Social Justice revisited with a great post by an old friend

Original posting of "State of the Nation" is at The Desk of Brian (www.DeskofBrian.com) Read it here: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/socialjusticerevisitedwithagreatpostbyanoldfriend

I recently posted an article on Glenn Beck vs. Social Justice in the churches: Beck instigates "Social Justice" debate over codewords at churches

There was immediate fallout from Beck's comments and frankly, I agree his assertion: "social justice" is a leftist codeword and does NOT belong in the church.

Of course, this is the very treacherous waters, dealing with religion AND politics, and close to home, the tensions rose.

I posted the following on Facebook, which led to a great exchange, and a fantastic post by an old friend of mine that I wanted to share with the DOB Universe.

Brandon: I guess we don't talk about religion and politics because it reveals a lot about a person's character, beliefs, moral compass and how they see the world -- dangerous waters indeed

TG: ..or as Abe Lincoln said: "Its better to stay silent and be thought a fool, than speak and remove all doubt."

DS: I say what ever I feel like,I still pay taxes, and know I'll pay a lot more come tomorrow! Be heard America!

CB: I say religion is man made...But having a personal relationship with JESUS is spiritually needed ...As far as politics are concerned . . . When Jesus runs for president then I will vote lol .

TERRY B:

You're completely right Brandon but they are the best of topics! And between TG's Abe quote and your opening statement I think Proverbs 17:28 would plug in well.


" Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is
counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of
understanding."


Unfortunately I believe we have a lack of teach-ability
in our "I'm right" society. Nobody wants to be wrong and it's easier to be passive with a smile or blame the other guy.


Pride is a major killer in our culture and you can argue with it all day long and get nowhere. It's definitely easier to let the train go, if you will. The other passive stance thinks if I should open my mouth on such topics, my position just might be discredited. It's too bad folks are so thin
skinned on such topics. We'd be better by far if we would simply enter the "dangerous waters" for it has also been said that "smooth sea never made a good sailor".

Would many drown, most likely.

But you wouldn't have as many casualties if you start this thinking early. Many would probably learn to use the oars of teach-ability and the sails of discernment. So I say, hoist the sails and pull the anchor and go out into the treacherous waters!

Oh, CB you're right on target. Religion puts the burden of justification on man and his efforts to obtain God. Christianity on the other hand is God's work through Jesus Christ and His substitutional sacrifice in order to reach down to man.


Now as for waiting until Jesus comes in order to cast a vote, be
mindful we are not voting for a Pastor (that would be nice) but a leader with discernment, backbone who will need to make "good"
compromises.


I do believe we need to be active as Christians, to
exercise our vote and to speak out at injustices. At the same time we always need to be mindful that this world seeketh not after the things of God.

Don’t put any hope in man or a political party, government is
man led.

"Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will
remember the name of the LORD our God." Psalm 20:7

OK overkill I know.

I don't know, maybe to much coffee? I think DS has it right with his last statement, "Be heard America"

Hope you all have a great day.

I obviously removed the other poster's names and made some minor edits to Terry's post.

To Terry: Guilty as charged.

I was politically ignorant and oblivious to the world affairs as a whole. 9/11 changed that for me and began reading: everything left and right...from Al Franken to Rush Limbaugh.

I was horrible to argue or debate (many would say I still am) but I'm working hard to be more patient and listen to other stances.

I'm shocked by two major things:

1. Smart people, college educated, know absolutely nothing and refuse to ever consider that their pre-determined "belief" are incorrect or need to be re-evaluated.

2. As Terry well articulated, the role of the Christian is not to hold blind faith in some politician or leader. I despise the marginalizing of Christians as mindless sheep following some proverbial Evangelical talking head to fall in line behind the Republican party.


The topic at hand was a shocker for me because "social justice" is historically a codeword for the Leftist, Progressive Movement's socialist agenda.



It may still mean "charitable works" or "helping the poor" to some folks, but not to progressives. To the left "social justice" is that old pesky Joe the Plumber line: redistribution of wealth, including property and taxation, under the disguise of helping the impoverished as well as, perpetuating the leftist agenda: promotion of global warming and penalizing offenders, granting amnesty for illegal immigrants and providing reparations for previous offenses.

Witnessing "social justice" redefined by SOME churches under the veil of Christ's will for charity, mercy and grace to promote political agendas and allegiances is VERY DANGEROUS.

Thanks again Terry, I appreciate you letting me post your comments on DOB.













Pic: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOKXwnjs9JB5LFjUS3QFqH9bsFiABCs5Q5CcFA6M4-oA8TJo0IkFo27v1d3d3TXOhpFDT21hzu6r_C8xwx3HlXYMwqNcI9DF7wVG7a3sJsss6yyLo_khxX4YvfDbsefc_HOtNaG7Y6NGXJ/s400/socialJustice-w4.jpg&imgrefurl=http://clearnote.blogspot.com/&usg=__XnWDhPXZtfQZXrJoX0Fkjyk4Nys=&h=400&w=243&sz=23&hl=en&start=14&sig2=zK8I7SXB86PI6WgwNHlPgg&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=7P_dZpgj5JJMKM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=75&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522social%2Bjustice%2522%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=kPCpS_aQEpqutgeU6pS7BQ

Beck instigates "Social Justice" debate over codewords at churches

Originally posted on DeskofBrian.com: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/beckinstigatessocialjusticedebateovercodewordsatchurches

Glenn Beck created a frenzy again with this statement:

"I beg you look for the words social justice or economic justice on
your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you
can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words...Am I
advising people to leave their church? Yes! If they're going to
Jeremiah Wright's church, yes!

"If you have a priest that is pushing social justice, go find another
parish, go alert your bishop and tell them, 'Excuse me are
you down with this whole social justice thing?' If it's my church, I'm
alerting the church authorities: 'Excuse me what's this social justice
thing?' And if they say, 'Yeah we're all in on this social justice
thing,' I am in the wrong place."

The fury raged across the Internet including a close minister friend of mine who vows that "social justice" and "economic justice" are essential to his mission as a Christian.



I really don't care what Beck says, but I agree in that "social justice" is a CODEWORD for socialism and "economic justice" is NOT CHARITY.



Let's dig a bit...

Social justice From Wikipedia:

Social justice is the application of the concept of justice on a social scale.

The term "social justice" was coined by the Jesuit Luigi Taparelli in the 1840s. The idea was elaborated by the moral theologian John A. Ryan, who initiated the concept of a living wage. Father Coughlin used the term in his publications in the 1930s and 40s, and the concept was further expanded upon by John Rawls' writing in the 1990s. It is one of the Four Pillars of the Green Party upheld by the worldwide green parties. Some tenets of social justice have been adopted by those on the left of the political spectrum.

Social justice is also a concept that some use to describe the
movement towards a socially just world. In this context, social justice
is based on the concepts of human rights and equality and involves a greater degree of economic egalitarianism through progressive taxation, income redistribution, or even property redistribution, policies aimed toward achieving that which developmental economists refer to as more equality of opportunity and equality of outcome than may currently exist in some societies or are available to some classes in a given society.

Let's review: progessive taxation, income redistribution and property redistribution....but let's go back and look at Wikipedia's definition of economic egalitarianism:

Economic egalitarianism is a state of economic affairs in which
the participants of a society are of equal standing and equal access to
all the economic resources in terms of economic power, wealth, and
contribution. It is a founding principle of various forms of socialism, communalism and cooperative economic organization.

Jerry Falwell delivers a succinct response:

"Jesus taught that we should give to the poor and support widows, but he
never said that we should elect a government that would take money from
our neighbor's hand and give it to the poor"



and pastors who preach economic and social justice "are trying to twist the gospel to say the gospel supported socialism."

Rev. Jim Wallis disagrees and has been making the rounds:

"The God of the Bible is the God of justice. Though the poor are in the
center of God's concern... Poverty breaks the heart of God. And it
breaks the heart of the church. So, this is about Christians who may
disagree on politics. Republicans, Democrats, it doesn't matter. Left
or right. We have different views on the role of government. Doesn't
matter, But justice is integral to the gospel. And across the spectrum,
Christians are saying Glenn Beck got it wrong." (Wallis on MSNBC's Countdown)

Wallis and other pastors doing EXACTLY what Falwell and Beck claim: twisting the Gospels.



Wallis' statement is correct as it states "GOD of JUSTICE" not justice by means of the government, government intervention or a government program.



From Rev. Wright's Trinity United Church's mission statement:

"It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation."

That is the dividing line: how are you expecting injustice to be fought and by what means?!?!



The Christian Reformed Church has an "Office of Social Justice" and here's a separate example from a Riverside Church under Missions and Social Justice beneath the heading of "Get Involved":

• Global Justice and Peace: which is support for the UN, task groups to battle "injustices toward undocumented immigrants; and 2) anti-torture and Guantanamo detainees; and 3) environmental protection."


• Marantha: "promoting equity for Lesbian, Gay,
  Bisexual, Transgender and Queer/Questioning people. To these ends, we have
  organized our ministry to serve, advocate, and support the LGBTQ community."

Not all of the goals and missions have political overtones (prison ministry, outreach to Africa) but to deny the churches' directives are politically aligned is completely dishonest.



I never thought I'd agree with Glenn Beck and Jerry Falwell on any topic, but churches need to be honest with regard to the political bias in their directives, especially with socialist terms that use the word "justice" to describe an ends.



From Ronald Nash in "Social Justice and the Christian Church":

"...being a Christian does not obligate one to adopt a liberal and statist
dogma in order to aid the poor. Helping the indigent is definitely a
foundational Biblical ethic, however, there is also a Biblical ethic
which will guide our personal polity concerning government."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/03/12/beck.boycott/index.html



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/12/rev-jim-wallis-glenn-beck_n_497715.html



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/an-open-letter-to-glenn-b_b_495716.html



http://blog.beliefnet.com/deaconsbench/2010/03/boycotting-beck.html



http://www.theriversidechurchny.org/getinvolved/?socialjustice



http://www.trinitychicago.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=27



http://www.crcna.org/pages/justice.cfm