Poverty Is a Sin

[Molearner]

Originally Posted by hallow

I have no doubt that everything you read was written by wealthy people, of course there going to think living in poverty is a sin. Even when you mentioned the religious people again often wealthy, none of which have to worry where there next meal is coming from to say the least. The church was at one point the wealthiest institution on the planet. I agree people should stop blaming God for anything. I believe Rich or poor, everyone has a price to pay. Your going to pay for what ever is most important to you. I don't live in poverty but I "pay for" personal freedom over "paying" material things. Life is full of ups and downs but overall people choose where there at in life. But to say poverty is a sin I feel is silly.

Hallow,

No doubt it was written by wealthy people.....but for what reason ? To impoverish the poor even more by making them feel guilty ? To justify ill-gotten gains by believing they are morally and spiritually superior to others ?. Being wealthy should be its own reward without rubbing it in.

[hallow]

Originally Posted by Molearner

Hallow,

No doubt it was written by wealthy people.....but for what reason ? To impoverish the poor even more by making them feel guilty ? To justify ill-gotten gains by believing they are morally and spiritually superior to others ?. Being wealthy should be its own reward without rubbing it in.

it's all about control the wealthy and governing systems do. Since the super rich and government are so closely intertwined. Religion is just another form of government.
But keep this in mind, no matter what, the universe is yours. The universe reads your thoughts constantly. Whatever you focus on good or bad the universe say's "your wish is my command" if you focus on not feeling well, not having money, having a lot of bills,ect, ect. the universe say's your wish is my command. If you focus wealth, physical, spiritual, family whatever. The universe say's "your wish is my command. Keep all that in mind and pay attention to your thoughts and attitude. Here's another example, you wake up in the morning and hit your toe on something. A common way to think is, ooooh no I am going to have a bad day today. Universe say's your wish is my command. You have a bad day. Let's change your thoughts on the same situation. You say and think, aaaagggghhh I have to get my stuff together. Universe say's, your wish is my command, you get your stuff together. You and everyone else has that power.

[HITESH SHAH]

Almost every post is great in its spirit and it's pleasant to see so many right believing people are there and I am one among them .

If u want to consider the poverty to be sin then consider it to be poverty of ideas , poverty of effort , poverty of character , poverty originality and creativity , poverty of good traits to be a sin. Shallow of idea of poverty of money is no good.

[inavalan]

Originally Posted by HITESH SHAH

Almost every post is great in its spirit and it's pleasant to see so many right believing people are there and I am one among them .

If u want to consider the poverty to be sin then consider it to be poverty of ideas , poverty of effort , poverty of character , poverty originality and creativity , poverty of good traits to be a sin. Shallow of idea of poverty of money is no good.

In your "right" opinion? This sounds sanctimonious.

[HITESH SHAH]

Originally Posted by inavalan

In your "right" opinion? This sounds sanctimonious.

I definitely have a passion to know , understand , appreciate and practice 'right' as far as possible. Every one is different . So definitely it (my 'right perspective') may not necessarily your /anyone else's 'right perspective' . I do not even expect that .

But when one finds other's echoing similar views on a certain point(not exactly same ) you feel good .

My expressing 'Right' belief has nothing to do with 'superiority/inferiority' or being 'sanctimonious' . If however you feel that way, certainly my choice of words may have conveyed somewhere . Certainly superiority/inferiority if any according to you is unintended / unintentional /accidental. I would also see if any such attitude is reflected in me /my posts.

Spiritual view is very clear . All are equal in eyes of God though He definitely prefers and reward 'right' in 'right' measure at 'right' time in His own 'right' ways. But that just does not give any special privilege to 'Right' believing over others . Hope this clarifies your assessment.

Couple of things and I'll start with the obvious. Declaring poverty a sin is a harsh and wholly unwarranted condemnation of a vast swath of humanity in poverty through no fault of their own. There also seems to be a self-serving component for those preaching this message in that I'm betting there is an avenue for prosperity but it flows in the opposite direction.

I did a quick Google search for prosperity gospel and found the late Reverend Ike was one of its proponents. Back in my Air Force days in the early 80s a coworker's wife was related to Rev. Ike and he told the coworker if people were dumb enough to give him money he was smart enough to take it. In other words he admitted being a fraud.

There are so many sharks feeding on peoples deepest fears and desires, both material and existential.

[ameliorate]

Originally Posted by Molearner

It is entirely possible that some(say on a spiritual forum) might consider poverty of spirit worse than poverty of the material.

Exactly! Hence my previous post with that quote from Immanuel Kant.

Sometimes it takes a wake up call (e.g. coming close to death) to make us realise what is important in life....i.e. love, the quality of our relationships etc.

I have never been rich nor desire to be and have always lived within my means (never in debt) with relatively few overheads. It's transparent to me that, whereas being wealthy may give you more options, it also brings with it undesirable aspects - like not knowing if people like you just for your money (those who are famous know this too well) and being on the wheel of materialism whereby you are forever wanting more than what you have. Today's gained novelty may amuse for a while and then it's on to the next consumer item. You can keep it! Glad not to be a part of that superficial but common mindset.

Also I have directly experienced how the greed for money changes people and makes them ugly. Many of us will know of families falling out when the proceeds of a will take place. My sister changed from a socialist to an unrecognizable ruthless capitalist (despite having the lion's share of the inheritance) and put my brother and myself through emotional torture in her legal endeavour to extract some of our share of our rightful inheritance.

Being spiritually focused (and past my prime) I have reached a contented plateau, in harmony with self and predominantly at peace. I've become centered/grounded, with a positive mindset, enabling me to gravitate to those who are emotionally suffering and find I am able to make a difference to their plight. I have been told I am a lightworker.

[Miss Hepburn]

Gang, ya gotta read Forum Rules on Copy/paste.
A couple sentences only..then you can give a link.

My gosh the author was not even given credit!
Catherine Ponder

[Miss Hepburn]

Since I have read most of the authors from the New Thought group...I know what they are meaning.
I am sorry the word ''sin'' was used by Ms. Ponder, because of it's connotations of severity.

A Christian could say most anything is a sin ..as in, it's a sin not to be joyous since Jesus died for you,
thus, you're not accepting his gift.
Be happy or it's like a slap in face to him.

But, it's not really a ''sin'' as the word is usually used. You're missing out, sure.
Maybe it could be said -you're 'missing the mark'.

What the New Thought group in general are saying is:
To not realize, accept, allow the truth that God is a King with boundless riches;
to block His ever-showering of His riches of all sorts is denying Him and His love and gifts to you.

So, you could say being unhappy at all is a ''sin'' in this context. See?

.................................................. ...........................................

* Some New Thought authors - the original group involved in
the founding of Unity Church--
for those that never heard of this 'movement'.

Charles Fillmore
Emmet Fox
Florence Scovel-Shinn
Eric Butterworth
Catherine Ponder
John Randolph Price
Joel S. Goldsmith
Ernest Holmes
Henry Drummond
Napoleon Hill
U.S. Anderson

If not from the 19th c orig New Thought group, they were influenced by them and continued on later....into the 1960s...and now -
with Dr. Wayne Dyer, Louise Hay, etc., probably more familiar names.
Ha, there is a book from 1949, "The Atom-smashing Power of Your Mind."
I forget the author - a female.