In Defense of the Vatican (Never Thought I Would)

In response to Tyler - full post here

There are a few problems with this argument. Firstly, I think it would bad to incorrectly assume that allotting a large sum of money to impoverished nations would solve all of the poverty problems. In fact, I think that quite the opposite is the case. Any redistribution of money only perpetuates the problem. The problem with poverty is a symptom of our society and its economic system; sending money to the impoverished nations is treating a symptom and not treating the disease that hides behind it.

Secondly, it would be an incredibly poor choice to threaten the Vatican given that the largest denomination of Christianity is Catholicism (comprising of almost 50%). Catholics exist all over the world and attacking the Vatican would undoubtedly cause World War III; it would be war between all countries and religions, and that, sir, would help absolutely nobody. I do not think that it is possible to take up arms against the Vatican without the consequence of starting a war, which would make this method the least effective when we are forced to spend large sums of money on supporting an army.

Thirdly, I do not think that it would at all be a morally correct to attack or threaten to attack the Vatican, because, again, it will probably result in many deaths. Additionally, threatening the lives of many people who are not actively contributing to the poverty problem (not the most responsible), is not moral. The Vatican is simply retaining wealth, meaning that it does not spend it often. The United States, however, along with other European nations are actively stealing resources from impoverished nations. They then try to cloud that up by donating a portion of their profits back to the people from whom they stole resources.

Finally, the Vatican receives it's money through tourism and from the donations of those who consider the catholic church to be more worth of their money than a poverty relief organization. The Vatican cannot be blamed because a large number of people continue to give them money. Granted, they do ask for it, but people do not have to act according to the Pope's requisition. If people gave their money to those organizations rather than the catholic church, it would accomplish a similar goal to what you are suggesting, without causing World War III. Not that I think the goal of your plan actually does any good.