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Originally Posted by All Systems Go
Person A, by choosing to live with slightly lower living standards could donate more money to charity and save potentially thouands of lives. He does not choose to do this. Person A knows that every penny he spends on some useless gadget for his own short-term amusement could have gone on helping others. this is something he knows, but chooses not to think about.
His actions have a direct impact on the less fortunate and in some cases result in the death of others due to his inaction.
Assuming he repents the rest of his sins (but not this one because he doesn't really think of it as a sin), will this person go to hell for allowing thousands of people to die so he could have a more comfortable lifestyle?
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I was waiting for a person B somewhere in there. Seriously though, his actions have an indirect, not a direct, impact. Nor does he know that by devoting some of his wealth things will actually be improved and lives saved, as he depends on somebody else to utilise any finances he would commit (unless he also intends to become a missionary).
That gadget he has purchased may well have been manufactured in very poor areas where his money is also vital to others. There is no way to make a positive and definite link between his inaction and a loss of lives in a poorer country. Even if there were, if he did not realise that he is commiting a sin (and by that I don't mean to say that he is ignorant), then he will not be punished for it. It is for God to enlighten person A.