Thoughts? Child-sex industry is dwindling, thanks to Christians
- juansweetpotato
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Re: Thoughts? Child-sex industry is dwindling, thanks to Christians
Certainly. You have to remember that MFI's have been unregulated here for years, which is why, along with their portfolios of returns, I beleive the bigger banks are so interested in them. So, the data, as is the MFI industry data itself, is just an estimate.StroppyChops wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2017 9:38 pmCan you fill that out a little?juansweetpotato wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2017 9:37 pmIi was being serious. Estimates of between 12 to 15 % of land has been taken in default from MFI's in Cambodia. And they're probably the families that won't sell their daughters to mantain payments. It's a great big elephant.
But from what locals have been telling me, its on the button.
Opinion: Microcredit Sector Hits Wall of Own Making
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/opinion/o ... ng-129618/In the early 1990s, the microcredit model pioneered in Bangladesh by Dr. Muhammad Yunus came to Cambodia.
Today, Cambodia possesses one of the world’s largest and most profitable microcredit sectors. Recently, however, it has faced serious criticism for high levels of individual over-indebtedness, steep interest rates and high profits made by the largest microcredit institutions, many of which are now owned by foreign investment houses and commercial banks.
Indeed, thanks to the extent of over-indebtedness and microcredit (also known as micro- finance) market saturation, fears are growing that there may be a repeat in Cambodia of the disastrous “microcredit meltdown” that took place in Andhra Pradesh state in India in 2010.
There is therefore an urgent need for the Cambodian government to do something. Various measures have indeed been taken of late, notably the imposition of an interest rate cap of 18 percent on all new microloans. But it is also useful if we first come clean about what has gone wrong, why, and who is mainly responsible.
There are several fundamental flaws inherent to the basic micro- credit model. The first problem starts from the fact that Cambodia’s communities have for many years been pretty well served by the informal microenterprise sector. Most things the rural poor need to survive, they can very easily access—if they have the cash to do so.
Yet microcredit is supposed to work by encouraging many more of the poor to get into the business of supplying simple items and services to their neighbors, even if their neighbors don’t have any extra cash with which to purchase these additional items and services. The inevitable result is that new microenterprises mainly end up taking clients and demand away from existing, al- ready struggling microenterprises in a process that economists term “displacement.”
Importantly, because any additional jobs created in one new microenterprise are generally matched by employees dismissed in other microenterprises, the net number of jobs created in the community over the longer-term is typically much less than predicted.
Furthermore, even when some additional jobs are created, the added competition that results puts immediate downward pressure on local prices, which means that both new and existing microenterprises will suffer from reduced profits and wages. Ultra-competitive “pure” local markets, which microcredit helps create, are generally always associated with self-employment profits and wages pushed down to the very bare minimum of survival.
A second, longer-term problem in Cambodia is that informal microenterprises simply do not drive forward sustainable development. The surface appearance of frenetic entrepreneurial activity, very often misreported as evidence of great dynamism and innovation, belies the fact that informal microenterprises do not stimulate growth and development in the local economy. Very few informal microenterprises typically graduate into formal small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Above all, the problem is that Cambodia’s scarce financial resources have been wasted on creating many more “here today, but gone tomorrow” informal microenterprises, while far more productive and development-enhancing formal SMEs have historically been ignored since they are too risky and cannot pay high interest rates. This adverse form of financial intermediation has driven many local economies in Cambodia into a poverty trap.
Third, almost right from the start in Cambodia, its microcredit institutions were unwilling to advance a microloan without some form of physical collateral, typically land. Many poor individuals and families handed over their land certificate to a microcredit institution as collateral, but then lost it later on when their microenterprise went sour and they were unable to repay their microloan.
The inevitable result has been the gradual dispossession of land from the poor, many of whom were forced to migrate. Their land ended up in the hands of the microcredit institutions and then, usually for a large profit, passed on to plantation farmers, developers and other well-connected people and institutions. Estimates vary as to how significant this process has been—and few people wish to talk about it—but some knowledgeable analysts have said that as much as 10 to 15 percent of Cambodia’s land once owned by the poor has been lost in this way.
The long-term consequences of this process simply cannot be overstated. Landlessness is often seen by economists as the defining feature of a household that has plunged into irretrievable poverty. If we recall that Dr. Yunus’s famous Grameen Bank in Bangladesh was founded as an institution primarily to help the very poorest—its landless—it is disturbing to find that the micro- credit sector in Cambodia is help- ing drive its poor into landlessness.
The sour reality is that Cambodia’s microcredit sector has largely frustrated the effort to address poverty. Cramming more and more informal microenterprises into the local economy as a way of “resolving poverty” is simply economic nonsense.
Even worse, Cambodia’s largest microcredit institutions have evolved from their nongovernmental roots into Wall Street-style institutional structures that now exist mainly to advance the financial interests of the small elite that own and control them. And just like on Wall Street, the reckless lending strategies that were adopted in Cambodia to pursue this narrow goal have created the situation today where the entire financial system is in jeopardy.
What the Cambodian government does now remains to be seen. But it is to be hoped that any action will be based on the need to establish a local financial system that is genuinely assisting Cambodia’s poor to escape their plight, and not simply pretending to.
"Can you spare some cutter for an old man?"
- StroppyChops
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Re: Thoughts? Child-sex industry is dwindling, thanks to Christians
Ah, okay - so you're saying the regulation of the MFI has done as much/more to reduce child-sex trafficking as the agency efforts?juansweetpotato wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2017 9:57 pmCertainly. You have to remember that MFI's have been unregulated here for years, which is why, along with their portfolios of returns, I beleive the bigger banks are so interested in them. So, the data, as is the MFI industry data itself, is just an estimate.StroppyChops wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2017 9:38 pmCan you fill that out a little?juansweetpotato wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2017 9:37 pmIi was being serious. Estimates of between 12 to 15 % of land has been taken in default from MFI's in Cambodia. And they're probably the families that won't sell their daughters to mantain payments. It's a great big elephant.
But from what locals have been telling me, its on the button.
Opinion: Microcredit Sector Hits Wall of Own Makinghttps://www.cambodiadaily.com/opinion/o ... ng-129618/In the early 1990s, the microcredit model pioneered in Bangladesh by Dr. Muhammad Yunus came to Cambodia.
Today, Cambodia possesses one of the world’s largest and most profitable microcredit sectors. Recently, however, it has faced serious criticism for high levels of individual over-indebtedness, steep interest rates and high profits made by the largest microcredit institutions, many of which are now owned by foreign investment houses and commercial banks.
Indeed, thanks to the extent of over-indebtedness and microcredit (also known as micro- finance) market saturation, fears are growing that there may be a repeat in Cambodia of the disastrous “microcredit meltdown” that took place in Andhra Pradesh state in India in 2010.
There is therefore an urgent need for the Cambodian government to do something. Various measures have indeed been taken of late, notably the imposition of an interest rate cap of 18 percent on all new microloans. But it is also useful if we first come clean about what has gone wrong, why, and who is mainly responsible.
There are several fundamental flaws inherent to the basic micro- credit model. The first problem starts from the fact that Cambodia’s communities have for many years been pretty well served by the informal microenterprise sector. Most things the rural poor need to survive, they can very easily access—if they have the cash to do so.
Yet microcredit is supposed to work by encouraging many more of the poor to get into the business of supplying simple items and services to their neighbors, even if their neighbors don’t have any extra cash with which to purchase these additional items and services. The inevitable result is that new microenterprises mainly end up taking clients and demand away from existing, al- ready struggling microenterprises in a process that economists term “displacement.”
Importantly, because any additional jobs created in one new microenterprise are generally matched by employees dismissed in other microenterprises, the net number of jobs created in the community over the longer-term is typically much less than predicted.
Furthermore, even when some additional jobs are created, the added competition that results puts immediate downward pressure on local prices, which means that both new and existing microenterprises will suffer from reduced profits and wages. Ultra-competitive “pure” local markets, which microcredit helps create, are generally always associated with self-employment profits and wages pushed down to the very bare minimum of survival.
A second, longer-term problem in Cambodia is that informal microenterprises simply do not drive forward sustainable development. The surface appearance of frenetic entrepreneurial activity, very often misreported as evidence of great dynamism and innovation, belies the fact that informal microenterprises do not stimulate growth and development in the local economy. Very few informal microenterprises typically graduate into formal small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Above all, the problem is that Cambodia’s scarce financial resources have been wasted on creating many more “here today, but gone tomorrow” informal microenterprises, while far more productive and development-enhancing formal SMEs have historically been ignored since they are too risky and cannot pay high interest rates. This adverse form of financial intermediation has driven many local economies in Cambodia into a poverty trap.
Third, almost right from the start in Cambodia, its microcredit institutions were unwilling to advance a microloan without some form of physical collateral, typically land. Many poor individuals and families handed over their land certificate to a microcredit institution as collateral, but then lost it later on when their microenterprise went sour and they were unable to repay their microloan.
The inevitable result has been the gradual dispossession of land from the poor, many of whom were forced to migrate. Their land ended up in the hands of the microcredit institutions and then, usually for a large profit, passed on to plantation farmers, developers and other well-connected people and institutions. Estimates vary as to how significant this process has been—and few people wish to talk about it—but some knowledgeable analysts have said that as much as 10 to 15 percent of Cambodia’s land once owned by the poor has been lost in this way.
The long-term consequences of this process simply cannot be overstated. Landlessness is often seen by economists as the defining feature of a household that has plunged into irretrievable poverty. If we recall that Dr. Yunus’s famous Grameen Bank in Bangladesh was founded as an institution primarily to help the very poorest—its landless—it is disturbing to find that the micro- credit sector in Cambodia is help- ing drive its poor into landlessness.
The sour reality is that Cambodia’s microcredit sector has largely frustrated the effort to address poverty. Cramming more and more informal microenterprises into the local economy as a way of “resolving poverty” is simply economic nonsense.
Even worse, Cambodia’s largest microcredit institutions have evolved from their nongovernmental roots into Wall Street-style institutional structures that now exist mainly to advance the financial interests of the small elite that own and control them. And just like on Wall Street, the reckless lending strategies that were adopted in Cambodia to pursue this narrow goal have created the situation today where the entire financial system is in jeopardy.
What the Cambodian government does now remains to be seen. But it is to be hoped that any action will be based on the need to establish a local financial system that is genuinely assisting Cambodia’s poor to escape their plight, and not simply pretending to.
If this is so, will those borrowers from MFIs not just revert back to the local loan-sharks in every market?
Bodge: This ain't Kansas, and the neighbours ate Toto!
- juansweetpotato
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Re: Thoughts? Child-sex industry is dwindling, thanks to Christians
No, I beleive they have contributed to the problem. Far more places of prostition in Cambodia since a certain section of society got wealthy. The poor are in pretty bad shape most of the time, and contrary to popular barang opinion, MFI loans have been a contributory factor.StroppyChops wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2017 10:02 pm ]
Ah, okay - so you're saying the regulation of the MFI has done as much/more to reduce child-sex trafficking as the agency efforts?
If this is so, will those borrowers from MFIs not just revert back to the local loan-sharks in every market?
The trouble with the Christian groups is they have no control over child sex offenders unless they hail from the west.
Sure you read about Cambodian parents and traffickers being arrested, but I'm almost certain they just pay a bribe being locals. As do some of the wealthier western offenders. That guy in Siemp Reap for example.
Cambodians are used to making monetary deals even when their child has been raped. I'm sure the majority must feel awful about this state of affairs. Time for a change.
Unsurprisingly, there is a direct link between poverty and prostitution.
Have the Christians made a difference? Yes, I'm sure some of them have, but a lot more work needs to be done.And by the Cambodian people, otherwise it's just a panacea. Better than nothing, some of the time. I think you've heard the bad stories.
The MFI regulations are a big joke. A new credit bureaux, and the highest caps in SEA. They're stll allowed to charge 18% interest on small loans. The new ones that is. Better than 38% though.
Over 2 million people have taken out MFI loans now, that's quite a percentage of the Cambodian population.
I'll answer your query about whether being pushed into more traditional borrowing situations is better or worse when I find the article.Don't forget mobile banking such as Wing. It allows speedy and relatively cheap instant money tranfers to where people need it. OK if you have a family .member in Thailand or one of the cities.
"Can you spare some cutter for an old man?"
- John Bingham
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Re: Thoughts? Child-sex industry is dwindling, thanks to Christians
Can you give a source for that? Most studies seem to indicate a huge decline.juansweetpotato wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2017 11:22 pm Far more places of prostition in Cambodia since a certain section of society got wealthy.
This thread had the potential for some interesting discussion
but alas has been derailed completely by memes and personal obsessions.
Silence, exile, and cunning.
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Re: Thoughts? Child-sex industry is dwindling, thanks to Christians
Prostitution is NOW far less visible that it was two decades ago, having largely disappeared inside the walls of KTV places.
- vladimir
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Re: Thoughts? Child-sex industry is dwindling, thanks to Christians
The middle class has obviously grown, and in urban areas there has been dramatic growth in incomes...obviously people with money generally don't (physically) prostitute themselves.
I think the point about debt being a case has to be seen in context, borrowers are poor and desperate, and that's a p erfect combination for prostitution
I think the point about debt being a case has to be seen in context, borrowers are poor and desperate, and that's a p erfect combination for prostitution
Jesus loves you...Mexico is great, right?
- juansweetpotato
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Re: Thoughts? Child-sex industry is dwindling, thanks to Christians
Here's a reminder of what the Christians have absolutely no effect upon. And it's only a small part of the sex industry here.
KTVs, beer gardens, massage shops, beauty salons, brothels etc. All catering to the Asian market.
This from the Guardian 2014
https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... -sex-trade
KTVs, beer gardens, massage shops, beauty salons, brothels etc. All catering to the Asian market.
This from the Guardian 2014
https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... -sex-trade
Virginity for sale: inside Cambodia's shocking tradeSpoiler:
"Can you spare some cutter for an old man?"
Re: Thoughts? Child-sex industry is dwindling, thanks to Christians
Thing is though, Christians (not church-goers) are bar far and large the only ones really willing to go and do something about a problem. That I have respect for, and the world would be a better place if people gave a damn like them.juansweetpotato wrote: ↑Wed May 31, 2017 10:30 am Here's a reminder of what the Christians have absolutely no effect upon. And it's only a small part of the sex industry here.
KTVs, beer gardens, massage shops, beauty salons, brothels etc. All catering to the Asian market.
This from the Guardian 2014
https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... -sex-trade
Virginity for sale: inside Cambodia's shocking tradeSpoiler:
I do not know of a single one of my atheist friends who ever made a siginifcant sacrifice of their time and money to help other people, but I know of several hundred Christians who have given years of their lives to help others whom they perceived in need.
Don't get me wrong, I think a lot of them are naive and a bit delusional, but I can't fault them as people.
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- StroppyChops
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Re: Thoughts? Child-sex industry is dwindling, thanks to Christians
Thanks, I wasn't sure that I was reading you right, so the clarification is appreciated. I personally don't think MFI loans are a solution if it can't be demonstrated that the borrower can service the loan with their existing income stream or with a reasonably projected income stream generated using the loan - and this does NOT include opening a laundry, mum-and-dad shop, tuk-tuk, or fried food stand in front of your house when the area is already saturated. In these cases, I think the approval of an MFI loan is wrong, and usury. That an MFI loan has a lower interest rate than a market-place loan-shark really doesn't mitigate the wrongness of it, but your point is well taken.juansweetpotato wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2017 11:22 pm No, I beleive they have contributed to the problem. Far more places of prostition in Cambodia since a certain section of society got wealthy. The poor are in pretty bad shape most of the time, and contrary to popular barang opinion, MFI loans have been a contributory factor.
The trouble with the Christian groups is they have no control over child sex offenders unless they hail from the west.
Sure you read about Cambodian parents and traffickers being arrested, but I'm almost certain they just pay a bribe being locals. As do some of the wealthier western offenders. That guy in Siemp Reap for example.
Cambodians are used to making monetary deals even when their child has been raped. I'm sure the majority must feel awful about this state of affairs. Time for a change.
Unsurprisingly, there is a direct link between poverty and prostitution.
Have the Christians made a difference? Yes, I'm sure some of them have, but a lot more work needs to be done.And by the Cambodian people, otherwise it's just a panacea. Better than nothing, some of the time. I think you've heard the bad stories.
The MFI regulations are a big joke. A new credit bureaux, and the highest caps in SEA. They're stll allowed to charge 18% interest on small loans. The new ones that is. Better than 38% though.
Over 2 million people have taken out MFI loans now, that's quite a percentage of the Cambodian population.
I'll answer your query about whether being pushed into more traditional borrowing situations is better or worse when I find the article.Don't forget mobile banking such as Wing. It allows speedy and relatively cheap instant money tranfers to where people need it. OK if you have a family .member in Thailand or one of the cities.
I've read a book called "When Helping Hurts" that describes many of the ways in which well-meaning outsiders, and especially Christians, do more damage than good. Giving money away randomly or unconditionally seems to be the greatest cause of damage. The book does recommend community finance groups, and I think this is the better option over MFIs, banks, and loan-sharks. It needs to be run by and for locals, though.
I agree with JB, the only information I'm seeing is that child-prostitution is on the rapid decline, irregardless of the growing upperclass. Where are you getting your information, please?John Bingham wrote: ↑Wed May 31, 2017 1:39 amCan you give a source for that? Most studies seem to indicate a huge decline.juansweetpotato wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2017 11:22 pm Far more places of prostition in Cambodia since a certain section of society got wealthy.
This thread had the potential for some interesting discussion
but alas has been derailed completely by memes and personal obsessions.
I also agree with JB that this thread has the potential for great discussion but was derailed (and I myself posted some memes) - I've wondered in my absence if CEO would benefit from having a few heavily-moderated threads. This would be a great one to have as a moderated sticky thread, as would the visa/extension discussion.
Yes, this - generally in developing countries prostitution is a response to poverty. Decreasing poverty generally leads to decreasing prostitution. The whole debt/loan shark thing is an element of that, with an unfortunate outcome being children born into debt slavery.vladimir wrote: ↑Wed May 31, 2017 7:45 am The middle class has obviously grown, and in urban areas there has been dramatic growth in incomes...obviously people with money generally don't (physically) prostitute themselves.
I think the point about debt being a case has to be seen in context, borrowers are poor and desperate, and that's a perfect combination for prostitution
I like your distinction between Christians and church-goers - if only everyone understood this. I find it very difficult loving Churchians as the Good Word tells me to, they are often a blight on humanity. Still, we are all less than perfect.AE86 wrote: ↑Wed May 31, 2017 11:06 amThing is though, Christians (not church-goers) are bar far and large the only ones really willing to go and do something about a problem. That I have respect for, and the world would be a better place if people gave a damn like them.juansweetpotato wrote: ↑Wed May 31, 2017 10:30 am Here's a reminder of what the Christians have absolutely no effect upon. And it's only a small part of the sex industry here.
KTVs, beer gardens, massage shops, beauty salons, brothels etc. All catering to the Asian market.
This from the Guardian 2014
https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... -sex-trade
I do not know of a single one of my atheist friends who ever made a siginifcant sacrifice of their time and money to help other people, but I know of several hundred Christians who have given years of their lives to help others whom they perceived in need.
Don't get me wrong, I think a lot of them are naive and a bit delusional, but I can't fault them as people.
It's a shame you don't have any atheist friends that have made a significant sacrifice, I know only a few but they are world-changers. But yes, in my experience, the big change-makers are people of faith (as opposed to the religious, or Churchians).
Edit: correct an errant too/to
Bodge: This ain't Kansas, and the neighbours ate Toto!
- juansweetpotato
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Re: Thoughts? Child-sex industry is dwindling, thanks to Christians
You re not C of E are you?StroppyChops wrote: ↑Wed May 31, 2017 5:17 pmThanks, I wasn't sure that I was reading you right, so the clarification is appreciated. I personally don't think MFI loans are a solution if it can't be demonstrated that the borrower can service the loan with their existing income stream or with a reasonably projected income stream generated using the loan - and this does NOT include opening a laundry, mum-and-dad shop, tuk-tuk, or fried food stand in front of your house when the area is already saturated. In these cases, I think the approval of an MFI loan is wrong, and usury. That an MFI loan has a lower interest rate than a market-place loan-shark really doesn't mitigate the wrongness of it, but your point is well taken.juansweetpotato wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2017 11:22 pm No, I beleive they have contributed to the problem. Far more places of prostition in Cambodia since a certain section of society got wealthy. The poor are in pretty bad shape most of the time, and contrary to popular barang opinion, MFI loans have been a contributory factor.
The trouble with the Christian groups is they have no control over child sex offenders unless they hail from the west.
Sure you read about Cambodian parents and traffickers being arrested, but I'm almost certain they just pay a bribe being locals. As do some of the wealthier western offenders. That guy in Siemp Reap for example.
Cambodians are used to making monetary deals even when their child has been raped. I'm sure the majority must feel awful about this state of affairs. Time for a change.
Unsurprisingly, there is a direct link between poverty and prostitution.
Have the Christians made a difference? Yes, I'm sure some of them have, but a lot more work needs to be done.And by the Cambodian people, otherwise it's just a panacea. Better than nothing, some of the time. I think you've heard the bad stories.
The MFI regulations are a big joke. A new credit bureaux, and the highest caps in SEA. They're stll allowed to charge 18% interest on small loans. The new ones that is. Better than 38% though.
Over 2 million people have taken out MFI loans now, that's quite a percentage of the Cambodian population.
I'll answer your query about whether being pushed into more traditional borrowing situations is better or worse when I find the article.Don't forget mobile banking such as Wing. It allows speedy and relatively cheap instant money tranfers to where people need it. OK if you have a family .member in Thailand or one of the cities.
I've read a book called "When Helping Hurts" that describes many of the ways in which well-meaning outsiders, and especially Christians, do more damage than good. Giving money away randomly or unconditionally seems to be the greatest cause of damage. The book does recommend community finance groups, and I think this is the better option over MFIs, banks, and loan-sharks. It needs to be run by and for locals, though.
I agree with JB, the only information I'm seeing is that child-prostitution is on the rapid decline, irregardless of the growing upperclass. Where are you getting your information, please?John Bingham wrote: ↑Wed May 31, 2017 1:39 amCan you give a source for that? Most studies seem to indicate a huge decline.juansweetpotato wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2017 11:22 pm Far more places of prostition in Cambodia since a certain section of society got wealthy.
This thread had the potential for some interesting discussion
but alas has been derailed completely by memes and personal obsessions.
I also agree with JB that this thread has the potential for great discussion but was derailed (and I myself posted some memes) - I've wondered in my absence if CEO would benefit from having a few heavily-moderated threads. This would be a great one to have as a moderated sticky thread, as would the visa/extension discussion.
Yes, this - generally in developing countries prostitution is a response to poverty. Decreasing poverty generally leads to decreasing prostitution. The whole debt/loan shark thing is an element of that, with an unfortunate outcome being children born into debt slavery.vladimir wrote: ↑Wed May 31, 2017 7:45 am The middle class has obviously grown, and in urban areas there has been dramatic growth in incomes...obviously people with money generally don't (physically) prostitute themselves.
I think the point about debt being a case has to be seen in context, borrowers are poor and desperate, and that's a perfect combination for prostitution
I like your distinction between Christians and church-goers - if only everyone understood this. I find it very difficult loving Churchians as the Good Word tells me to, they are often a blight on humanity. Still, we are all less than perfect.AE86 wrote: ↑Wed May 31, 2017 11:06 amThing is though, Christians (not church-goers) are bar far and large the only ones really willing to go and do something about a problem. That I have respect for, and the world would be a better place if people gave a damn like them.juansweetpotato wrote: ↑Wed May 31, 2017 10:30 am Here's a reminder of what the Christians have absolutely no effect upon. And it's only a small part of the sex industry here.
KTVs, beer gardens, massage shops, beauty salons, brothels etc. All catering to the Asian market.
This from the Guardian 2014
https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... -sex-trade
I do not know of a single one of my atheist friends who ever made a siginifcant sacrifice of their time and money to help other people, but I know of several hundred Christians who have given years of their lives to help others whom they perceived in need.
Don't get me wrong, I think a lot of them are naive and a bit delusional, but I can't fault them as people.
It's a shame you don't have any atheist friends that have made a significant sacrifice, I know only a few but they are world-changers. But yes, in my experience, the big change-makers are people of faith (as opposed to the religious, or Churchians).
Edit: correct an errant too/to
"Can you spare some cutter for an old man?"
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