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Posts Tagged ‘poverty’

  1. Bono on gaining the whole world

    April 21, 2009 by Geoff

    The preacher said, “What good does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” Hearing this, every one of the pilgrims gathered in the room asked, “Is it me, Lord?” In America, in Europe, people are asking, “Is it us?”

    Well, yes. It is us.

    Bono at Op-Ed Guest Columnist – It’s 2009. Do You Know Where Your Soul Is? – NYTimes.com.

    Realise there’s not much been happening here between Easter and Soul Survivor. Can’t promise it’ll improve, but this is a fantastic opinion piece by Bono. I suggest you go and read it.

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  2. Join the Conspiracy

    November 27, 2008 by Geoff

    Thanks to Jonathan Brink for the link – and I’m sure this’ll come back to bite me, but sometimes a message is just worth getting out there.

    Advent Conspiracy

    Category Personal | Tags: ,,,, | 2 Comments

  3. The world’s poor stand to lose the most

    October 24, 2008 by Geoff

    Cartoon from theage.com.au

    Cartoon from theage.com.au

    The urgency shown by rich countries to tackle the financial meltdown is in stark contrast to their foot dragging and broken promises over aid and poverty alleviation, human rights and climate change.

    It is too soon to predict exactly how badly the poorest countries will fare in the financial crisis and resultant economic downturn. But it is clear that reduced demands for exports to developed countries and lower foreign investment will mean less growth and government revenue for already fragile social protection and services.

    The world’s poor stand to lose the most | theage.com.au

    As we enter what will inevitably become a more difficult economic climate, there’s a real danger that the traction gained in the Make Poverty History campaign to push for the Millenium Development Goals and to just take two-thirds world poverty seriously, will have been lost in the distorted priorities that arise out of our sudden belief that our “needs” are more important than the thousands dying of preventable diseases and hunger.

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  4. Blog Action Day – October 15

    October 9, 2008 by Geoff

    Those of you who have been reading TheGeoffRe(y)port for a while might be aware that I participated in Blog Action Day last year, and got on board with a worldwide group of bloggers to blog about the environment. Well, Blog Action Day is back, and this time it’s all about poverty. SO – if you write a blog, get yourself over to the Blog Action Day site, register, and post something (anything) about poverty on October 15th. I will be doing so here.

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    Category World | Tags: ,,, | 1 Comment

  5. Biden Says Bailout = Less Aid Money

    October 3, 2008 by Geoff

    IFILL: What promises — given the events of the week, the bailout plan, all of this, what promises have you and your campaigns made to the American people that you’re not going to be able to keep?

    BIDEN: Well, the one thing we might have to slow down is a commitment we made to double foreign assistance. We’ll probably have to slow that down.

    The Vice-Presidential Debate – International Herald Tribune

    Been flicking through the American VP debate transcript, and it looks like despite expectations that she’d flunk completely, Palin looks to have made some sense. Big disappointment when I read the above quote from Joe Biden though: America’s Wall St bailout will cost the promise to double foreign assistance. Bono couldn’t have been more on the money on calling these guys out on this.

    Of course, the only reason you can pull out of a promise is because you made it in the first place, which naturally McCain/Palin didn’t.

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  6. Entrepreneurial NGO

    June 28, 2007 by Geoff

    Kiva.org has got to be an example of what happens when smart, economist types get really passionate about doing something against world poverty. Once again it was on Makeesha’s blog that I saw the link: but this is a really cool initiative.

    Basically, you lend money directly to people in developing countries for the express purpose of starting or improving their businesses. Each loan request has a detailed description of who the person is, what they are doing, and what they plan on spending the loan on. Once they pay back the loan, you can either take your money back (greedy so and so) or re-invest straight into someone else. It means that ultimately, you’re making an investment into these communities in a direct and tangible way. So go on: sign up. I’m a loaner – you should be one too!

    Category God Stuff | Tags: ,,, | 3 Comments

  7. Incarnation and Justice

    September 28, 2006 by Geoff

    OK – I’m not sure how this will come out – it’s a bit of an attempt to work through some of the stuff that’s been happening in my head. I’ve been pondering (especially as part of re-looking over “the shaping of things to come”) the amazing controversy of who Jesus was. God incarnate. God himself here on earth to show us what it’s all about. And while that’s certainly a strong enough thought, the part that offends those like myself with such a tendency towards religiosity is that he had fun! He didn’t frown at people who were enjoying themselves, but instead pointed them at who God was in that place. He hung out with the wrong kind of people.

    Can you imagine being around Jesus. Whenever Jesus said something that offended you, you were offended by who God is. When Jesus spoke encouraging words, you were being encouraged by the creator of the world. But more than that, God came and joked, ate, drank, slept (sometimes at inappropriate moments), got angry, did all the things that define our human existence. And the fact of the matter is, that it’s easy to avoid being offended by the words of Jesus, because we prettify them. We take the passion and the rawness out of them. We put them in red text, and make them the words of a holy creature who wasn’t really anything like us. We remove Christ’s humanity and only relate to him as a deity.

    But how much harder is it to ignore a man, who comes and lives among us, who does this stuff, and puts flesh on it, but still has the authority that comes from being God himself. I realise that this is Sunday School 101, but I guess it just hit home to a new level for me, especially in regards to social justice stuff. Jesus said some really tough stuff, that was pretty clear-cut. How can I ignore those words, or equally bad – agree vehemently, but remain completely inactive.

    I’m pretty sure a fair chunk in there hasn’t made any sense, but we’ll post it up anyway. Love to hear what people think.

    Category God Stuff, Personal | Tags: ,,,, | 1 Comment

  8. A quick thought on compassion

    September 22, 2006 by Geoff

    The church, and christians in general, are on the whole good at compassionate action for people who haven’t had a hand in their own problems. We give money for food to starving African children, and we are willing to dedicate time and money to helping tsunami victims, or hurricane survivors.

    What we’re not good at is showing compassion for people who have had a hand in their own demise. We alienate pregnant teenagers who are facing abortions. We ignore the drug-dependent. Somewhere deep down, we believe that we couldn’t be in that situation. That we’re above these people. That it’s their own fault.

    I just wish that I wasn’t speaking about my own feelings. Help me God.

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