Sunday, November 30, 2008
Why Social Justice is wrong..
There are many in the Church and among all Christians, particularly those of a conservative bent, who cringe each time they hear the phrase. The first, and most obvious reason is that many associate Social Justice activities with Socialism. Sadly, they are occasionally right. Today while visiting a parish out of town I stumbled on an item in the parish bulletin advocating state legislation to provide rental assistance to needy families. This item came from the Social Justice ministry of the parish.
So first, is this Socialism? I believe the answer is a resounding yes. In this particular instance the goal is to take money from one group of people involuntarily (through taxes) and redistribute it to the the needy to achieve the admirable goal of of providing shelter. This is objectively wrong on at least two counts. First, it strips the responsibility of caring for those in need from the individual, the family, the neighborhood, the Church and places it in the hands of government. This diminishes the dignity of individual persons on both sides of the equation and by placing the government between those who are in need and those who can help them further disconnects them from each other. Second, in confiscating money from one group of people involuntarily this activity is essentially stealing, in violation of God's commandment.
So it's socialism, but is it just? Well in my opinion Justice is an irrelevant concept here, at least in the way the term is used. I believe that referring to forced redistribution like this as just implies a sort of entitlement. I don't believe that entitlement is consistent with traditional Christian teaching. Let me be clear, the Church, as God's representative, commands each of us who claim to be Christian to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, care for the sick, visit the imprisoned and bury the dead. Though most of us fail miserably at the task we mustn't ever forget to try harder and do more lest we face the Lord one day and here him say: "When I was hungry you did not feed me, when I was homeless you turned me away". But, though God demands that these works of mercy of us may the poor demand them of us? My answer is an emphatic no! If we fall upon those hard times may we demand the aid of others? Certainly we may ask but even if we are turned away are we not called as Job was to say: The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away, Blessed be the Name of the Lord". Truly, whatever we have belongs to God and is His to use as he pleases even to our very lives.
I believe that those in so called Social Justice movements often misunderstand and misrepresent the Church's teachings in these matters. Certainly from Rerum Novarum to Centisimus Annus the Church reaffirms the demands upon every Christian spelled out in the Corporal Works of Mercy. In that way the Church does call for a Just society. But she does not demand that we hand that responsibility over to the state and in doing so advocate for an atheistic society in which each person is considered simply a component element of a larger social entity. This is the Socialism that John Paul the Great and his predecessors condemned as evil.
Here in our own country we have a difficult situation to face. Even as the Church and others throughout the world rightly call us to task for our rampant materialism and greed I believe that many Americans and most foreigners fail to understand the nature of how our nation was meant to work. We ought not look to our government to solve problems but remember the Church's teaching on subsidiarity and look to the adage of one of our greatest founders, John Adams, who tells us that "We have no government armed in power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other." Mr Adams effectively tells us that we must act in a Christian manner if our nation is to succeed because the government is simply not capable of taking up the slack.Labels: catholic, church, corporal works of mercy, evil, social justice, socialism
posted by JTC 11:44 AM
