Is a shift in focus to the poor by the Roman Catholic Church a bad thing?

[richardhutnik]

Kasz216 said:

Also, by spiritual negative, I mean because the biggest problem humans tend to have with problems is to see them as someone elses responsibility or fault. This allows them to close themselves off to realization and self development.

For example, racism is hitting a stumbling block because most people still see racism in the terms of the big bag southern guy who's willing to shoot a black guy saying hello to his daughter. Or just outright racists refusing things purely on the basis of someones skin.

Such a focus, and worry about "bad racists" tends to cause us to ignore well meaning people who are racist... and well, pretty much everybody, since pretty much everybody is to some degree racist because we are programmed that way by society.

By worrying about others who are "pure old school racists" we overlook our own faults. For example, we never even think twice about how we react to acquaintances even though it's been shown most people subconsciously react negatively to a black face. Totally unaware that we may unknowingly be treating people of different races wrong. (or sexes or what have you.)


In the same vein, a focus on wealth redistribution, vs personal charity, sacrifice and removal from the physical focuses soley on those with the most. So people focus on them, and government to fix things, and things end up getting worse, and support actually shrinks a lot of the time.

It's likely why you more often then not find a weird inverse when it comes to charitable giving and support for more wealth distribution. Those who are looking at others to do more, rarely ask what more they could do.

Religion is meant to look inwards on ones self and reflect on ones own deficits. Whenever the focus changes from oneself... that's when trouble occurs.

The world's nations and other organizations would do better fo focus less on forcing certain people to be better people, and focus more on teaching them to be better people by forcing them to look within themselves and where they lack.   It's like with communism.  It works in theory, but only in theory because the people aren't good enough for it... and if they were... ANY system would work, because people would act the same without any rules telling them what to do.

Part of what I wrote would connected some notable Catholics out there who speak of people being where they are in life, due to themselves, and life is what one makes it alone.  In short, there are no victims, so everyone is where they are, due to their own fault.  In no way do legitimately competent people not make it, if they are legitimately competent and free markets NEVER fail, or in this blessed by God America, with its exceptionalism, means NO ONE is behind where there are.  Oh sure, one is supposed to do some charity, and natural disasters do happen.  But systemically and economically?  No way does that happen, unless the goverment gets involved.  

One of these Catholics is Paul Ryan when he, when it was convenient politically, trumpeted how great Ayn Rand was ON ECONOMIC ISSUES.   

You also have Bill O'Reilly who says that people are poor because it is their own fault (almost ALWAYS comes back to personal responsibility):

http://mediamatters.org/video/2012/02/02/bill-oreilly-names-true-causes-of-poverty-poor/184685

And have Sean Hannity, in the mix says he can't believe one one who is talented enough couldn't make it.  In short,

 

There was another incident where a talking head speaks about how it is unscriptural (A Catholic) that you would take a poor person into your home.