Jesus commanded His followers to serve the needy, help the sick, and minister to the suffering. Where karma fails to encourage a believer to serve the community around them, Jesus succeeds.

A common feature among the Yogic religions (which include Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, among others) is the concept of karma. Karma “is the cosmic law of cause and effect that ensures that whatever a person does, good or bad, has ultimate consequences.”^[1] Such consequences are distributed through the process of reincarnation “into a better status if a person has behaved well; if badly, a person can be reborn and pay for past sins by suffering.”^[2] But if a person’s circumstances are the result of karma, should anyone seek to try to help their common man?

When one sees a person struggling through life or suffering from some affliction, it may be natural to feel a certain sense of compassion.^[3] Yet, under a karmic worldview, one’s suffering is justice done as a result of the bad deeds of a prior life. If suffering poverty, etc, is what a person deserves, by what right would anyone else feel they should alleviate it?

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