Something I posted previously, might be about the same "knucklehead" (I didn't listen to the mp3 in your OP)...
Philanthropy Expert: Conservatives Are More Generous; Fr. Stanley & Fr. Henriot say... Philanthropy Expert: Conservatives Are More GenerousBy Frank Brieaddy
Religion News Service
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse University professor Arthur C. Brooks is about to become the darling of the religious right in America -- and it's making him nervous.
The child of academics, raised in a liberal household and educated in the liberal arts, Brooks has written a book that concludes religious conservatives donate far more money than secular liberals to all sorts of charitable activities, irrespective of income.
In the book, he cites extensive data analysis to demonstrate that values advocated by conservatives -- from church attendance and two-parent families to the Protestant work ethic and a distaste for government-funded social services -- make conservatives more generous than liberals.
(snip)
The book's basic findings are that conservatives who practice religion, live in traditional nuclear families and reject the notion that the government should engage in income redistribution are the most generous Americans, by any measure.
Conversely, secular liberals who believe fervently in government entitlement programs give far less to charity. They want everyone's tax dollars to support charitable causes and are reluctant to write checks to those causes, even when governments don't provide them with enough money.
Continued @
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/204/story_20419_1.html SOCIAL JUSTICE vs. CHARITY THROUGH OUR FINGERS Ronald Stanley, O.P.
"Two men were fishing in a river. Late in the afternoon they started cooking some of the fish they had caught. Suddenly they heard the cries of a man being swept down the river. Immediately the men jumped into the river, swam out to the man, and were gradually able to pull him ashore. As they were on shore catching their breath, they heard the cries of a woman being swept down the river. They jumped back into the water, made their way out to the woman, and slowly brought her to shore. They were exhausted but happy to have saved both people. Then they heard to cries of a child being swept downstream. One of the men started back into the water to get the child; the other held back. "Aren't you going to save the child?" asked the first. "You go get the child," responded the second, "I'm going to go upstream to find out why so many people are falling into the river."
Charity is happy to spend all day pulling victims out of the river. Social justice asks: why are so many people falling into the river? Is there a pathway or a bridge in need of repair? Is there someone throwing people into the river? When there is a pattern of people repeatedly falling victim, social justice seeks to discover and remedy the root causes of the problem.
Charity does the important work of meeting the immediate needs of suffering people, for food, clothing, housing, medicine, etc. Most everyone today approves and praises charity.
Social justice, on the other hand, dares to ask troubling questions: if the earth's resources are meant to meet the needs of all the earth's children, why are 20% of the world's population consuming over 80% of the earth's resources, leaving 80% of the world living in misery? Isn't it only just that the privilege few live more simply, so that the masses might simply live?
(snip)
Our politicians smooth the pathways and bridges of the privileged, to the neglect of the poor. Little wonder then that so many of the poor keep falling into the river. Their falling is not simply an accident. They are not "falling through the cracks." They are falling through our fingers.
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http://www.ramapo.edu/studentlife/ministry/catholic_Ministry/Articles/social_justice.htm Gospel requires justice not charity, says Jesuit writer-10/05/06
An expert on Christian social action, Fr Peter Henriot, is currently on a tour of Australia for a series of talks and workshops on the relevance of social justice in today's age of globalisation and terror, reports the Uniya Jesuit Social Justice Unit.
Co-author of a Catholic best-seller on the ‘pastoral cycle’ (see-analyse-act), Henriot will be teaming up with Jesuit lawyer Fr Frank Brennan in Sydney later this week. The book, originally published in the 1980s, is called Social Analysis: Linking Faith and Justice.
Fr Henriot, has lived for nearly 20 years in Zambia - one of the poorest countries in the world. He argues that to respond effectively to social issues, Christians and people of good will need to move from a model of charity to a model of justice at the core of their living and acting.
“We will never deal with the impact of globalisation on poor countries in Africa if we don't do good social analysis that reveals both the systemic problems and the structural hopes,” he declares.
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http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_060510social.shtml And, furthermore,
HUMAN RIGHTS DAY (10 DECEMBER 2006) | FIGHTING POVERTY IS A MATTER OF OBLIGATION, NOT OF CHARITYHuman Rights Day (10 December 2006)On 10 December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which has become a universal standard for defending and promoting human rights. Every year on 10 December, Human Rights Day marks the adoption of the Universal Declaration. On Human Rights Day it is celebrated around the globe that "All human beings are born with equal and inalienable rights and fundamental freedoms".
This year Human Rights Day focuses on
fighting poverty as a matter of obligation, not of charity. Poverty is a cause and a product of human rights violations. It is this double edge that makes poverty probably the gravest human rights challenge in the world. The links between human rights and poverty should be obvious: People whose rights are denied -- victims of discrimination or persecution, for example -- are more likely to be poor. Generally they find it harder or impossible to participate in the labour market and have little or no access to basic services and resources. Meanwhile, the poor in many societies cannot enjoy their rights to education, health and housing simply because they cannot afford them. And poverty affects all human rights: for example, low income can prevent people from accessing education -- an "economic and social" right -- which in turn inhibits their participation in public life -- a "civil and political" right -- and their ability to influence policies affecting them.
Governments and those in a position of authority can, indeed are obliged to, do something about poverty. They have committed to it by overwhelmingly accepting a number of human rights treaties and by signing on to the international consensus to make poverty history, through the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals, as well as most recently the 2005 World Summit Outcome. The realization of human rights - including the fight against poverty -- is a duty, not a mere aspiration.
Source: Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
http://www.hrea.org/feature-events/human-rights-day.php Universal Declaration of Human RightsArticle 25 1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/lang/eng.htm And, in answer to your question "Do you have to be Christian to be charitable?" No, you just have to have a heart. And you need a sense of social justice to discover and remedy the root causes of the problem... to keep more people from falling in the river.