Why is it that everywhere i travel in the world that the more the people believe in God the worse off they are

There are no facts to support your statement. The U.S.A. is a country where the majority are religious, attend church and have faith in God and the people prosper. The Communist Countries are countries where the majority are not religious, do not attend church and have no faith in God and the people are poor and suffering. It seems to me that it has more to do with the form of government the people select and the peoples ability to maintain control over that government.

There certainly are countries that have deep roots in the church and religion that are poor such as Mexico and the Philippines, but the root cause of the poverty in those countries are not the peoples faith in God. I have been a Priest in Mexico and the Philippines and in both countries I have found the peoples faith is more in the Church, Saints, Mary and superstition than in God.

You are mistaken in trying to equate fatih in God and faith in religion as the same. Faith in God and faith in religion, faith in God and faith in the Church are not the same.

A true believer in God would know that God has given us talents and gifts to do for ourselves. A true believer in God would know that God is not going to do anything for us that God has prepared us to do for ourselves. God has given us the ability to grow abundant crops to feed the people of the world, but man out of his geed allows chidren to die of starvation every hour of the day. God gave us a simple formula to prevent wars "love", but man out of his greed and desire for power chooses war over peace. God has instructed us to take care of our bodies yet we over eat, drink alcohol, indulge ourselves in illegal drugs and look for pleasure in risky sexual behaviours. God has instructed us to take care of the poor, the orphans and the widows it is man that has chosen to ignore them and perhaps spend money on "World Travel" that could have been put to a better use if put towards feeding and educating under privledged children. God has allowed man to develop drugs for malaria, T.B. pneumonia, HIV, polio, etc. but it is man's greed for money that keeps these drugs out of the hands of the poor around the world. God instructed us to deal fairly with others and not to cheat others yet man has chosen corruption.

As long as people avoid their responsiblities by blaming God instead of assuming their responsibilities for mankind and the environment the suffering and destruction will continue. People should have faith that God will give them the wisdom to do the right thing, but not expect God to do it for them.

The simple fact is in the poorest countries you may find more people turning to God out of desperation not out of faith because all else has failed them - the world has failed them - the government has failed them - you and I have failed them but it is not God that has failed them.

I'm a Christian. I celebrate a variety of winter holidays, including both Christmas and Yule. I grew up attending Christian schools, and somewhere around first grade, we were taught about the pre-Christian roots of Christmas. But we still celebrated it, as my church has done for many centuries. It's a day in which we acknowledge Christ's earthly incarnation. However, it has rather obvious Pagan roots. But that's never been a problem for me. Many Christian observances (Easter is another obvious example) have a pre-Christian past. So what? It doesn't mean that the holiday isn't worth celebrating. I have no problem in taking a day and devoting it to the memory of Christ's birth. I also don't have a problem with observing the Winter Solstice.

Well it's a little now or a whole lot later. Have you ever read a Bible? Well, if not there is a story about a rich man and a begger, If you get the opportunity to read this story I believe it will clear alot of that up for you.

I am not trying to be a moron to you or anything because I have been exactly where you are for most of my life.But you see what you see here will be reversed in the part of our existence that lasts the longest. You see down here we strain at a gnat (which is the little bit of suffering we go through down here) but most people swallow a camel (by not caring about the fact that they will have to suffer tremendously for a hell of a lot longer). If you ask me, I'll do my time here. Take care and may God bless you spiritually.

Especially in developing Catholic countries, when you have poor populations that are taught that birth control and abortion is a sin, the result is inevitable. Many religions are based on doctrines that are thousands of years old, and unfortunately are not practical in today's world. Impoverished and hopeless people also seem to gravitate to religion as a way to explain their purpose in life. I'm sure many will disagree, but my feeling is that when you combine corrupt governments with religions such as Catholicism and other religions as well, the people have little or no chance to ever improve their situation in life.

for this world we live in is only temporary and it's not our final destination. to follow God is not easy. it's full of self denial and sacrifices. the ways of this world is so easy. God hears the cry of the poor and the oppressed. Phils might be poor in wealth (this is the source of our hardships and sufferings) but rich with faith that can move mountains. we're praying and waiting for the next Solomon. a leader who will choose wisdom rather than wealth. the leaders of the Phils right now are choosing wealth than wisdom.

the people who are already suffering has to have someone or something to cling on to. that's why they came up with gods or anything to worship so they can have this thinking that the situation they have now would soon turn to be a better one if they we're saved or if they would be helped soon.

it was the situation first that existed then came the beliefs in gods. the belief in god and anything was created out of that poor situation..

You can't jump to that conclusion that easily (well... you can; you're just doing it. Let's say that you shouldn't). You have to look, for instance, to religiously grounded elites, which owe their high standards of living to religion. Or, you just go down to Texas: the more redneck and fanatic the people, the wealthier. However, by and far, it's true that poverty and powerlessness are closely related to religious fervour, but a cause/effect connection cannot be that easily suggested. It's more complicated than it looks at first sight.

The Bible says that the people of God will be going through a series of tests to purify their faith just like gold being put under fire to test its purity. These tests and/or suffering would make His people come to God, pray often and ask for His help in order to survive daily. That way you would be closer to Him. It's for His people's benefits afterwards.

So ask yourself now, "Why is it that life comes so easy for me? Do God treat me as one of His people?"

Probably because people forget God, when things are going well and they remember God when things are going bad. Think about your own life experiences and those around you.

Maybe some people believe god will do it for them and they don't make the effort or create opportunities to help themselves.