Current Events & Trends: Greek crime rises as financial crisis continues
The Greek financial crisis is still lingering. The southern Balkan nation has been struggling economically and has been dead weight for the European Union for some time now. Greek leaders have gone back and forth on solutions and bailouts with the EU yet continue to struggle to get their fiscal feet back on stable ground.
Citizens are preparing for an exit from the euro currency (dubbed as “Grexit”). Some wealthier Greeks are stashing cash in banks outside of the country. Many in the middle class are keeping cash and other valuables of worth like gold jewelry.
The New York Times reported that “Greek crime statistics released last week hinted at a dark side to the secreting of all those valuables. Across Greece the most serious crime is down or stable over all, but reports of burglaries and robberies were on the rise for the first six months of the year, suggesting that the hidden valuables had become enticing targets for thieves.”
Desperation doesn’t always bring about the soundest judgment. The world is not in a state that God wanted for us—with its suffering and lack of resources. When God was working closely with the people of Israel in ancient times, He gave them the personal responsibility of making sure others were taken care of. We remember the story of Ruth gleaning (picking up dropped crops after farmers) in Boaz’s field. That was a command to let those in need pick up the leftovers. God wanted people to ensure that the lowest among us were taken care of.
It’s painful to see desperation, even from afar. Some are taking advantage of the current situation of more individuals storing valuables in their homes. A time is coming when Jesus will return and establish a perfect society wherein all will learn the right way to live.
Time will tell how things will pan out for the relationship between Greece and the EU, but it certainly bears watching. (Source: The New York Times.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: September - October 2015
Course Content
Rudolph Rangel III
Rudy Rangel attends the Cincinnati East, Ohio congregation along with his wife Judy and two children.
Tom Robinson
Tom is an elder in the United Church of God who works from his home near St. Louis, Missouri as managing editor and senior writer for Beyond Today magazine, church study guides and the UCG Bible Commentary. He is a visiting instructor at Ambassador Bible College. And he serves as chairman of the church's Prophecy Advisory Committee and a member of the Fundamental Beliefs Amendment Committee.
Tom began attending God's Church at the age of 16 in 1985 and was baptized a year later. He attended Ambassador College in both Texas and California and served for a year as a history teacher at the college's overseas project in Sri Lanka. He graduated from the Texas campus in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in theology along with minors in English and mass communications. Since 1994, he has been employed as an editor and writer for church publications and has served in local congregations through regular preaching of sermons.
Tom was ordained to the ministry in 2012 and attends the Columbia-Fulton, Missouri congregation with his wife Donna and their two teen children.
