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The world-wide dissemination of the same teachings that led to the French Revolution

At the same time anarchy is seeking to sweep away all law, not only divine, but human. The centralizing of wealth and power; the vast combinations for the enriching of the few at the expense of the many; the combinations of the poorer classes for the defense of their interests and claims; the spirit of unrest, of riot and bloodshed; the world-wide dissemination of the same teachings that led to the French Revolution—all are tending to involve the whole world in a struggle similar to that which convulsed France.

Education, p. 228. (EGW)

https://text.egwwritings.org/read/29.1191?query=Unrest&highlight=1#29.1191

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With $30b in wealth, why is the Catholic Church struggling to pay for justice?

February 12 2018 - 11:04AM


Ben Schneiders, Royce Millar, Chris Vedelago

Catholic church Photo: Mark Stehle



After a lifetime contributing to the Catholic Church, Neil Ormerod could give no more.


Following a Sunday mass in 2014, the Australian Catholic University theology professor told his parish priest he no longer trusted the church to use its resources in a way Jesus Christ would approve.

The trigger for his rebellion was the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in 2014 - in particular, Cardinal George Pell’s testimony about the church’s brutal legal assault on John Ellis, a former altar boy abused by a priest in the 1970s.

When Ellis finally confronted the Sydney archdiocese in 2002, then led by Pell, it offered him $25,000 in compensation, which he rejected.

The church then dismissed Ellis’s proposal for a $100,000 settlement, instead spending $800,000 fighting him in court, successfully arguing it could not be sued because it did not exist as an entity.

The church threatened to pursue Ellis for its legal costs.

"That money was the accumulated wealth of generations of good faithful Catholics who gave with the best will in the world," says Ormerod. "It was used in an immoral attack on an abuse survivor and church member."

Ormerod’s faith in God remained strong, but his belief in the institutional church was severely shaken. The church leadership had forfeited its right to his support.



Neil Ormerod no longer trusts the church to spend its wealth morally. Photo: Wolter Peeters


What about the wider community’s assessment of the church and its finances?

While the Catholic Church may not exist legally, it has nonetheless accumulated staggering wealth through a huge property portfolio, insurance and investment arms, and its own internal banks.

And while it’s facing a crisis of trust, governments continue to exempt it from almost all rates and taxes, and tip billions of dollars annually into its vast network of schools, hospitals, health, employment and welfare agencies.

In return, the church allows minimal insight into its finances, and has fought government attempts to prise open its accounts.

What exactly is the Catholic Church in Australia? And what should we now make of the privileges afforded to one of the richest and most powerful, but most secretive and troubled, institutions in the country?

Duty to the Poor

55. Duty to the Poor

The managers of the sanitarium should not be governed by the principles which control other institutions of this kind, in which the leaders acting from policy, too often pay deference to the wealthy, while the poor are neglected. The latter are frequently in great need of sympathy and counsel, which they do not always receive, although for moral worth they may stand far higher in the estimation of God than the more wealthy. The apostle James has given definite counsel with regard to the manner in which we should treat the rich and the poor:

"For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?"

Although Christ was rich in the heavenly courts, yet He became poor that we through His poverty might be made rich. Jesus honored the poor by sharing their humble condition. From the history of His life we are to learn how to treat the poor. Some carry the duty of beneficence to extremes and really hurt the needy by doing too much for them. The poor do not always exert themselves as they should. While they are not to be neglected and left to suffer, they must be taught to help themselves.

The cause of God should not be overlooked that the poor may receive our first attention. Christ once gave His disciples a very important lesson on this point. When Mary poured the ointment on the head of Jesus, covetous Judas made a plea in behalf of the poor, murmuring at what he considered a waste of money. But Jesus vindicated the act, saying: "Why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on Me." "Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her." By this we are taught that Christ is to be honored in the consecration of the best of our substance. Should our whole attention be directed to relieving the wants of the poor, God's cause would be neglected. Neither will suffer if His stewards do their duty, but the cause of Christ should come first.

God’s not dead — but wealth, education and evolution have inflicted fatal wounds, psychologists say

SARAH K. BURRIS


09 MAY 2016 AT 20:12 ET





The United States is becoming a more secular nation, but the developed world is also taking a turn against religion. As people become more wealthy and have greater access to basic necessities they are less likely to be religious, according to the Daily Mail.

“As more and more people become affluent and adopt a slow strategy, the need to morally condemn fast strategies decreases, and with it the benefit of holding religious beliefs that justify doing so,” Evolutionary psychologist Dr. Nicolas Baumard wrote in his article for New Scientist. He explained that history shows that those living an upper-class lifestyle 2,500 years ago were slower paced where lower castes lived fast, worked hard and died younger.

“If this is true, and our environment continues to improve, then like the Greco-Roman religions before them, Christianity and other moralising religions could eventually vanish,” Baumard concluded.

A 2014 National Bureau of Economic Research paper, by Naci Mocan and Luiza Pogorelova, charted the decline of people in Europe who claimed to be very religious and those who regularly attended religious services. They found that one additional year of education was associated with a 10 percent drop in the tendency to frequent religious services once a week or more.

Secular beliefs are on a steep trajectory and will soon take over France’s majority population. The Netherlands and New Zealand are similarly projected to be majority secular nations soon, according to the Pew Research Center. Gallup also did a survey of 50,000 people in 57 countries that showed individuals claiming to be religious fell from 77 percent to 68 percent between 2005 and 2011. At the same time, those who identified as atheist grew by 3 percent.

Anthropologists suggest that religion emerged as a way of helping tribes and groups live together without killing each other. The idea of an omnipotent being seeing their crimes may have helped stopped early civilization from committing them. As a result, much of the decision making could be lifted from the shoulders of the average person because religion provided the guidance for what was right and what was wrong. Today, we may have evolved past that.

Harvard University Psychology professor Steven Pinker thinks the reduction in crime has come not from the differences that divide us into groups, such as religion, but by thinking of ourselves within a global society. The world has seen a dramatic drop in violence for long stretches of time, according to Pinker’s book “The Better Angels of Our Nature.” He even concluded that we are likely living in the most peaceful era for our species when interviewed by the Science Channel show “Through the Wormhole.”

“Three hundred years ago I might be burned at the stake for beliefs that I hold today,” Pinker says. “And a hundred years before that, I might have had my head cut off with a hatchet in the Indian wars.”

Pinker attributes most of this to the increasing role of government and the rule of law, but he also thinks that part of it has to do with intelligence. “You might wonder, are people getting nicer because they’re getting smarter and, believe it or not, the answer may be yes.”

Dr. Baumard and his colleagues attribute this shift to something very simple, a larger caloric intake. While you might not be what you eat, what you consume has a huge impact on the function and development of your brain. When people had access to more than 2,000 calories a day without the need to burn the calories chasing the next meal, people’s behavior evolved. When their behavior evolved, so did their psychological outlook. Since your brain needs food to fuel its work, the increase in food availability could have impacted the increase in intelligence and sparked an evolution in brain development that made us hardwired for empathy and morality.

“You are clearly at a disadvantage if you follow a slow strategy when others follow a faster strategy – if you are faithful when others grab sexual opportunities, if you forgive when others avenge, if you work when others have fun,” Dr. Baumard said. “This disadvantage incentivised the elite to morally condemn fast behaviours, in part by adopting and promoting the new religions that legitimised and reinforced a slow morality and promised punishment for trangressors.

“The same idea could also explain the gradual decline of moralising religion in wealthier parts of the world such as Western Europe and the northern parts of North America,” he concluded.

The millennial generation, in particular, seems to be opting for a more spiritual approach than following institutional religions, according to Pew. The largest generation in history boasts 80 million plus people in the United States. While some might turn to spirituality during times of crisis, the culture wars organized religion waged during the early 2000s don’t match the current values the generation holds. A larger generation practicing less religion and raising less religious children also means a more secular society is continued.


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