Monday, February 16, 2009

Facing inequality in the current world

Lately, I have been asked what, as a christian, I think of the fact that a minority is dominating the majority of human kind.

All begins with my reaction to the Total's group decision on how to share its nearly 14 Billion Euros benefit. From "Le Grand Journal" (meaning the Grand Newspaper), it will be spread like this: 60% for the investors, 38% for the shareholders and 2% for the employees, if the group were listening to the French government that urges company to give 1/3 of their benefit to the employee because of the current financial crisis, each employee would receive 50,000€.

First, from my calculations, 2% represents an average of 3000€ per employee, which is not bad... At least, I would be very happy to receive that much money.

My friends were quite surprised that I was not shocked by the news.

As a guy living in Hong Kong, you can see unfair society everywhere. For a foreigner, we are quite shocked when we see people picking up pieces of card board in the street for a living ot not (I was shocked when I learnt that some of the grannies doing that where quite wealthy). There are a lot of wealthy people and a lot of not wealthy people. The fact that Hong Kong is such a small place make you see both type of people very easily. Inequality is everywhere in this city. It's not a complain but it's a fact. And my mind got used to it.

In fact, for a Christian, equality does not exist in Earth, God is the only one who is truly fair and one day, later or sooner, He will judge this world. To every one, Christian or not, we have been given things to be responsible of and at the end, we will be accounted for what we have done with. He gifted all of us with wealth, leadership (politic, CEO, etc), intellectual gift, etc... But at the end, all of us will be accounted for how we used it in our life.

Complains from employees suffering domination from their employer are heard by God like it is stated here:

Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.

James 5:4


As sin entered the world, people are greedy and they want more and more wealth at the expenses of people less wealthy.

9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

1Tim 6:9-10


But does it means that, as a Christian, we should just sit there and see what will happening next? Nope, and I do believe that what we are called to do is to help the needy as much as we are given to do, and we will be given all what we need.

17 He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.

Proverbs 19:17


That's my opinion on how Christian should live through the inequality of the current world.

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