Christians Are More Likely To Say It's Poor People's Own Fault That They're Poor

A homeless woman sits bundled against the cold in the Manhattan borough of New York City, January 4, 2016.  (Photo: Mike Segar / Reuters)
A homeless woman sits bundled against the cold in the Manhattan borough of New York City, January 4, 2016.  (Photo: Mike Segar / Reuters)

The Jesus of the Bible had plenty to say about the poor ― their dignity, righteousness, and faith. He went so far as to suggest that those who serve the poor will inherit the kingdom of God.

Some American Christians’ beliefs about the poor may not be as forgiving, according to a recent poll from The Washington Post and Kaiser Family Foundation.

Christians in America are twice as likely as those of other faiths to blame poor people for their economic status, the study found.

The survey of 1,686 American adults asked respondents what they thought was generally more often to blame if a person is poor ― lack of effort on the individual’s own part or difficult circumstances beyond their control. Researchers found that 46 percent of Christians said that poverty is generally due to a person’s lack of effort. Only 29 percent of all non-Christians said the same.

According to The Washington Post’s statistical analysis, white evangelical Protestants, compared to those with no religion, were 3.2 times as likely to say that poverty is caused by a lack of effort.

Atheist, agnostic, and unaffiliated Americans blamed difficult circumstances for people’s poverty (65 percent).

Forty-two percent of American adults in total believed poverty was due to a lack of effort, while 53 percent believed it was due to difficult circumstances.

Although religious identity was an important factor, The Washington Post found that political partisanship is the most important demographic identity when it comes to this particular question. Seventy-two percent of Democrats attributed poverty to circumstances, while 63 percent of Republicans blamed lack of effort.

Christians’ beliefs about the causes of poverty don’t necessarily translate into inaction on caring for the poor. The Washington Post interviewed a number of individuals for the piece, most of whom claimed that they were taught in church to help the needy and that their congregations worked hard to care for the poor.

46 percent of all Christians said that poverty is due to a person’s lack of effort. (Photo: Arrangements-Photography via Getty Images)
46 percent of all Christians said that poverty is due to a person’s lack of effort. (Photo: Arrangements-Photography via Getty Images)

The Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, a minister at Middle Collegiate Church and a progressive Christian activist, told HuffPost she believes there’s an inherent conflict in giving charity to the poor while blaming them for their economic status. Acknowledging that poor people are caught in structures and systems that are often beyond their control forces Christians to think deeply about how to work for justice, Lewis said.

“We are forced to ask ourselves about whether the ways these systems work are consistent and coherent with our believe in a God of love and justice, whose compassion was shown uniquely in the life of a poor Jewish Rabbi from Palestine. We have to ask ourselves can we sleep at night when there are homeless on the street, when a mom can’t see her children because she has to work three jobs to survive. We have to ask ourselves are we following in the Way of the Christ or are we following in the Way of the Empire,” Lewis said.

“And that is more decidedly difficult question than can I make my shift at the soup kitchen.”

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St. Catherine of Siena

The second-youngest of 25 children, <a href="http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/8-things-to-know-and-share-about-st.-catherine-of-siena">Catherine of Siena</a>&nbsp;is one of only two patron saints of Italy. Catherine believed herself to be spiritually wed to Jesus and committed herself to a monastic life as a teenager. She was a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Setting-World-Fire-Astonishing-Catherine/dp/113727980X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1442327019&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=emling+AND+catherine">peacemaker</a>&nbsp;during the 1368 revolution in Siena and convinced Pope Gregory XI to return the papacy to Rome during a tumultuous time for the Catholic Church. One story from her life tells of Jesus appearing to her with a heart in his hands and saying, &ldquo;Dearest daughter, as I took your heart away from you the other day, now, you see, I am giving you mine, so that you can go on living with it for ever.&rdquo; She was canonized in 1461.

Joan of Arc

<a href="http://www.history.com/topics/saint-joan-of-arc">Joan of Arc</a>&nbsp;grew up a peasant in medieval France and reportedly started hearing the voices of saints from a young age. At the age of 18, Joan believed that God had chosen her to lead France to victory in its ongoing war with England. The precocious Joan convinced crowned prince Charles of Valois to allow her to lead a the country&rsquo;s army to Orl&eacute;ans, where it <a href="http://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Joan-of-Arc">defeated</a>&nbsp;the English and their French allies, the Burgundians. She was subsequently captured by Anglo-Burgundian forces, tried for heresy and burned at the stake in 1431. She was just 19 years old when she died. The Catholic Church canonized her in 1920.

Hildegard von Bingen

<a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/1991/issue30/3031.html?start=3">Hildegard von Bingen</a>&nbsp;was a Benedictine abbess who lived between 1098 and 1179. Hildegard became a nun as a teenager, though she had received <a href="http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1857">divine visions</a>&nbsp;since early childhood. It wasn&rsquo;t until her 40s that Hildegard began writing a record of these visions, which came to be known as <i>Scivias</i> (Know the Ways). She went on to write other texts documenting her philosophy and also composed short works on medicine, natural history, music and more. Bishops, popes, and kings <a href="http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/med/hildegarde.asp">consulted her</a>&nbsp;at a time when few women engaged in the political domain. She was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.

St. Teresa of Avila

<a href="http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/AVILA.htm">Teresa of Avila</a>&nbsp;was born in Spain during the 16th century to a well-to-do family. Teresa was fascinated by stories of the Christian saints and martyrs from a young age and explored these interests through mystical games she played with her brother, Roderigo. Her early efforts to join a convent were interrupted by the disapproval of her father, as well as several bouts of malaria. She turned instead to quiet prayer and contemplation and attained what she described in her autobiography as the "prayer of union," in which she felt her soul absorbed into God&rsquo;s power. She went on to join a convent and was said to have at one point restored her young nephew to health after he was crushed by a fallen wall. The episode was presented at the process for Teresa's canonization, which took place in 1662.

St. Catherine of Genoa

Born in 1447, <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2011/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20110112.html">Catherine of Genoa</a>&nbsp;is perhaps best known for her visions of and treatise on purgatory. She conceptualized purgatory as an interior, rather than exterior, fire which individuals experience within themselves. &ldquo;The soul presents itself to God still bound to the desires and suffering that derive from sin and this makes it impossible for it to enjoy the beatific vision of God,&rdquo; Catherine wrote in her book of revelations. She developed a deep relationship with God which Pope Benedict XVI described as a &ldquo;unitive life.&rdquo; Catherine also dedicated her life to caring for the sick, which she did at the Pammatone Hospital until her death in 1510. She was canonized in 1737.

St. Clare of Assisi

<a href="https://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/C/stclareofassisi.asp">Clare of Assisi</a>&nbsp;shunned a life of luxury in her wealthy Italian family to devote herself to the burgeoning order of Francis of Assisi. When her parents promised her hand in marriage to a wealthy man in 1211, Clare fled for the Porziuncola Chapel and was taken in by Francis. She took vows dedicating her life to God, and Francis placed Clare provisionally with the Benedictine nuns of San Paolo. Her family, furious at Clare&rsquo;s secret flight, went there to try to drag her home by force, but Clare was resolute. Clare&rsquo;s piety was so profound that her sister, mother and several other female relatives eventually came to live with her and be her disciples in her convent outside Assisi. The group came to be known as the &ldquo;Poor Clares&rdquo; and walked barefoot, slept on the ground, abstained from meat, and spoke only when necessary. Clare died in 1253 and was <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/st-clare-of-assisi-9249093">canonized</a>&nbsp;two years later by Pope Alexander IV.

Thérèse of Lisieux

Born in France in 1873, <a href="http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_19101997_stherese_en.html">Th&eacute;r&egrave;se of Lisieux</a>&nbsp;experienced a mystical union with Christ while undergoing study for her First Communion in 1884. She entered the Carmel of Lisieux, a Carmelite hermitage, in 1888 and made a profession of religious devotion in 1890. She became ill and died at the young age of 24, but her writings and revelations formed the basis for widespread veneration after her death. Affectionately called <a href="http://www.littleflower.org/therese/">The Little Flower</a>, Th&eacute;r&egrave;se believed that children have an aptitude for spiritual experience, which adults should model. "What matters in life," she wrote, "is not great deeds, but great love." She was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1925.

Julian of Norwich

Little is known about <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20101201.html">Julian of Norwich</a>, an English mystic who lived from 1342 until roughly 1430. Information about her comes primarily from her <i>Revelations of Divine Love in Sixteen Showings</i>, the book in which Julian recorded her divine visions. In 1373, she became ill and nearly died within a matter of days. A priest came to her bedside and show her an image of Christ, after which Julian recovered and received the 16 revelations that she recorded in her book. God later revealed to her the meaning of these visions, which she recorded as: &ldquo;&lsquo;Would you learn to see clearly your Lord&rsquo;s meaning in this thing? Learn it well: Love was his meaning. Who showed it to you? Love.... Why did he show it to you? For Love&rsquo;.... Thus I was taught that Love was our Lord&rsquo;s meaning.&rdquo; She chose to live a contemplative and reclusive life until her death.

St. Bridget of Sweden

Unlike many of her counterparts, <a href="http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=264">Bridget of Sweden</a>&nbsp;did not devote herself fully to a religious life until her 40s when her husband died in 1344. Reportedly distraught after his death, Bridget spent long hours in prayer beside her husband&rsquo;s grave at the abbey of Alvastra. There she believed God spoke to her, telling her to &ldquo;be my bride and my canal.&rdquo; He gave her the task of founding new religious order, and she went on to start the Brigittines, or the Order of St. Saviour. Both men and women joined the community, with separate cloisters. They lived in poor convents and were instructed to give all surplus income to the poor. In 1350, Bridget braved the plague, which was ravaging Europe, to pilgrimage to Rome in order to obtain authorization for her new order from the pope. It would be 20 years before she received this authorization, but Bridget quickly became known throughout Europe for her piety. She was canonized in 1391, less than 20 years after her death.

St. Beatrice of Silva

Born in 1424, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXWRgP-0KBkC&amp;pg=PA33&amp;lpg=PA33&amp;dq=saint+beatrice+of+silva&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=ZRqP0i_avj&amp;sig=jgkoCId1WVgXl6W_CCo3s51Gq3s&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0CEEQ6AEwBjgKahUKEwjh-PrRufzHAhXIPogKHeBKCdg#v=onepage&amp;q=saint%20beatrice%20of%20silva&amp;f=false">Beatrice of Silva</a>&nbsp;abandoned a court life with Princess Isabel of Portugal to enter a Cistercian convent in Toledo. She lived at the convent until 1484, when she believed God summoned her to found a religious order. She started the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where she lived and served as superior until her death circa 1492. Shortly before Beatrice&rsquo;s death, Pope Innocent VIII <a href="http://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/saint-beatrice-de-silva.html">approved</a>&nbsp;a the convent&rsquo;s adoption of the Cistercian rule, which consisted of three guidelines: be silent and submissive to God&rsquo;s direction; strive for a life of obscurity and piety; and love everyone with a holy love. Beatrice reportedly received a vision of the Virgin Mary dressed in a white habit with a white scapular and blue mantle, which formed the basis of the dress for her order.&nbsp;Pope Paul VI canonized St. Beatrice in 1976.

St. Angela of Foligno

<a href="https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20101013.html">Angela of Foligno</a>&nbsp;was a Franciscan mystic who was born into a prestigious family and married at the age of 20. A series of events, which included a violent earthquake in 1279 and an ongoing war against Perugia lead her to call upon St Francis, who appeared to her in a vision and instructed her to go to confession. Three years later, her mother, husband and all of her children died in the span of a few months. Angela then sold her possessions and in 1291 enrolled in the Third Order of St Francis. At 43, Angela <a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/1991/issue30/3031.html?start=3">had a vision</a>&nbsp;of God&rsquo;s love while she was making a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Francis of Assisi. She dictated her experiences in <i>The Book of the Experience of the Truly Faithful</i>. Pope Francis <a href="https://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=20123">canonized</a>&nbsp;Angela of Foligno in 2013.

Mechthild of Magdeburg

Like Hadewijch, <a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/1991/issue30/3031.html?start=3">Mechthild of Magdeburg</a>&nbsp;was part of the Beguine community. The German mystic decided at age 22 to devote her life to God and authored a text entitled <i>The Flowing Light of the Godhead</i>. She entered the convent of Helfta in 1270 and used poetry to express her divine revelations. On the first page of The Flowing Light, Mechthild wrote: &ldquo;I have been put on my guard about this book, and certain people have warned me that, unless I have it buried, it will be burnt. Yet, I in my weakness have written it, because I dared not hide the gift that is in it.&rdquo;

Hadewijch

Hadewijch was a Flemish mystic who was part of the <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beguine">Beguine movement</a>, a network of ascetic and philanthropic communities of women that arose primarily in the Netherlands in the 13th century. Little is known about her life outside of her writings, which include a collection of letters on the spiritual life of the Beguines, as well as a book of visions. <a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/1991/issue30/3031.html?start=3">According to Dr. Elizabeth Alvilda Petroff</a>, a comparative literature professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Hadewijch &ldquo;believed that the soul, created by God in his own image, longs to be one with divine love again, &lsquo;to become God with God.&rsquo;&rdquo;

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