The Relation Between Social Justice and Christianity
Copyright Azure Ides-Grey 2016
Cover image taken from the public domain
You have free will and therefore I have no control over what you do with the information found herein. I am offering this essay free for the taking. That being said, I hope you will submit your free will to the Christ and be morally responsible instead of acting like some hooligan.
Contact Info:
Blog: https://thehesitanttelos.blogspot.ca/
Email:
[email protected] About the Author:
Azure Ides-Grey is an autocratic writer and music maker from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (that’s in Canada, eh). With respect to writing, he’s interested in subjects like sociology, philosophy, and religion. He is in the process of attaining his undergraduate arts degree (sociology) at the University of Saskatchewan. Azure creates eclectic music under various names, including Dalama Jones and STILTS. Search both on Bandcamp for some free tunes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The topic to be discussed in this essay is the relationship between Christianity and social justice. First, I will be elaborating on how social justice might be defined. Second, I will be focusing on the prevalence of certain words in the Bible that relate to social justice. Third, I will be looking at specific occurrences of these words as they appear in the Bible. Fourth, I will be looking at the statistics of volunteer work in Canada and give an example of a prominent Christian organization. Finally, I will be detailing the efforts of three major Christian figures that have brought justice to the world. The purpose of this essay is to show that social justice is at the base of Christianity and that it has been carried out by its adherents throughout history.
On very general grounds, social justice can be defined as “the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within a society” (Dictionary, n.d.). What is fascinating about this definition is that it suggests that social justice is multidirectional. It infers that both a fullness and lack of advantages make up social justice, and that it is an entity that cannot exist without both components. However, the definition is nevertheless very abstract. As Michael Novak points out in his essay Defining Social Justice: “The minute one begins to define social justice, one runs into embarrassing intellectual difficulties” (2000: 11). For this reason, I will be relying on intuition as to what sub-topics social justice includes.
Now, to turn attention toward The Bible itself, particularly, the scriptures which make mention of issues as they relate to social justice. First, I will be looking at the prevalence of certain words that can be associated with social justice. The number in brackets indicates the amount of times that the word appears in the King James Version of the Bible. Four noteworthy words include: poor (233), money (168), captivity (153), and sick (94) (Popular Bible Words, n.d.: 2-4). These concepts will be mentioned throughout the paper.
At this point it is only right to mention specific verses that contain these words and relate to matters of social justice, that is, insofar as my hermeneutics may be successful. To start, I would like to look at Proverbs 29 verse 7 which says: “The righteous considereth the cause of the poor…” (emphasis added). Basically, this chapter from Proverbs contrasts the life choices of the righteous and the unrighteous in a number of ways, the importance of the poor being one of them.
1Timothy 6:10 says: “For the love of money is the root of all evil … they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (emphasis added). What is worth noting about this verse is that it explicitly communicates a morale which is not necessarily tied to the social context, but rather, the individual. It does not mention the social problems that might arise as a result of having an overabundance per capita, but states that the owner themselves will be miserable because of their greed. This seems to imply that misery can be overcome if such an owner makes the opposite decision regarding their money and does not keep it to themselves but is generous instead.
With regard to captivity, Revelation 13:10 says: “He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity…” (emphasis added). Now, I cannot feign as if this Biblical book is not cryptic or metaphorical. However, despite this quality of Revelation, I still think the verse is worth mentioning. Chapter 13 also makes reference to social class (verse 16) and buying and selling (verse 17), so in considering those additional verses, I find reason to believe that verse 10 is beyond abstract prose and points to social justice.
Mark 2:17 talks about the sick in the following way: “…They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (emphasis added). This was Jesus’ rebuttal against the scribes and Pharisees who suggested that it was wrong for Jesus to be associating with these people, that is, if he was indeed a divine figure. Similar to Jesus’ claim of being the spiritual antidote in the latter part of the verse, the former addresses that physically sick people look to medical experts for help.
I would like to now provide some information about community service as it relates to organizations. First, I will be looking at some statistics about volunteer work as it occurs in Canada. Second, I will be providing an example of a well-known organization that is motivated by Christian convictions. In 2010, Mireille Vézina and Susan Crompton found that 21% of top volunteers, the people that charitable and non-profit organizations rely on most, were those who attended religious services once a week (Volunteering in Canada). Although it is not explicitly stated how many Christians made up this 21%, it is likely that it was a fair amount. A year later, the National Household Survey found that 67.3% (two thirds of the country’s population) considered themselves associates of Christianity (2011).
An example of an organization that has Christian convictions is the Salvation Army. The organization began in 1882 in Ontario, Canada. From the outset, one of its main intentions was to serve people in a way that would meet their material needs in addition to their spiritual ones. In its early stages, a number of significant accomplishments were made. In 1890, both a prison gate home and a children’s shelter were founded in Toronto. In 1898, the first maternity home in Saint John, New Brunswick was opened. The Salvation Army was responsible for bringing recycling efforts to Toronto in 1908, and this can be thought of as being a precursor to the Salvation Army thrift stores that are operating to this very day (Celebrating 130 Years, 2015).
In modern times, The Salvation Army continues to benefit many people. It serves nearly two million people a year in 400 Canadian communities, making it the leading non-governmental social service which provides directly to those in need (Celebrating 130 years, 2015). The thrift stores are a good example of the organization’s efforts which have an effect at the macro-level of Canadian society. The Salvation Army boasts more than 200 thrift stores across the nation, in which they are able to sell donated merchandise for reasonable prices (What You Should Know About Salvation Army Thrift Stores, 2012).
What ought to be recognized is that these business ethics are, at the very least, sensitive to the poor. In a study from Mitchell and Montgomery, their purpose was to understand the decisions that thrift store shoppers make in relation to these types of stores. They gathered data by using a web survey, in which 1,193 responses were collected using a non-random sampling process. The responses were obtained from two American mid-sized cities, one located in the southeast and the other in the Midwest. A noteworthy piece of information discovered was that only 54% of respondents were employed full-time (2010). With this, it ca
n be deducted that the other respondents either had part-time jobs or were unemployed. So while the study does not outright say how many impoverished people shop at thrift stores, the finding suggests that there could be a large amount that do.
It is now appropriate to begin looking at some notable Christian figures that have brought social justice to the world. The first person I would like to look at is Tommy Douglas and how he brought good health to the sick. Douglas was born on October 20, 1904 in Falkirk, Scotland; he came from working class, religious parents (Lovick, 2013). The family immigrated to Winnipeg, Canada in 1910, and this was the starting point for the many works he would accomplish in the country. Some of these accomplishments included: entering full-time ministry in Weyburn, Saskatchewan as a Baptist minister in 1929, being Saskatchewan’s premier for 17 years, leading the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971, and of course, making major contributions to health care (Quiring, n.d.).
Douglas’ passion for health care was inspired, in part, by his experience of spending time in a hospital as a child.