to reach because they live in “fragile contexts and remote areas.”However, religion takes a different approach by focusing on basic attitudes that determine actions. The Bible shows that a careless, irresponsible attitude, which miscarries love by failing to advance forward-looking initiatives, can lead to poverty. Unwise decisions can lead to poverty, but most of poverty results from unjust treatment and oppression of the poor by the rich, by greedy and often heartless officials in government, business, and religion, as well as by others in leadership seeking power and wealth. God cares deeply about those made in His image, and that is why He require his followers to give back some percentage to the needy ones, and why He will bring retribution on those who oppress, exploit, or ignore the needs of the poor. One apostle says, “What use is it if you say to a brother who is without clothing and in need of daily food, “Go in peace, be warmed and be fed,” yet you do not give him what he needs, what good is that?” Continue reading →
It has been one year since Turkish citizens poured into the streets for national unity marches across the country. This occasion marks the first anniversary of the foiled coup by Fethullah Gulen’s cult religious group to topple the democratically elected government, which left 249 people dead and nearly 2,200 injured. On July 15th, 2016, the Turkish people remembered their brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, friends and colleagues lost year ago. Since 2010, Gulen and his followers had already declared war against the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and President Erdogan. The Turkish state has been fighting a running battle against the cult and trying to cleanse the elements nested inside the state apparatus a couple of years before the coup attempt. If the Turkish people had not been quick to intervene, thousands of civilians would have been killed and imprisoned, and Gulen and his cult followers would be in charge of Turkey. Imagine that one of the most trusted government institutions, the one relied on for safety and protection, turned on the country and bombed its citizens, its own parliament, its own capital, and its own police headquarters, and tried to assassin its own President. Continue reading 
