World Hunger: Will the poor always be with us?

Recent statistics have shown that every day, about 25,000 children die from hunger and related causes. That is equivalent to 1 child dying every 3.5 seconds. This means that in the time it takes me to drive to work, over 200 children die from entirely preventable causes. It is equivalent to a tsunami like the one that occurred in 2004 happening every 1.5-2 weeks.

Yet, here in America, we ignore this crisis. In fact, we have our own crisis, in the form of obesity. Its sad when you think about it; while others struggle to find something to eat so they can scratch out something that could be called a life, we struggle to put down the soft drink and go for a walk. Nearly 1 in 4 people live on less than $1/day, while we can't stop our love affair with overpriced steaks.

Yes, we have the right to enjoy the fruits of our labors. And I'm not suggesting that we sell all our worldly possessions and live like hippies, sending all our money to other people. I'm not trying to say that we should all live on less than a dollar a day. What I am trying to say is that maybe we could go without for once. Maybe, instead of spending $4 on coffee every day, or $50/mo on a high-speed Internet connection, we could donate that money to help people. You probably need to quit coffee anyways, and is your world really going to come falling down around you if you have to load Youtube videos at DSL speeds?

Here's something I don't hear people talk about very often; tithing. According to this link, 33.4% of households in the US practice tithing. That comes out to a whopping $103.32 billion. Now, you might be thinking, "But the church has missionaries and runs all kinds of programs that help hungry people everywhere!" According to the aforementioned link, 85% of that money goes towards internal operations, with only 2% going to overseas. So you're telling me that my fellow countrymen are already giving away over $100 billion, but that $85 billion is going towards internal operations? And only $2 billion is going to overseas operations, which in turn have their own internal costs?

Here's a thought. Tithing is stupid. Let me tell you why.

1. Imagine what could be done with that $85 billion. According to Feedthechildren.org, you can feed, clothe, educate, and provide medical care to a child for $30/month. Now, if the economies in those poor countries ever recovered, that cost would go up, but they would be in a position to care for themselves and help others. With that $85 billion, we could care for over 236 million children each year.
2. Poor people don't need religion. They need food, safe drinking water, medicine, shelter, and education. And when groups spend money sending audio bibles to Haiti instead of things they can actually use, I want to punch someone in the face.
3. God is going to do whatever he wants, regardless of how much money your local church rakes in on Sunday. And if God is in control, as the popular song says, he's responsible for the death and suffering anyways. Personally I believe it was tectonic plates, which have been moving for billions of years, and will probably continue moving for billions of years after we die.
4. "The hands that help are better than the lips that pray."

In short, I hope that if you are giving money to your church, you will reconsider. If you're already giving money to an organization that will provide what starving people really need, good for you. And if you're not giving, but you are able, I hope you will consider donating to an organization.