Social Justice - Class 2

From our previous lecture we learned the Natural Law is an application of the capacities of intellect, freedom, and will. In the protestant view human-kind has been totally corrupted by sin, and God's grace is a white covering like snow covering the corruption. In the Catholic view human-kind has been distorted by sin, but God’s grace can be found within the distortion as the image of God. Human nature is not destroyed by sin, although our true nature is distorted, and Grace restores our nature and brings us to redemption. To put it another way, within Natural Law we find Grace which leads us to Redemption.

Protestants say you cannot trust natural law; and if you can't trust natural law you must trust scripture or you trust the command of God. We would agree that, whether we're totally destroyed by sin or we're struggling to overcome sin, we journey through life and walk on the path in the presence of community. The "Command of God" is the continual influence and guidance of God in our lives.

We cannot build the kingdom of God by ourselves but we are called to participate in and bring about the kingdom of God. How do we do that? How does the church exert an influence in secular society or in a pluralistic world? Natural Law lets us build on common ground and common experiences. What we have in common that allows us to communicate our belief to a pluralistic society is that we are all created in the image of God, with the capacities of intellect, freedom and will. Natural law allows us to go into a pluralistic society and make a coherent argument that human kind is due respect. Although The Golden Rule is a good starting place, the problem requires a much more complex argument.

In hermeneutics we understand that we are born with a world view influenced by our cultural understanding of the world. With education we are able to cast off our limited world view and go beyond our cultural understanding of the world. St. Paul spoke of a radical equality in Christ Jesus that we must all understand. Our instructor provided the extreme example of his own godchild, who is developmentally challenged. He and her parents love this child, as all families love and cherish their children. He admitted that his godchild can be a handful at times and is often difficult for all involved. His point is that developmentally challenged children have dignity not because of what they can do but because of who they are.

This is the kind of radical equality that Jesus taught. We find the basis for human dignity in Genesis, which tells us that all life comes from God. English is a limited language, however, so we have to be careful as we read this account of creation. Adam evidently means “mud person” and after God put Adam into a deep sleep he separated Adam (mud person) into Man and Woman. I really like the concept that God created humankind in his likeness and image, and after that separating humankind into man and woman.

Rights language comes from the secular world and includes life, liberty, and the pursuit of property. The West vs the East (plus the Middle East) is a concept from the cold war. In World War II the US (a democratic society that promoted the individual) with the Soviet Block (a Marxist society that promoted the collective) defeated Germany, Japan, and Italy. Individual rights tend to be negative rights (leave me alone) that include the right of assembly, speech, religion and the right to bear arms. Collective rights tend to be positive rights (we deserve) to food, health, and safety. Surprisingly the UN Declaration on Human Rights contains both views. However, the language is not adequate to understand what this means, and the interpretation of these rights has proven difficult.

One problem is that there is no responsibility. Although it might be easy to talk about the right to life, it is harder to talk about what it's like to have children that are not wanted or can’t be cared for. If society wants to control the right to limit abortion then society must accept the responsibility to raise the children. If someone who is hungry and has a family to feed takes a loaf of bread, the crime is not that he stole the bread but that it wasn't shared with him in the first place. Thomas Aquinas said that the hungry person has a right to the bread and he simply took what was rightfully his. This is the view of Marxist society so you can see how this gets very complicated very quickly.

Pope John XXIII defined the common good as “The sum of all social conditions that enable men and women to achieve their own perfection". He was reacting to the Cuban Missile Crisis when he talked to both Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev; after which the Russian’s abruptly left the blockade. Essentially he was responsible for the US and Russia backing away from the brink of war. He used natural law to convince them that war was not beneficial to mankind. He used the sense of the common good.

Participation is to have a share in the formation of the common good in society. There have been many times in the US where various groups have not had a say in the common good. There is always a resistance when those without a share demand the right of participation. The model of family, with a mother, father, and children, is used to understand the purpose of society. Catholic values teach that as humans we have a responsibility to society, not just to raise good humans (procreation) but to "pass on the faith". Our responsibility as Christian disciples is to create the domestic church.

Subsidiarity is solving the problem at the lowest possible level, because those are the people closest to the problem. The church realizes that the world is a complex place; science, theology, and cosmology have all changed. We need to listen to the wisdom of the people, especially to those who are specialists, because no single entity can understand the entire world. Even then it's easy to talk about the values but it's harder to talk about the solutions. Private property is not an absolute right but is, nevertheless, for the common good.

In classic theology, the result of original sin is human toil, labor pains, and death. Experience taught humans that life was full of pain and punishment. Later, this led to the idea that Labor was being punished by God while at the same time it seemed that Management was being blessed by God. Dignity of work recognizes that in labor we create and participate in creation, and spending our entire life doing what we do changes us too. What we do is what we become, because we are self-forming creatures. We are the only self-creating creatures on earth because we are created in the likeness and image of God. This is incredibly scary because in some ways we are simply not paying attention to what we are going!

Originally colonialism was seen as an exercise in economic development, but now it’s seen as building Cultural Exceptionalism. For a long time American's believed that we not only are the best, but that we have a right to be the best, even to the subjugation of other nations. The argument that we have the right to exploit the natural resources, labor, and politics of other nations also raises questions about religious liberty. Luckily, the right to establish our beliefs and culture on other nations is being seriously questioned today.

Bus Stop Rhetoric

I walk every day at lunch. Well, almost every day, unless it's raining, or too cold, or too hot, or ______ (fill in the blank). Still, I manage to walk 3 - 4 times per week for about 20 - 40 minutes. Depending of the weather my route varies to stay in or out of the sun, depending on whether I'm trying to stay warm or cool. On one of my routes there is a typical blue metal and glass bus stop with three walls, a roof, and a bench. At one end is a panel with a large poster advertisment for the Huminist organization.

The top half has a black background with white lettering, titled What Some People Believe, and it includes a quote from the New International Version of the Bible. "A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a women to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent (1 Timothy 2)". The bottom half has a white background with black lettering, titled What Humanists Think, and it includes a quote from Robert Ingersoll. "The rights of men and women should be equal and sacred - marriage should be a perfect partnership. (April 13, 1878)"

Dispite the fact that the color and wording of the poster is calculated to sway and mislead, the real problem of course is that this is another case of a verse that has been taken out of context. The verse from 1 Timothy 2:11 turns out to be paraphrased on the poster, and not a direct quote from the NIV version I found online. Their campain which includes other examples is being presented as an argument, presumably against Christianity, without an understanding of the Bible or of it's greater message. As it turns out, I was not able to confirm the quote from Mr. Intersoll either, nevertheless, I would agree with the statement about the rights and sacredness of men and women, and the perfection of marriage.

Keys

My wife and I went out to dinner with relatives one evening, and as we walked out the front door they decided to drive instead of us. While at the restaurant I realized I didn't have my car keys with me, but relaxed when I remembered putting them next to me on the back seat after getting into their car. That was the last time I thought about my keys until the next morning. Unfortunately, after looking in the back seat of their car and not finding them, they insisted that they couldn't possibly be there. Luckily, about a year later they were surpised to discover my keys under the back seat of their car, and I got them back.

Peter was given a set of keys too, and like me he lost them for awhile. Jesus was asking the disciples, "Who do you say that I am", and Peter confidently declared that Jesus was, "The Messiah, the Son of the living God". Jesus responed by saying, "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church". He went on to say, "I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven". After strictly ordering his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah, Jesus began to show them that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly. Obviously this was difficult for the desciples to understand, and it wasn't too long before Jesus had to rebuke Peter with the words, "Get behind me Satan! You are an obstacle to me."

Imagine how this must have made Jesus feel. He's accutely aware of the painful end that awaits him in Jerusalem, but it also reminds him of his begining. Shortly after his baptism, He was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. The subtle and not so subtle temptations of Jesus were an attempt to turn Him away from obediance to his Father, and here again in the person of his trusted friend Peter, the devil was trying to keep him from fulfilling his mission. Only Jesus' love for us could have prevailed at this time, protecting him from dissapointment. It took time for Peter, and the other desciples, to understand that the Son of Man would be raised from the dead. It was only in the light of Jesus' resurrection that Peter, and in turn each of us, fully understand the meaning of Jesus' life and mission.

Social Justice - Class 1

Our instructor began this series of classes by asking, “What do you hope to get out of these three sessions”? A few of the responses were, “How to ground social justice work in church teaching”, “Where can I be affective”, “How do I get over the knee jerk reaction of people with picket signs”, and “How to engage the congregation and ignite passion”.

He then suggested that we step back, and understand a bit about social justice. We always use language to articulate social justice, but too often we are using words that have not been adequately explored. Within the Church politic there is a litmus test that divides conservatives and liberals. This is usually because social justice is too often not rooted in Jesus Christ or Church teaching.

Next our instructor asked the question, “What is justice”? This generated more conversation and various suggestions: “It's what we do for the common good”, “Setting conditions that are good for us”, “Right relationship, meaning fair relations with one another”, “Moral righteousness”, “Equality”, “Fairness”, “Protection for others”, “Equal respect”, “Engagement”, and “Equal opportunity and equal dignity”. At this last suggestion he pointed out that equal means “equal opportunity but not necessarily equal outcome”.

There was a diagram on the white board that was never explained. It was a triangle, with the top intersection labeled distributive, the bottom left intersection labeled commutative, and the bottom right intersection labeled contributive. We’ll probably get more on this in a later class.

In community life theory, each person contributes according to their ability and receives according to their needs. Justice under the law, however, is not equal justice; it is affected by each person’s ability to engage the system, who they are and who they know.

It’s important therefore to root justice in Biblical images. Justice in the Old Testament was called Hessed, which is roughly translated to covenantal fidelity. This related to the relationship between God and humans, who were called back to the covenant time and time again by the prophets etc. The task of the Prophets was to proclaim God's word to the community, by calling the people back to God. When Hebrew society was not working, something was wrong and the covenant was affectively broken. The Prophets came on the scene when the life of the community was not intact.

This was the reality that Jesus was born into; remember He was a very good and observant Jew. Hospitality was an important characteristic of the Jewish people, and although Jesus re-interpreted the law he did not ignore the law. He was very clear in his ministry about the importance of table fellowship. Everyone was welcomed at table, including sinners and women, which represented a radical form of equality. We see a new community being born in the final dialog on the cross as He said to his mother, "Woman, behold your son" and to the disciple, "Behold your mother". As a result the community of Jesus adopted this radical form of equality.

Even Paul spoke of this radical equality when he wrote to the Corinthians. Like Paul, we expect Jesus' return, but unlike Paul who expected Jesus immediate return, we expect Jesus to return sometime after we die. Because Paul expected Jesus’ immediate return it distorted his view of social structure. When you expect your world to end soon, bringing eminent salvation, you don't worry about social structure, you worry about the community.

We read in the Acts of the Apostles that as the early church began to grow it experienced inequality. For instance, the Greek widows were not being treated equally; they were living in poverty and not being taken care of. Church teaching began to change to meet these early internal challenges, along with the fact that the early Church was beginning to experience the challenges of a wider society.

The Greeks and Hebrews had very different cultural approaches to faith and practice. In the early Church offerings such as goods and services, were brought to the community and given to the Bishop, who then distributed them to the needy. Working out how to do this helped the early church realize that a vital characteristic of discipleship is caring for the poor.

So then, what is the difference between justice and charity? Charity addresses immediate needs while justice addresses why there is a need. For instance, why are African men over represented in the prison system? Helping one person to overcome adversity is good (charity), helping the system to address the problem is better (justice). To establish justice means we have to ask the bigger questions.

Unfortunately, more often than not we turn to the government to address social concerns. Today we see government as responsible for addressing poverty, unemployment, education, and health care. In this view the role of the Christian community is to provide a voice for social concerns. Our sources for the Church’s teaching on justice and social justice are scripture, tradition, and natural law. We need to be careful however to interpret scripture according to the context of the people. For instance, not only what is being said but also why is it being said.

We discussed the distinction between revealed morality and revealed reality in scripture? Revealed morality is proscriptive, such as the 10 commandments or the teaching on marriage. Revealed reality is descriptive, such as “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a pearl of great value”. Both translate into present day teaching, and they provide images that we can re-apply to present day teaching.

The Church does not teach in a vacuum of course, but uses the context of history and the experience of teaching that has developed over the years. It has developed over time because the situations have changed over time. Tradition is not just about the deposit of faith but is also about customs, which are sometimes referred to as morals.

Natural law is understood to be the conditions under which humans are allowed to flourish. In Genesis we hear, “Let us create human kind in our image and likeness”. The present theological understanding of “in our image and likeness” includes the divine attributes of intellect (the capacity to reason), will (the capacity to decide), and freedom (the capacity to choose). Natural law is sharing in that capacity and those divine attributes.

In natural law there are two ways to interpret reality which are not in conflict with each other. One is the order of nature (sexuality, medical intervention, ecology) and the other is the order of reason (social ethics, the need for schools, the need for employment). With experience we learn as we move forward because we face new challenges that require the application of intellect, will and freedom.

How does the church approach secular society? A long time ago, there was a theory that all power on earth was given by God. The king was given a sacred trust which meant that revolution was wrong (since the ruler was seen according to God's will). However it also imposed responsibility on the ruler, who was supposed to treat his subjects the way God would treat them. Things like revolution caused chaos, so it couldn’t be according to Gods will.

As we moved into the enlightenment period there was a growing sense of democracy as we know it today. It grew out of a view that everyone is competing against everyone else, and the role of government is to quell chaos. Capitalism allowed the acquisition of property as a right and you had the right to acquire as much of it as you want. Added to the idea that revolution was seen as destabilizing to society, majority rule didn't include minorities and we see the beginning of the idea of separation of Church and state.

As the industrial revolution developed people moved into the cities for work which introduced a new form of poverty. With rural poverty people are still connected to the land, but with urban poverty that tie is lost and it is much more hopeless. Finally, the introducion of child labor and a structured form of production resulted in the beginning the Church’s foundational basis for social ministry.

The Popes encyclical in 1871 recognized that labor and capital should work together for the good of both, but because of the disparities between the two, labor should have the right to unionize. It recognized that labor has a right to rest, fair wages, the human soul must be respected within the work place, and that families have the same rights as individuals. Although the encyclical mentioned that private property was essential for stability and recognized that it is an essential element for human dignity, it didn't suggest that it is an absolute right. Today our understanding is we don't own anything and we are entrusted with everything.

Trust In God

Here is another story that is circulating on the internet. Like I've said in the past, I like these kinds of stories because although they are very simple and incredibly predictable, they present a glimpse of real life and a valuable message that we should take seriously. The story goes like this;

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions. But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He was stunned with grief and anger thinking the worst had happened; everything was lost. "God how could you do this to me!" he cried. Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. "How did you know I was here?"; asked the weary man of his rescuers. "We saw your smoke signal," they replied.

It is easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart because God is always at work in our lives. We should remember that God loves us, and He will never cause our pain or punish us with disasters. Even in the midst of pain and suffering, He is with us and will use what's going on in our lives to our benefit. Remember, the next time your little hut is burning to the ground it just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of God.

Solidarity

Near the end of my last Saturday class, one of the presenters was asked to speak to us for a few minutes about the Spirituality of Social Justice and Solidarity Work. Although she has been a Catholic for 51 years she had just one thing to say about this, and it struck a chord with me that I'd like to share with you instead of posting something about my discussion class.

She said, "I don’t understand this topic. I get called a social justice person quite a bit, so I guess it would make sense to think I know something about spirituality for social justice and solidarity. I am told I have a gift or a calling to do this work, and I guess maybe I do; but when people tell me this I sense they are pretty much telling me that I have something they don’t.

I really don’t understand what they are saying to me. I’ve read parts of Papal Encyclicals and parts of letters written by the USCCB on different justice topics. I’ve read various Bible passages and several books about the preferential option for the poor. I’ve researched some of today’s most pressing justice issues. I’ve worked on many campaigns to stop injustice and I’ve written many letters to public officials.

Still, I don’t understand the topic I am supposed to be talking to you about. You see, I am not a social justice person; I am just a Catholic, a Christian. I am a person who, by the Grace of God, has had fleeting glimpses of something that I cannot verbalize but that I know is true. I have experienced it, and it has changed everything. These glimpses have awakened me and given me eyes to see.

What if right now we all closed our eyes and became awakened, so that when we opened our eyes we would see all that we really are and are called to be? I think at the very depths of our being, we would see God. We’d see God emptying Himself, utterly giving Himself away to us. We’d see that the generosity of the Infinite is itself infinite, and that we are and are called to be no less infinite than the Love of God.

So I really don’t understand the topic I am supposed to be talking about. There is no special spirituality for people who hunger for God’s justice. It is a hunger for God’s infinite love to be made manifest in the world today. It seems to me that it is what we pray for when we pray the Our Father. God’s Love is our very breath. We all breathe in God’s Love for us and we are all meant to breathe out God’s boundless love for the world. Like Mary and Jesus, all we need to do is say “Yes”, and allow his love to flow to us and through us.

The in-justice that so many face today, including domestic and global poverty, forced migration, un-sustainable consumerism, corporate greed, oppression and violence against entire populations because of color, religion, and sexual orientation, and the destruction of our environment, are the screams that we have not experienced. Let us not forget who we really are in God. These screams point to the continuing need for the transformation of our cultures, our economies, our politics, and our-selves.

No matter what your ministry, it must be more than another campaign, another fundraiser, another liturgy, or another catechism class, because God’s work is about transformation. In every ministry, the work has to be about planting the seeds of transformation. We have to create the space where people can be their true selves and be open to the changes that must happen in their hearts, in their lives, and in their governments. We need to be transformed into people who are ready to listen with our hearts, breathing in God's love for us and breathing out God's love for the world."

Social Justice

Today’s class was a bit different than our normal Saturday session; it was very interactive. In fact I would have to say that it was better suited for a younger audience, requiring group participation and role play. If you've missed my take on role-play and how I feel about it, consider yourself lucky. Let's just say I don't enjoy role-play as a learning method.

The other thing about this class was the total lack of handouts or the opportunity to take notes. I mean, without notes how am I supposed to retain anything, or be able to recall it later, or like right now as I try to write this post? Another big difference about this Saturday session was that it was presented to all of the first and second year students combined into one group. This is especially difficult because some of the students speak English only and some of the students speak Spanish only, the lucky ones speak both English and Spanish, and a few speak either English or Spanish and another third language.

After the opening remarks, six students were brought into the center of the room. They were tied into two groups to representing two groups of people, those that originated in Northern Africa and those that originated in Asia. To these two communities "babies" were added until the string would break, which caused the people in these communities to disperse to other areas and to form additional communities. To all of these "babies" were added until the string would break again, and in this way all of us were eventually added to the growing populations that eventually formed the communities around the world. The idea here is that we all are linked by a common ancestry.

Next we were divided into groups of two that didn't share a common language, for instance I was paired with someone who spoke Spanish only. The task was that each of us was tell a children’s story to the other person without the use of a common language. I tried to tell the story of the Three Little Pigs and she told me the story about Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (I think). The idea here of course is that a common language is not the only way to communicate with another person. People from different backgrounds and cultures would have been able to trade and eventually form a common community.

After that we were divided into groups of about 8 people each. Questions were asked, such as, "Were you born someplace more than a thousand miles from here", and if you were you would raise your hand. Those in each group who raised their hands would then hold one end of a short piece of yarn. The next question was asked and more short pieces of yarn were added to those who raised their hands. Eventually of course there were lots and lots of green yarn connecting the 8 people in each of the groups, that looked a lot like a spiders web. The idea here is that, given enough questions and yarn, what we were really doing was weaving a cloth that represented the connections all people have with all other people. It's the tapestry of life.

There were other short interactive learning sessions (role-play opportunities), such as one in which we took on the characters in a story and then acted out the story as it was outlined on our guide sheets. All of the stories each of the groups acted out were in some way representative of actual situations faced by actual people and families, confronted by real life Social Justice issues. The questions we were to consider were things like "how did each of the characters in the story feel about ___________ (some aspect of the situation)".

I was not surprised that in one of my small discussion groups one person did seem to be "out of synch" with the rest of us regarding the issue of documented verses undocumented residents. Nevertheless I don't think that anyone in either the first or second year, English or Spanish classes found anything enlightening about this process, and nothing fundamentally new was presented.

It was interesting to hear presentations from three people who have been personally affected at work or at home by these kinds of issues. It helped those of that speak English only to connect real life people to the need for social justice. At the end of the day there was a forty five minute presentation on the concept of Social Justice Spirituality that I would like to have more information on. It seams to me that it is important to keep Social Justice and Spirituality tied together. They are not separate concepts.

Nevertheless, I believe that almost everyone recognized the goal of today’s session as an attempt to help us understand that social justice isn't about policies and laws. It's all about the people and the connections that we all share as the Children of God. It is not until we understand this that the policies and laws can be addressed.