I’m A Social Justice Christian, Too
What is the role of Christianity?
Think about it. I think that in the same way that Jesus inhabited flesh and came to bring us healing, we are also to go and bring healing to those in our communities that need healing.
My friend Ryan Bell of the Hollywood Adventist Church came out with a video on the topic that’s been getting a lot of play and was featured on the Huffington Post.
He says:
“The idea originally came to me as I thought about how to respond to Glenn Beck’s recent comments about social justice being a foil for Nazism and Communism. I didn’t want to give Beck any additional press, but rather to seize a cultural moment and create a conversation about the centrality of social justice to our Christian faith.”
I encourage you to check out the website and decide for yourself: www.socialjusticechristian.com
And check out the video below.
So what do you think? Is this part of the role of Christianity? Yes or No?
No related posts.
So, you’re saying that Jesus would want us to have higher taxes to help the poor?
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Here is a quote from “Law, legislation, and liberty, Volume 2, The Mirage of Social Justice” by F.A. Hayek, 1973.
“There can be no test by which we can discover what is ‘socially unjust’ because there is no subject by which such an injustice can be committed, and there are no rules of individual conduct the observance of which in the market order would secure to the individuals and groups the position which as such (as distinguished from the procedure by which it is determined) would appear just to us. [Social justice] does not belong to the category of error but to that of nonsense, like the term `a moral stone’.”
I’m not sure in what sense you’re using social justice, but in the terms in which it’s being used in the video is totally different. As Christians we should do what we can to help those in need. That’s just biblical Christianity.
Jesus expected us to help the poor. But we didn’t. So the government does.
A strong Libertarian political view asks that the government handle basic duties, collect virtually no tax, and supply an army for our defense (of course this is a simplification). Where do the poor fit in? They are the responsibility of the church, or churches in their community. More specifically, they are the responsibility of the individual christian within those churches. But do individuals and churches actually do enough? Can we find a community where local churches provide for ALL the needs of the poor, unemployed, laid-off and aged; a community that requires no “government” aid? No.
If christians want to complain about the tax and welfare system, then we should be willing to shoulder the burden. But we have not been willing, corporately or individually to an extent that is sufficient. Therefore, we are the fuel driving the social programs around us. We want the government to stop taxing us, but we rarely provide food or shelter for the neighbor with 3 kids and no job.
This is so true, Nathan.