Posted by
Bryn T. Jones on Monday, October 20, 2008 11:04:24 PM
One of the phrases, along with "fair share" that gets me riled is the term Social Justice. I've heard Christians declare that they won't vote on a single issue (meaning life) since the Democrats are the party of Social Justice. But I wonder if anyone stops to think about the word 'justice.'
Most would have to concede that justice refers to someone getting what's due them, whether good or bad. If a criminal gets off a charge due to a small technicality, we all agree that it has been an IN-justice. If a nut speeding like Mario Andretti gets ticketed, justice has been served. If a child rapist gets early parole and ends up re-offending, injustice. If a crooked politician gets caught and sent packing, justice was served.
This is not a hard concept to grasp. But, unfortunately, when Barak Obama starts talking fairness and social justice, all rational thought goes out the window.
Is it really just to take hard-earned money from someone who started out working two, three jobs and has finally found success, and give any portion of that money to someone else who is at the beginning of their work journey? Or worse, someone who hasn't started the journey at all.
For social justice to make any sense, one has to believe that everyone who has money got it illicitly--like, for instance, a 30-year politician might. Or, for that matter, a 4-year politician from Chicago. In any event, the idea of social justice rests on a world view that sees that there are those who have money and the rest of us just don't have that chance. And thus, because we are being deprived of that chance, the opportunity that is rightly due, our only hope is for government to take from those wealthy and give it to us.
This communist paradigm is merely demagoguery in America. We have incredible upward mobility. Our society is constantly churning folks from the lower class to the middle class and from the middle class to the upper class. We have the highest standard of living in the world for the greatest number of people. Charitable giving from individuals dwarfs that from any other country in the civilized world. Combine that with our government aid and we outspend everyone on the planet for humanitarian aid. We are a wealthy and thriving country, not a land of oppressed proletariat.
Social justice is that each should be allowed to keep what he or she earns. Social justice would dictate that if someone doesn't work, he or she shouldn't eat. Justice is cold.
Thankfully, we don't follow true social justice, but mix it with social grace. Grace is giving someone something he or she does not deserve. And so, we have charities like the Red Cross and Salvation Army that pull folks off the street on cold nights, feed them and clothe them. Our churches collect clothing and canned goods for those less fortunate. Community groups provide disabled people a chance to work doing jobs that fit their mental or physical abilities.
We are a great nation that should never listen to those who confuse justice with grace, or presume that the government should dispense either one.