Glenn Beck says Christians should leave churches that use the word "social justice." He says social justice is a code word for communism and Nazism.
But since the Catholic Church, the Black Churches, the Mainline Protestant churches, more and more Evangelical and Pentecostal churches including Hispanic and Asian-American congregations all consider social justice central to biblical faith, Glenn Beck is telling all those Christians to leave their churches. Of course, Christians may disagree about what social justice means in our current political context -- and that conversation is an important one -- but the Bible is clear: from the Mosaic law of Jubilee, to the Hebrew prophets, to Jesus Christ, social justice is an integral part of God's plan for humanity.
Beck says Christians should leave their social justice churches, so I say Christians should leave Glenn Beck. I don't know if Beck is just strange, just trying to be controversial, or just trying to make money. But in any case, what he has said attacks the very heart of our Christian faith, and Christians should no longer watch his show. His show should now be in the same category as Howard Stern. Stern practices pornography and Beck denies the central teachings of Jesus and the Bible. So Christians should stop watching the Glenn Beck show and pray for him and Howard Stern.
Beck also said that if his church was about "social justice" he would report his church to the church authorities. What authorities? Church bodies as diverse in their theology as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Association of Evangelicals have explicitly endorsed social justice as a biblical imperative.
So here's an idea: how about reporting ourselves to Glenn Beck as church members and pastors who practice and preach social justice.
Since Sojourners' mission is "to articulate the biblical call to social justice," I'll be the first to turn myself in. And I invite you to join me in turning yourself in to Glenn Beck as a Christian who believes in social justice. Let's send him thousands of names.
Jim Wallis is the author of Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street -- A Moral Compass for the New Economy, CEO of Sojourners and blogs at www.godspolitics.com.
Follow Jim Wallis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jimwallis
Rabbi Sid Schwarz: Youth, Religion and Social Responsibility: Part I
-- Benjamin Franklin
Economic/Social justice has no basis in fact, other than modern EU ideas and fringe African American groups.
Do you know how much we dole in corporate welfare?
America is the largest contributor of charity and money by far, even though we have no money. No other countries in the EU that most liberals align themselves with come in to help as much as the U.S. has or does.
(In your opinion, should we stop and wait on the sidelines like every other EU country?)
Long story short, we live in a free market economy with the greatest healthcare system in the world, and have had the greatest growth and innovation of any country in the world (look at the top hospitals in the world..the U.S. has 75% and germane is the only EU country that makes the top 200. we are on the way to deroy that. As many friends and family that have had their lives saved my M.D. Anderson, I know that Obama care will make MD Anderson, Sloan Kettering, Cedar Sinai, N.Y Presbyterian, etc. extinct Those hospitals will be unaffordable and gone under Obamacare. I am involved in the healthcare sector and most hospital workers in the U.S. now want to retire at age 45 or above.
No we're not. We actually rank 20th out of 22 Western nations.
http://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=publication_details&id=5447
Norway and Sweden are the top two. And both are liberal.
Hate to let facts ruin a good story.
Free market? Our average tariff on goods entering the U.S. is 2.2%.
All other countries are 20-50%.
So I guess you could call it "free maket", it's tax free for foriegners. But it should be a fair market.
9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do." [...] 11 He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
It is in the nature of governments to be corrupt.
In "The Prophets and Social Justice," in "Walking With Justice," (http://www.ajula.edu/Media/PDF/Walking_With_Justice-The_Prophets_and_Social_Justice.pdf) Rabbi Benjamin Scolnic writes:
"But Solomon was not as wise and just as God wanted him to be. This beautiful picture was drawn with the tools of its own destruction. In explaining why the kingdom split into two parts, the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, after Solomon’s death, the Biblical account emphasizes Solomon’s apostasy, his worship of other gods. What leads directly to the break-up of the kingdom, however, has nothing to do with Solomon’s faith and every- thing to do with the injustices caused by his building projects. Solomon wanted to transform the united kingdom of
Judah and Israel into a mighty empire, and change of these proportions was costly. Magnificent building projects required huge numbers of workers and tremendous amounts of money. "
No government has ever been the source for God's redemptive, social transformative work.
I object to abortion, the death penalty and war. I speak out against them no matter who is in power. Unlike Mr. Wallis who chooses to champion only progressive causes, thinks he can speak for God (God's Politics)--can your imagine if a conservative chose that title--and thinks he knows what the prophet Isaiah would speak if he were alive today. What hubris!
I
Economic/Social justice has no basis in fact, other than modern EU ideas and fringe African American groups.
“Can’t serve God and Mammon both.” Clint Eastwood- “Pale Rider”
What other kinds of justice are there?
Conservatism has been exposed to be a miserable failure. Conservatives continue to search for new ways to justify their philosophy of selfishness.
If a nation loses its empathy it loses its humanity.
Essentially, it is a Darwinian perspective which totally rejects the idea of any commonweal and substitutes, instead, a cult-like belief in salubrious laissez faire capitalism as the single most compelling organizing principle of society.
If we eliminate from our minds and hearts the idea of "social justice", and "community" and any notion of what Beck and his soul mates sneer at as "progressivism" -- then, ipso facto, we devolve and eviscerate government activism to the point where individuals either take care of themselves in all conceivable circumstances or they perish.
Naturally, the strongest (and wealthiest) will prevail -- which is precisely what Beck et al want.
Beck has identified as his philosophical mentor, former FBI Special Agent W. Cleon Skousen.
Like Beck, Skousen believed that "liberalism", "progressivism", "socialism", "communism", "nazism" and "fascism" are various forms of "collectivism" (i.e. government activism) -- and in their scheme of things, collectivism represents a cancer which must be excised from the body politic if genuine freedom and prosperity are to exist.
For more details about Skousen, see my report at:
http://ernie1241.googlepages.com/skousen
Why not let the hate go?
I suggest that you acquaint yourself with the ideas promulgated by Beck's philosophical mentor (W. Cleon Skousen) before concluding that I am "unwilling to really grasp" Beck's message.
Beck is (and Skousen also was) a fan of the John Birch Society (JBS). The ideas which Beck is now circulating are IDENTICAL to the ideas which the JBS has been disseminating for 50+ years. If you carefully examine those ideas, you will understand that what I presented previously is not "hate" -- but, instead, an accurate reflection of the core beliefs disseminated by Beck, Skousen, and the JBS!
This sounds like the unions, bite off a finger and demand emancipation from the burden of the actual giving. Generalizing for added emphasis.
One problem with SJ is the glorification of poverty.
Someone spoke of Job, about sharpening hoes and building hedges against slaughter.
So I read some of Job, I'm not religious, I try to be fair and just in my activities concerning others.
Job was wealthy - camels, sheep and farmland. He was also rightious. I'm sure his camels transported goods far, to many. His sheep enjoyed at many weddings, and his grain provided for many their loaf. The labour - from the pickers to the money collecters and beyond into the market and his suppliers, his productivity was a blessing to many men. Why should I villify him, concern myself over his selfishness, what do I know of his giving, nothing. I refuse to vilify him, rather I glorify him, that perhaps my sons will work half as hard, exploit any God given talent they were blessed with and give much to so many.
Sorry if it doesn't fit the playbook, I'm certain God
True social justice christians of the kind who would embrace me, for instance (and maybe even those who can't quite get to that yet), need to begin to stand and speak out against those who are hijacking your faith and turning it into a theocratic cult with an ultimately hellish agenda. Speak out NOW, yes, SPEAK AGAINST THEM while you still have the chance to counter the crazies http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alvin-mcewen/religious-right-head-dema_b_492631.html lest they make good on their threat to us all.
I will tell Glenn Beck that he can keep his hypocrisy and I will keep my faith.
Here is an excerpt:
Wallis concluded that people should quit listening to Glenn Beck for his statements. That seems to be a misstep in what Wallis is all about. If there was any reason to quit listening to Beck, that would be with the way he presents his information, instigates a culture of fear, demonizes the other side, and does not add to a constructive dialog that will lead to a common ground. This stance on churches and social justice is just one example of that. But in the end, we should dialog and interact with those we disagree with. If I could be friends with Glenn Beck, I would.