Saturday, June 13, 2009

Sad Statistics


The Catholic Magazine for priests that was published for many years called Samok stopped publishing in the beginning of 2007. It was the theological magazine for the clergy of the country; the expense of publishing and the subsidy it required was too much to carry, so it was discontinued. In 2008 the Gaudium and Spes Pastoral Institute began publishing with an introductory issue Joy and Hope (Gaudium and Spes). This year the 3rd volume has come out and below is an article that I will summarize titled, Sad Statistics.

Money is the standard of happiness and success in our world , he begins .

He mentions in the Gallup Poll taken last August the young Koreans see money as the prerequisite for happiness. The following was taken from a daily newspaper.

1) Do you believe that becoming rich is life's meaning for success?
Korea (50.4%), Japan (33%), China (27%) U.S. (22%)

2) Do you think that any method of making money is permissible?
Korea (23.3%) U.S. (21.2) Japan (13.4%) China (5.6%)

Transparency International this year had a survey among the middle and high school children in Korea, Bangladesh, Mongolia, and India they were asked.

3) To become rich is more important than to live honestly? Right?
Korea (22.6%) Bangladesh (3.1%) India (8.4%) Mongolia (9.1%)

The writer makes it very clear the sadness he feels seeing that the Korean students are over 3 to 7 times more disposed to wealth over honesty even though they are the better off of the four nations listed.

He mentions that 90 % of the European population has become much wealthier over the last 30 years but they have not been able to translate this into happiness. He feels that the Church has not been able to portray itself with the spirit of poverty. Jesus made it very clear that life is not the amassing of material things. They are absolutely necessary, important, and good but they are not everything. He concludes his remarks with: "The Church has joined the way of the World in its trust in the material and by doing so we have not been able to give Him to the world. "














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