Religion and Social Responsibility First, what social problems should we all be concerned about in the 21st century? –growing world population –poverty –diseases, epidemics –the threat of nuclear war –environmental disasters (global warming, lack of rain forests, etc.) –religious/ethnic conflicts –terrorism –collapse of world economies

Religion and Social Responsibility Second, should religious believers and institutions be concerned about these issues? Consider: –Hinduism: focus is on the individual attaining moksha/mukti, not on the salvation of society –Buddhism: one is taught to accept suffering; to change one’s attitude toward it, not alleviate it (though this is changing now) –Western Religions (Judaism-Christianity-Islam): salvation is understood as a spiritual state, not a material state suffering is understood as redemptive; it brings you closer to God they teach that “heaven is our true home”, not this earth they teach that “the world” belongs to the “devil” and is thus “evil”

Religion and Social Responsibility Third, consider the problem of human hunger –worldwide, 1 out of every 4 pregnant women has a severe iron and vitamin deficiency, which can lead to... severe birth defects blindness (100k each year!) brain damage (about 1 out of every 6 people suffer from some type of this!) –1 out of every 4 children in developing countries dies by the age of 5 –24 people die from hunger every minute of them are children –1 out of every 8 humans goes to bed hungry... including 10 million children in the U.S.! –More people have died of hunger in the last 10 years than in all the wars, revolutions and murders of the last 150 years combined!

Religion and Social Responsibility Fourth, consider the causes of human hunger –Overpopulation in 1000 the world population was 100 million in 1800 the world population was 1 billion and growing at 0.5% annually in 1930 the world population was 2 billion and growing at 1.0% annually today it is 6 billion…and growing at 2.5% annually! –Disproportionate Use of Resources 20% of the world’s population lives in developed nations they produce 15% of the world’s resources (food, oil, commodities, etc.) they consume 80% of the world’s resources 80% of the world’s population lives in developing nations they produce 85% of the world’s resources they consume 20% of the world resources

Religion and Social Responsibility Fifth, consider some traditional religious responses to these social problems –they are part of the bad karma people bring on themselves –they can be endured through attaining enlightenment (change of attitude toward suffering, becoming detached from the material world, etc.) –they are signs of God’s punishment upon sinful people –they are signs of the “end times” and must be endured before our ultimate salvation (Christ’s second coming, e.g.) –poverty is due to disobedience to God whereas wealth is a sign of God’s blessing –the “poor” are objects of God’s special concern and believers should show compassion toward them (Jesus’ parable of the “Good Samaritan”, e.g.)

Sources Slide os/hunger.jpg; 3/summit.green/_story.poverty.jpg.jpg; cida.gc.ca/INET/IMAGES.NSF/vLUImages/ Heath2/$file/Img0024.jpg; os/hunger.jpg 3/summit.green/_story.poverty.jpg.jpg cida.gc.ca/INET/IMAGES.NSF/vLUImages/ Heath2/$file/Img0024.jpg