A few weeks ago Glenn Beck threw down the gauntlet regarding Christianity and social justice. When news of Beck's incendiary comments broke, my colleagues and I across the religious spectrum couldn't believe what we were hearing. In the weeks that followed everyone was talking about how to respond.
I met with a couple of filmmakers at the church I serve and together we decided to create two or three Public Service Announcements with the aim of creating a civil conversation out of the cultural moment created by Glenn Beck's unfortunate comments. Our goal is to help people understand what social justice is and its place at the center of Christian faith. The first of our PSAs is can be viewed below and at www.socialjusticechristian.com.
There is great debate, especially among people who might identify as more conservative evangelicals, about what social justice really means. In my experience, growing up in a very conservative Christian environment, nearly every Christian is in favor of serving the poor and, in general, helping people. Occasionally there might be a debate about a person's worthiness vis-à-vis his or her personal life choices. But in general, most Christians I meet, conservative or liberal, feel that feeding the hungry and clothing the naked is the church's responsibility. Even if they aren't personally engaged in such work, they feel that someone should do it.
The difficulty comes when the conversation turns to our corporate responsibility, as a society, to care for each other. In other words, in what sense should my religious values determine the way we order our public lives? Some will brush away any suggestion that Christians should be involved in this type of conversation by invoking "separation of church and state." But the separation of church and state is about the state being prohibited from establishing any religion or inhibiting the free exercise of religion. It is not meant to prevent people from bringing their religiously inspired moral values to bear upon issues of public concern as long as others are also permitted to bring their values to the table.
Glenn Beck, of course, is opposed to any interpretation of Christianity that would imply that people have a responsibility to take care of each other in any corporate sense. Let me be specific.
When I talk to Christians about justice, many will say it's the responsibility of the church to take care of people; we shouldn't expect the government to do that. There is a partial truth to this. But here's the rub. First of all, we live in a pluralistic society and not everyone is a Christian, to say the least. Do we really mean to say that only people who belong to a church can receive the care they need? And secondly, even if you grant that people outside the church should be cared for (as most Christians would), some issues, like health care, are too big for a local congregation to handle alone. In many cases, such as human rights and public health, our person-to-person solutions are too small.
Finally, when the church makes acts of charity the only way to be involved in the world, it leaves systemic injustice -- and I would say, evil -- unchallenged. I have come to the conclusion that focusing exclusively on charity actually allows injustice to flourish. Providers of charity become those who service the wreckage of an economic system that leaves millions of people destitute. By holding to this theology of charity alone, Christians actually facilitate injustice rather than challenging it.
Imagine if instead of organizing the civil rights movement, black leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. had simply advised Christians to love each other and stay out of the public square. Imagine if King had said to black Christians across the country that the church has no business getting involved in "politics." Where would we be today? But instead, he correctly identified racism as systemic, social sin. Then he organized a nationwide campaign to root out that sin and improve the lives of millions of Americans. Today Martin Luther King, Jr. is lauded as an American hero. Sadly, he also paid the ultimate price for living out his convictions.
Social justice is at the heart of the Christian faith. The religious leaders and people of faith we spoke to in the making of this PSA couldn't fathom a form of Christianity that doesn't speak to systemic brokenness. They couldn't imagine a Christian message of redemption and healing that only applied to people's personal lives and not to their social lives.
If you are a social justice Christian, we encourage you to post your own video response on our YouTube page expressing why you're a social justice Christian. Or drop us an email through the link on our webpage, www.socialjusticechristian.com.
In the coming weeks we will be creating more PSAs and broadening the scope to include people of other others religious traditions and no religious tradition expressing why they believe in social justice. Stay tuned to www.socialjusticechristian.com and www.newnamepictures.com for future releases.
Follow Ryan J. Bell on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ryanjbell
Of course, Jesus if he were alive today would be of the Left. He lived on the street with the simple working man and the outcasts of the day, such as prostitutes and tax collectors. He would be attending to the homeless, the drug addicts and the runaways.
If people have jobs and are paid a living wage, there is no need for charity except in the case of calamity.
But people are kept poor and/or jobless because it is necessary for the great economic engine that there be imbalances in order for money to move, and that there be unemployment in order to keep inflation and wages low. Subsidies or "welfare" are provided by most civilizations, not out of compassion or mercy, but to slow the resultant crime, and to avert riots and revolutions.
"Receive my instruction and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold."
(Proverbs 8:10 Modern King James Version)
And here are some of Jesus' instructions on an early training mission: "Jesus sent out these twelve, commanding them, saying, Do not go into the way of the nations, and do not enter into any city of the Samaritans. But rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, proclaim, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. You have received freely, freely give. Do not provide gold nor silver, nor copper in your purses, nor a bag for the journey, nor two coats, nor sandals, nor staves. For the workman is worthy of his food." (Matthew 10:5-10 MKJV)
After Jesus returned to life after the crucifixion, Jesus expanded that great commission: "Afterward He appeared to the Eleven as they reclined. And He reproached their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, Go into all the world, proclaim the gospel to all the creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned."
(Mark 16:14-16 MKJV)
I'll bet if the accounts were opened we would find a greater share of Glenn Beck's wealth goes to helping the poor, than does Jim Wallis' wealth. I've just got a sense that is the case. Just like Obama and McCain, when the books were opened Obama turned out to be the phony.
Try producing some verifiable evidence for such outrageously spiteful claims.
I'd also venture to say that these "social justice" types sense a threat to their donation stream if too many people start thinking too hard.
As to "spiteful claims" there is nothing spiteful in reminding people that Obama donates very little of his own money to charity, while demanding much more from everyone else via government fiat.
If "charity" alone could do the job, we wouldn't have more hungry, more homeless, more sick people. You had your chance with faith-based initiatives, and it hasn't worked.
The Catholic News Network estimated a 2005 total membership in various Christian denominations to be somewhere around 165 million. Utilizing the 80/20 rule, maybe 33 million of that estimate is actually involved with their faith in a serious way. Out of that, maybe 24 million are adults. Estimating an average of $45,000, giving 10% of their salary in a charitable way would come out to $108 billion $s a year, conservatively speaking.
If they all practiced what was preached, more like $562 billion.
Think over half a trillion dollars a year could cover it?
I am not buying this "let the private sector free market" take care of the poor, you haven't done it in the past, why would we believe that now, suddenly, you are going to? The problem is huge, and growing bigger. Everyone needs to be part of the solution: individuals, churches, local agencies, AND the federal government.
I'm not buying the idea the 'federal government is the answer' idea, either.
Of the tens of millions that don't have insurance, how many actually can't afford to buy it or are ineligible for other programs?
Don't know how it is where you live, but all the hospitals here have names like, "Presbyterian" "Methodist" "Catholic" "All Saints". Religious groups are why we have hospitals in the first place.
Maybe if the government got out of the way...
Robert G. Ingersoll (1833-1899)
I would like to see the whole world free - free from injustice - free from superstition. One good schoolmaster is worth a thousand priests. For many centuries, the sword and the cross were allies. Together they attacked the rights of man. They defended each other.
If Christianity were only stupid and unscientific, if its god were ignorant and kind, if it promised eternal joy to believers, and if the believers practiced the forgiveness they teach, for one I should let the faith alone. But there is another side to Christianity. It is not only stupid, but malicious. It is not only unscientific, but it is heartless. Its god is not only ignorant, but infinitely cruel. It not only promises the faithful an eternal reward, but declares that nearly all of the children of men, imprisoned in the dungeons of god will suffer eternal pain. This is the savagery of Christianity.
2. This post is nearly identical to the one you left on the other HP blog: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/31/bill-donohue-catholic-sex_n_520187.html
Google searching anti-religious quotes is pretty easy. Perhaps you can take an extra second and copy and paste something different. Whether I am religious or anti-religious, this is bothersome. Even more so if I was anti-religious, because people like you are expressing ill-thought words in the name of my cause.
In the article on The Huffington Post "1001 Inventions": How Islamic Scientific History Can Combat Today's Extremists” in your comment to me Posted 02:23 PM on 4/08/2010
you asked me: “Shall I take it from your comment that you've read the bible? If so, which version(s)? Also, what themes do you get from the bible? What does it teach you? (this is not limited to history, ethics, theology, about yourself...)”
I answered you and wrote about my take on Cain & Abel.
You never answered.
“Full of Faith” people hate facts, especially quotes that convey and promote the religious convictions of Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein.
I remember seeing a piece on television about an evangelical minister, who was approached about the necessity of "going green". The minster, named "Tri Robinson shares how he was convicted about his lack of concern for the environment to a point of disregard even though he had always been an avid outdoorsman. After being confronted by a guest at a wedding hosted at the church about the lack of recycling containers, Robinson began praying and searching Scripture for more insights into what the Bible says about the environment." For many Christians "going green", it appears to be that environmentalism can be perceived as idolatry because it suggests worshiping creation rather than its creator. Other reasons appear to center on politics and a distrust of science". Michael Lindsay, author of “Faith in the Halls of Power,” says that when it comes to environmentalism some Christian Republicans harbor a “distrust to what is seen as a liberal political agenda."
”The roots of distrust appear to go back to Democrat environmental sympathizer Al Gore. “Gore’s involvement in environmentalism had natural repercussions, and you see folks who took advantage of that,” said Alexei Laushkin, director of church relations of the Evangelical Environmental Network."
I did a great deal a work in graduate school involving environmental theology. Thank goodness some people equate environmental work with social justice. Which is precisely why after grad school, I went into law to put my ideology to work.
Sorry for your upbringing, but an interpretation of Christianity doesn't make it Christian.
Christian hypocrisy - unlimited.
I say, ignore churches and groups. If you believe in social justice go to a church that supports social justice and take action. We can't wait until all those phat conservative pastors di..e of the fat in their brains, we need to take action now.
In his book, Faiths of the Founding Fathers, the author points out All six seem more deistic than orthodox; that is, THEY INCLINED AGAINST THE TRINITY AND OTHER SUPERNATURAL CONCEPTS.
http://www.amazon.com/Faiths-Founding-Fathers-David-Holmes/dp/0195300920/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1
“The Father of the Constitution” placed legal Christianity on trial, and his Post-Christian predecessors, Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson did so as well.
"Experience witnesseth that ecclesiastical establishments,
Instead of maintaining the purity and efficacy of religion, have
had a contrary operation. During almost fifteen centuries has
the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has
been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence
in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both,
superstition, bigotry and persecution."
- James Madison
"A Memorial and Remonstrance", 1785
http://books.google.com/books?q=Experience+witnesseth+that+ecclesiastical+establishments,+++++Instead+of+maintaining+the+purity+and+efficacy+of+religion,+have++++++had+a+contrary+operation.++During+almost+fifteen+centuries+has++++++the+legal+establishment+of+Christianity+been+on+trial.++&btnG=Search+Books
ניפוץ אלילים - ביעור הבערות
HOLY HERETICS - Jesus, Maimonides, Spinoza, the Founding Fathers, Herzl and Einstein.
http://holyheretics.com/
HOLOCAUST HAGGADAH - שואה
Top religion merchants scandalous explanations as to where the God of the Jews was during the great massacre - blame the victims.
http://holocausthagaddah.blogspot.com/
According to the Catholic News Service, total recorded inclusive membership in the various denominations in 2005 was 165,878,323. That's over half the population of the United States.
Most poles I'm seeing show that about 43% of the current US population 306,108,000 (2009) goes to church regularly, about 131,000,000 people.
That isn't enough one-on-one for ya'?
Is it because some 131 to 165 million people of faith are so much like a herd of slugs that you have to call in the government to create 'social justice'?
Lets just use the 80/20 rule and say that say 20-30 million people out that group of slugs will actually get up and do something.
Is that not enough either?
If that's the case, shame on us all.
Y'know, our Lord and Savior is NOT going to ask what our government did for the poor. He's going to ask what each one of us chose to do, personally.
Really? He's going to ask you what you personally did to help someone who has no health insurance? What have you done? Oh, that's right. You've bitched about the government like your Republican leadership has taught you.
There's so many things wrong with this statement I barely know where to start. For one thing, there is no lord & saviour. Secondly, even if he did exist, how do you know what he would ask? And why is it that right-wingers like you support insurance companies getting rich off the backs of the sick, but you fear the government redistributing the monies for actual health care? This makes no sense.
Typical. Reframing the argument.
Why don't you re-ask the question based on what I said?
"What have you done?"
Between taxes I've paid that have largely been wasted on ineffective programs, but I paid anyway, and about 20% of my gross income to my church (since you asked) which in turn operates a a youth program, food pantry, clothes closet and an emergency financial fund, plenty.
Bless. Your. Heart.
"In a bid to avoid inadvertently providing spousal benefits to gay men and women who happen to be employees, Catholic Charities of Washington, D.C. , has taken the extraordinary step of ending spousal benefits for all of its employees, the Washington City Paper reports."