We had a church in the neighbourhood which organised mission trips to Hungary. Yes, you heard it right - to Hungary. They had an explanation as to why Hungary isn't Christian enough compared to this bastion of Western Christianity, the Netherlands. Hungarians apparently don't have government-sponsored nursing homes and thus the family have to take care of their own.
Being Christian is too often linked to a certain level of wealth a society or an individual possesses. You see this attitude when you read arguments pro and contra international adoptions. Too many (no doubt, well-meaning) Westerners place very little value on extended family and culture as opposed to material stuff.
It's not uncommon for Christian mothers to place their infants into someone else's care and go work for a higher mortgage and more vacations, either. In fact, I heard preachers say that while in general, mothers probably ought not to work, it's OK to do it for a big house in a "better" neighbourhood and other luxuries. Materialism and bugman lifestyle trump any commandments and even maternal love.
In the same vein, our governments are more interested in a GDP increase than in preserving morals and values. There used to be a word for this attitude to life: avarice, and it used to be considered a sin. The love of money is the root of all evil and also seek ye first the kingdom of God come to mind. The same progressive Christianity which gave us the liberal concept of God also brought us prosperity Gospel.
Here is a quote to ponder:
"HOW blessed is he who
can extirpate avarice, the root of all evil! he truly need not fear this
balance. For avarice is wont to deaden man's senses, and pervert his
judgement, so that he counts godliness a source of gain, and money the
reward of prudence. But great is the reward of piety, and the gain of
sobriety to have enough for use. For what do superfluous riches profit
in this world, when you find in them neither a succour in birth nor a
defence against death? For without a covering are we born into the
world, without provision we depart hence, and in the grave we have no
inheritance."
This is what my church teaches about families: https://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation?lang=eng&old=true
ReplyDeleteInteresting, Rozy, thanks for the link!
ReplyDeleteMaybe that church thaught Hungary is STILL begind the iron curtain and hence atheist? In reality most east- Europian countries seem to be having a rise of traditionalism and religion, because they were forced to be communists for so long and after trying materialism and "western" values for 20 years they realized it wont bring them salvation either.
ReplyDeleteYes, Western Christians are usually 30 years behind the worldly trends, someone has forgotten to inform them the Cold War was over:) Seriously, for me it demonstrates a total lack of humility. Should WE be telling others how to live their lives??? Especially those in more traditional countries? Not everybody thinks stuffing your old folks into some care facility is an ideal way to live. It's not restricted to Eastern Europe,either, I heard in Portugal they still do home care thing, too.
ReplyDelete