The image that TV shows like Willie Revilliame’s Willing Willie (ABC TV5) and formerly Wowowee (ABS-CBN) like to portray is that they rescue people from poverty. An industry that is bent on making money through TV ratings tries to add a facade of respectability by saying it stands for helping the poor. However, the reality about these shows is that it indirectly creates a culture of dependency in the Philippines.
Blogger Tony says, …the show spreads the false sense of hope that the poorest of the poor could only achieve both reprieve and redemption from their plight by way of an altruistic idol.
Questions are, does the overload of million-peso and pangkabuhayan showcase giveaways on TV really show true concern for those in need? Or, does the culture of dependency it creates only breed a new form of "slavery" in which the rich and popular is the new "great giver" that doles out "prosperity" and "hope" to whom is deemed worthy? What do you think?
Recommended reading, Willing Willie Hope for Poor Filipinos (Asian Correspondent)
Rick Warren’s article has a clear Christian worldview perspective on the subject of dependency and prosperity.
Whatever your need is – physical, emotional, relational, spiritual, whether it is the need in your body, in your mind, or a need in your soul or a need in your spirit – God says ‘I will take care of that need if you will depend on me.
There’s nothing I need that God can’t supply... It means that as a child of God, as a follower of Christ I should never, and you should never, have a scarcity mentality.
What is the scarcity mentality? Scarcity mentality says, ‘I’m afraid there isn’t enough. There isn’t enough to go around. So I’m going to panic, I’m going to worry. I’m going to get anxious, I’m going to be afraid.' There’s more than enough to go around friends.
The number one way that God tests your faith? Money.
God wants to know: Are you going to worry, or are you going to trust me? … When I meet others' needs, God takes care of mine.
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