Out here, due process is a bullet

I’ll venture a few more observations about Randal Rauser and his faux concern for the plight of the poor. My basic problem with Randal’s “recommendations” is that he’s just a poseur. It’s not about doing good, but feeling good. Feeling swell about ourselves. Feel-good measures that flatter the radical chic showboaters, but don’t solve any problems. Indeed, “solutions” that worsen old problems and make new problems.

1.Why don’t I look to Peter Singer or Peter Unger for advice on how to alleviate global poverty?

i) I wouldn’t look to them for moral advice for the obvious reason that is, by definition, ethics is a value-laden enterprise, and guys like Unger and Singer are the wrong place to look for moral guidance. Evangelical ethicists and Bible scholars are the first resort.

ii) Moreover, the causes and “solutions” to poverty are largely tied to economics, and I don’t expect philosophers like Unger and Singer to be competent on the economic factors which contribute to, or ameliorate, poverty.

Some philosophers like the late Ronald Nash are more conversant with basic economic principles, but that’s rare. And even if you have a solid grasp of economic principles, it also takes a lot of topical knowledge about the world economy, as well as specific localities, to address poverty.

2. Furthermore, while poverty is often solvable in principle, it’s often unsolvable in practice if there’s a lack of will on the ground to do what’s necessary.

There are many parts of the world where poverty is due to entrenched dysfunctional cultures: “Out here, due process is a bullet.”

What’s the realistic solution to endemic poverty in Somalia? UNICEF? I don’t think so.

3. There are, of course, Christian charities and parachurch ministries that are doing good work. You also have individuals who do their part. I think that David Alan Black makes yearly trips to Ethiopia, to volunteer his services. Allen Yeh does that sort of thing as well.

You also have Bible scholars like R. T. France and O. P. Robertson who have devoted years to teaching fulltime at African seminaries. And, of course, there are many foreign missionaries who labor in faithful obscurity.