I love humanity. It’s people I can’t stand.
-Peanuts cartoon character
Whenever injustice prevails, all of us, rich or poor, lose something of our potential to give and receive happiness. Whenever we are perpetrators or victims of oppression, we feel diminished, degraded, dehumanized. We feel empty and unworthy of happiness. The greatest tragedy of our society, built on such deep foundations of injustice, is the way it kills our capacity to experience real joy.
Global Trends Dangerous Disorder? The Gap Between Rich and Poor
The world's rich and poor are more unequal than ever, and neoliberal free trade policies are to blame. Which is the real story? Economic inequalities are rising in the Third World, but this will make no difference if the incomes of the poor are rising too. Unless the income rise itself is an illusion.
· Illusions [Boston]
The poor give us so much more than we give them.
Do not sin by misusing your money. It says to the powerful: do not misuse your political influence. Do not misuse your weaponry. Do not misuse your power. It says to the sinful torturers: do not torture. You are sinning. You are doing wrong. You are establishing the reign of hell on earth.
When the church hears the cry of the oppressed it cannot but denounce the social structures that give rise to and perpetuate the misery from which the cry arises.
- Archbishop Oscar Romero
· Mother Teresa and Archbishop Romero [Body & Soul]
