Letter to Senator

Dear ,
I am writing ask for your support for the following pending bills:
Education for All Act 2007 (S. 1259 / H.R. 2092)
U.S. Commitment to Global Child Survival Act (S. 1418 / H.R. 2266)
Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive (H.R. 2965)
Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation (H.R. 2634)

In our world today, 3 billion people, roughly half of Earth’s population, live on less than two U.S. dollars per day. This type of poverty can be ended with extended help from the United States. We as a country cumulatively give the most aid in terms of funding, but are second to last in the proportion of dollars given per person. By passing these four bills, we can take a step towards ending extreme world poverty. The Education for All Act can equip impoverished children with skills that can help them lead productive, peaceful lives. The U.S. Commitment to Global Child Survival Act can prevent millions of preventable deaths worldwide by simply providing immunizations, antibiotics, clean drinking water and vitamin supplements to those unable to afford them. The GROWTH Act can give women in oppressive countries opportunities to better their standards of living and take better care of their children. The Jubilee Act can help poor countries begin to accumulate their own income by canceling debts. All of these bills, if put into action, can greatly reduce poverty around in the world. But they need your support if they are to be legitimized into Acts.
Sincerely,
Blake Cushing

The Mustard Weed

The mustard seed takes over a garden like a weed. It germinates and grows into a large plant that takes resources away from other plants around it. It is similar to the Kingdom of God in that it irritates farmers like the Kingdom irritated those who were in power at Jesus' time. Once people begin to live the Kingdom of God, the word is spread and sure enough, it is everywhere. It was tiresome to the enemies of Jesus, as they were irritated by rapid spread of Jesus's teachings about the Kingdom of God.

Executive Summary Report on Africa

The aid that is given to impoverished countries is not enough, and most of the aid given is not truly used to target poverty. Many countries do not contribute aid out of pure good will instead they donate for commercial and economic reasons. Japan for example contributes the equivalent of millions of U.S. dollars to Vietnam; the money is used there to help develop a market for Japanese exports, but not to feed or clothe the thousands of homeless and impoverished in the country. The official international target for aid contribution is 0.7% of a country's total income from taxes, business, etc. But the average aid given by G7 donors (United States, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, the U.K., Japan) is only 0.07% of their total income. The G7 countries contribute 1/10th of what is suggested to assisting other countries. Ireland and Norway, countries with fractions of the wealth of the United States, proportionately contribute 14x and 38x, respectively, as much as the U.S. does. The United States and other G7 countries, being the most developed countries in the world, have an obligation to at least meet the international target.

Not only must the amount of aid given be improved, but the quality of the aid given must rise. 61% of aid given is "phantom aid". Phantom aid is aid that is not targeted for poverty reduction. It is aid that does not represent an effective resource transfer. Phantom aid is aid that also counts toward immigration, which is a domestic matter and not an international one. Real aid can be increased and phantom aid decreased if the money used by the receivers of the aid is used to target poverty. Donors should keep track of what happens to their money after they donate it and determine whether it is used effectively. Real Aid estimates that all donors contributed 0.7% of their income by 2010, and donors and recipients are held mutually accountable for funds, then poverty would be wiped off the face of the earth. As a class, we should feel responsible for letting others know these facts. We could have a presentation or distribute pamphlets; anything that could educate the people about what is (or should be) being done to help other human being; our neighbors.

Portfolio 2: What Should We Do?

I think that as a class, we could help reduce poverty by doing something that would boost awareness of the situation in impoverished countries. I think that we should make the statistics of poverty known in some way: maybe a presentation or an article in a newspaper. We could also make the Sachs and Singer methods for reducing poverty known, and we should make known how easy they are to accomplish. We should let the public (or just the rest of the school) know how little they could give and the dramatic effect their small contributions would have on reducing poverty. Giving a presentation at school would no doubt boost awareness of the problem of poverty, and would probably be more effective than mentioning it in a newspaper article.
I think that we should give a presentation or newspaper article because it would educate those who are not keenly aware of the problem. Sure, most people hear the word "poverty" thrown around, but how often does the word have a dramatic impact? We need to show to people the seriousness of the situation and how easily it can be solved according to Sachs and Singer. The people need to know that they can give little and still have an enourmous impact on a small, impoverished village. All we have to do is convince people to understand the problem and give a little.

Portfolio 2: Singer on Poverty

1. How much aid should we give to impoverished countries?
2. Are we obligated to give aid?
3. Should we concentrate on internal problems first?
4. Why should we give aid?
5. Should we all have equal privileges/income/resources?
6. Should we give up luxuries to help those we do not know?
7. Are we hurting the world?
8. Are helping those far away as important as helping those near to us?
9. Should governments make sure everyone has money?
10. Should state sovereignty be dissolved so that we can have one world?

Portfolio 2: Good Samaritan Interpretation

In the parable The Good Samaritan, Jesus criticizes the lack of humanity in people, mainly the upper class in his society. He criticizes the priest's and the levite's selfishness and abscence of concern for the robbed, naked man. Because the man was naked, there was no way of knowing which class he belonged to. He was just a human. The levite and the priest might have helped the man had he been from the upper class, but they had no way of knowing; their reluctance to help another human being is revealed and scorned by Jesus. His solution is simple; treat others as human beings.

John the Baptist

John's birth was a fulfillment of a prophecy by an Angel of God. The Angel told Zecheriah, John's father, that he and his barren wife would have a son, and he was to be named John. John, the Angel said, would "be filled from the Holy Sprit even from his mother's womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God." The Angel also said that John would "turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord." Basically the Angel said that John would be a prophet that would preach the word of God to the Israelites and convert many people to follow God.
John the Baptist got his name from baptizing Israelites, notably Jesus, for repentance in the Jordan River. He preached to the masses about the Kingdom of God, just like Jesus would eventually do. His teachings consisted of people treating each other with respect and living life fairly. He taught that people with abundance should share with the not-so-fortunate. John also taught that the sinners would be discarded and the faithful would be welcomed into heaven. But John, unlike Jesus later, was a fiery, anger-driven preacher. He sometimes insulted the people because they did not exhibit the amount of faith that he was looking for. John and Jesus' teachings were very similar, though they were taught in different ways. Jesus probably looked for a more effective way than John's to communicate with the masses, though he taught the same lessons and a little bit more.

I'm a Refugee

Jesus was raised as a refugee in a refugee family because God wanted him to be able to suffer; Jesus' suffering would help him be able to relate to the majority of the downtrodden population and would therefore make him a more effective leader. Being a refugee, Jesus probably lived in constant fear and despair. These things shaped who Jesus would become. He taught to have no fear, and not to despair, because God would always be there to help. Being a refugee also helped Jesus to see the faults in his society, mainly with the class system. He wanted change to make life better for the poor so nobody would have to suffer like he did. Jesus experienced firsthand the unfairness of being part of a poor majority. If Jesus had been born rich, would he really have been able to relate to the people he preached to? Would they listen to him? I do not think that they would have listened to the preachings of a rich man because they would have assumed that Jesus did not know the magnitude of their sufferings, which would probably be true had Jesus been born with money. Being a refugee, considered the bottom of the low class, helped Jesus to want to change the way things were going. It also made his mission more effective, as he was able to relate to his audience and get them to listen. Without Jesus having been a refugee, there would not be a Christian religion in existence today.

Portfolio 1: Who’s Your Momma?

We as a society project Mary as being a perfect woman. Mary was very humble and soft-spoken. The statue suggests several things about Mary. It appears that she is very fragile and weak because of her size and stature. Because she is praying, one gets the idea that she was extremely religious and faithful. The slant of her feet makes it look as if she is ascending to heaven, and by carrying rosary beads, she adds another attribution to her faith. The white color of the statue suggests her pureness.
The Luke passage tries to show the level Mary's undying faith in God. Mary makes several statements directed against the rich and powerful. This shows that Mary was probably a very independent woman, not as humble as she is perceived. Because she came from a poor family, she is probably biased against the rich and powerful; maybe a level of jealousy is taking place. The community probably interpreted that Mary may have also been adulterous, as her pregnancy did not result from sex with Joseph. If the community was able to interpret it that way, then why not the reader of the Bible?
God chose Mary because of her amount of faith in Him. Her bias towards the rich is exactly what God wanted, because throughout the Bible it is said that God does not like rich people because they are often materialistic.By her statements against the powerful, God may have seen that she would not be afraid. Mary's 'pureness' was probably deduced from her blind allegiance to God, even though she was not truly 'pure'. God chose Mary because she would not be afraid to speak her mind (in this case, her faith in God), and make her an example of what happens when one has faith in Him.