justice
user345
SOCIALJUSTICEMod8Rev.pptxSOCIAL JUSTICE
What Is Social Justice?
A concern for JUSTICE has a long history in the Judaeo-Christian tradition, going back to early layers of the Old Testament.
In simple terms, in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, “justice” refers to “acting justly or righteously,” that is, it basically means “doing right” by people.
When God makes the Covenant with the People of Israel, an essential stipulation is that they are to “do right” by one another, and even to “do right” by those who are strangers and aliens. They are to treat others the way that God has treated them!
Jesus continues this Old Testament understanding of “doing right by” with his proclamation of the Kingdom of God: the coming of God’s Reign means the “making right” of everything in God’s world; and those who would be part of God’s Reign must act and treat others in the way that corresponds with God’s own righteousness.
Practical Discipleship
Christ’s Mission: Proclaim and Enact the KINGDOM/REIGN/RULE OF GOD
God’s reign counteracts the reign of sin, the culture of death, and the culture of violence; it sets right what has been made wrong and broken by sin
God’s reign calls for a radical redirection of life (metanoia): “Repent and believe in the Good News” (Mark 1:15).
Metanoia – ongoing process of orienting oneself to God
Practical Discipleship
God’s reign requires living according to the “mindset,” values, attitudes, and life patterns of the Kingdom
It means bringing human life and the entire world into correspondence with God’s designs through the way one lives and interacts with other persons
“Thy Kingdom come = thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”
The Kingdom of God
The world
the way
God
intended
it to be
Although there are many explicit statements about how and how not to live in the Bible, in Scripture morality is not so much about rules as it is fundamentally about RELATIONSHIP.
In the Bible, the morality of specific human behaviors is always addressed “in the context of an overriding concern to build a faithful relationship with God and others” (Massaro, 59).
“Personal” Morality
This is what most people tend to think of when it comes to morality: what are INDIVIDUALS supposed to do or not do?
What kind of PERSONS ought we to be?
What kind of ACTIONS ought we to do?
The Social Dimension
Responsibilities to the human family include not only PERSONAL moral lives, but also the SOCIAL dimensions that provide the over-arching framework within which we live and that makes our lives possible. Put another way, the personal level of individual morality is not the only one where righteousness is or is not carried out. Morality is also on the level of SOCIAL STRUCTURES: social systems themselves may be just or unjust, moral or immoral.
“Social” Morality
The Reign of God encompasses all dimensions of human existence, including the social
Christian morality is concerned not merely with human beings as individuals but also in the totality of their relationships, including their social arrangements
What kind of COMMUNITIES ought we to build?
What kinds of social arrangements correspond to God’s rule?
Social Morality
Social Justice:
Justice: pertains to the person’s rights and the duties corresponding to those rights
SOCIAL justice goes further: the right ordering of SOCIETY, so that ALL persons are able to have basic human rights, to fulfill the corresponding responsibilities, and participate fully in the life of society.
Social Justice: relates to the obligation of all parties to apply the gospel to the structures, systems, and institutions of society which are the framework within which all humans live and all human relationships take place
Social Justice
Social justice is about INCLUSIVENESS.
Who is included and who is not? Who has access and who does not?
Who is excluded? Who is denied access, and why, and how?
God’s Reign is all-inclusive, intended for everyone.
Social Justice
Social justice means that a SOCIETY is just, that the SYSTEMS through which it functions – not merely individual people – are just.
Social Justice
The Call to Social Justice:
“Justice and freedom are God’s gift to all. When people live under an unjust regime, when they are shackled by political, social or economic conditions that deprive them of their sense of freedom as children of God, then not only is God denied but the heart of the gospel is ignored. Justice, freedom and peace belong to and form part of the Christian heritage and also part of Christian responsibility” (John O’Grady, 315).
Social Justice
Particularly since 1891, the Catholic Church has developed a strong tradition of teaching on social justice:
Rerum Novarum (Leo XIII,1891): on the rights of workers
Quadragesimo Anno (Pius XI, 1931): introduced the concept of social justice as a guiding principle for social institutions and the economic order
Mater et Magistra (John XXIII, 1961): noted growing gap between rich and poor; called for reconstruction of social relationships
Pacem in Terris (John XXIII, 1963): first official document to deal with nuclear weapons; insisted that all have the responsibility to protect life
Social Justice
Gaudium et Spes (Vatican II, 1965): the church is in solidarity with humankind’s search for authentic human life; human dignity; life is lived in community; equal dignity requires humane conditions for all; social justice and peace are necessary for this; institutions should be at the service of humankind; common good; thus, social justice is part of the church’s mission. The second section of the document addresses areas of special concern: the dignity of marriage and the family; proper development of culture; economic and social life; the political community; the fostering of peace and establishment of a community of nations.
Social Justice
De Justitia in Mundo (Third Synod of Bishops, 1971): “Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the gospel, or, in other words, of the Church’s mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation.”
Social Justice
John Paul II: In several speeches and encyclicals (Laborem Exercens, 1981; Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 1987; Centesimus Annus, 1991), reaffirms justice as constitutive for the church; inhumane conditions distort human dignity, which is derived from Christ; insists on “option for the poor.”
Social Justice
John Paul II: Evangelium Vitae, 1995: asks all to affirm life; notes examples of lack of respect for life (unjust distribution of resources, violence, war, arms trade, ecological destruction, drugs, dangerous sexual activities, limiting beginning and end of life, death penalty, experimentation on fetuses, euthanasia, suicide); calls for special concern for the poor, single mothers, mentally ill, those with addictions or AIDS, the disabled.
Social Justice
USCCB: The US Catholic Bishops have published several teaching documents on social justice issues, including:
- The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response (1983)
- Economic Justice for All: Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy (1986)
- Brothers and Sisters to Us: Pastoral Letter on Racism (1979)
Social Justice
USCCB:
- Everyday Christianity: To Hunger and Thirst for Justice: A Pastoral Reflection on Lay Discipleship for Justice in a New Millennium (1999): “How can we best carry the values of our faith into family life, the market place and the public square? How do we love our neighbor, pursue peace and seek justice in everyday choices and commitments? . . . Every believer is called to serve ‘the least of these,’ to ‘hunger and thirst for justice,’ to be a ‘peacemaker.’ Catholics are called by God to protect human life, to promote human dignity, to defend the poor and to seek the common good. This social mission of the Church belongs to all of us. It is an essential part of what it is to be a believer.”
Social Morality
Importance of the social dimension:
“The quality of life in society, the justice of its mode of organization the orientation of its structures and systems (e.g., political, legal, economic, social, educational, religious) will either enhance or retard the full human development of the person” (McBrien, 944).
Social Morality
“Efforts toward the fulfillment of human needs, the protection of human rights, and the realization of structures of genuine mutuality are consequences of faith in the saving power of Christ’s death and resurrection” (McBrien, 947).
Social Justice
“If the movement of history is toward the Kingdom of God – a Kingdom of ‘justice, love, and peace’ [Gaudium et Spes, 39] – the pursuit of justice is itself part of this movement” (Mc Brien, 946).
