What is social justice and how does it relate to liberation theology? How do sin, love, grace, and human freedom affect social justice? What restricts freedom and social justice? And how does all of this play a role in the Kingdom of God?
Social justice is a concept of a society in which every human being is treated justly, without discrimination based on financial status, race, gender, ethnicity, etc. Grace is a gift from God that we don’t deserve, which helps us choose the good, therefore it promotes social justice. On the other hand, sin, which can be regarded as a lack of love and care for “others,” distances us from social justice. Therefore, love and grace are essential aspects of social justice and without them there could be no social justice in the world. Liberation theologians, major supporters of social justice, have multiple elements in their beliefs that respond to major social justice issues such as: unfair distribution of wealth, goods and services; oppression of people based on gender, race, and ethnicity; and the unjustness of social structures and institutions towards the underprivileged. Lastly, the ends of God’s kingdom and the ends of social justice are one in the same: Humans acting out of love to serve and give everything to those less fortunate and in need.
In this idea of social justice is the belief that every human is entitled to specific political, economic, social, and human rights. However, in reality many people are stripped of these rights, leaving them without power and privilege, in other words leaving them less than human. They are subject to political structures making decisions for them, which is unjust because political figures with power, acting on behalf of those without power, ...
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Works Cited
1. Haughey, John C. The Faith That Does Justice: Examining the Christian Sources for Social Change. Broadway, New York: Paulist Press, 1977.
2. U.S. Catholic Conference. To Campaign for Justice. Washington, D.C.: The Bobbs Merrill Company, Inc., 1982
3. Gutierrez, Gustavo. A Theology of Liberation. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1971.
4. Cory, Catherine. Landry, David. “Augustine of Hippo.” The Christian Theological Tradition: Second Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2003.
5. Boff, Leonardo. “On Development and Theology.” Introducing Liberation Theology. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1986
6. Dazet, Paul. Love Wins: God Hears the Cries of the Oppressed. January 15, 2008.
7. Wolff, Edward. “The Wealth Divide: The Growing Gap in the United States between the Rich and the Rest.”
Sklar, Holly. “The Growing Gulf Between the Rich and the Rest of Us”. They Say I Say. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, Russel Durst. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009. Print.
My definition of social justice in the field of education is based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child and the British-Colombia School Act that state that every child has a right to a proper education (UNICEF, n.d.; School Act, RSBC 1996, c. 412). A proper education to me is based on opportunity. I believe that in order to have a proper education, children should all be entitled to equal opportunity in their learning process. Children should have equal opportunity to obtain the supports that will assist them in achieving their potential.
· Lewis, CS. Mere Christianity. New York: Doubleday, 1982. · McBride, David. The Story of the Church.
In Miguel A. De La Torre’s Liberation Theology for Armchair Theologians the subject of liberation theology was explored. De La Torre biblically expressed Liberation theology by using the main point of the poor being followers of God and God himself is the leader of the poor, who will not let them down. Besides De La Torre, using the underrepresented society as an example of how Liberation Theology works, he uses a world view which taps into different theologies such as Black Theology, U.S. Feminist Theologies, Hispanic Theologies and many more. Although De La Torre lists different theologies from different groups they all tie in together melting into the pot of Liberation Theology.
Jenkins, Phillips. The Lost History of Christianity. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2008. Print. Phillips, Jonathan.
Social Justice is equality and fairness for all human beings. It is the subject of many official Catholic teachings and Catholics Organisation. To understand the reasons for the compassion and love by Catholics seeking peace and justice for all humanity, it is important to examine a specific example of human injustice in the world today.
Social Justice means that the equal distribution of rights among all. Is gender discrimination fair? Maybe men benefit from it but women don’t at all. Women and men are not equal and we see it almost everyday. In third world countries women are seen as less of a person. But God sees everyone as a unique individual created perfectly in his eye. He would lead and teach woman just like he did to men. In the bible it doesn't say that women are only suppose to stay in the house and raise the children. I see more and more husbands being stay at home parents. With discipleship and social justice these two topics fit into gender equality nicely.
Social justice is a core value in the social work field. We define social justice as, “all citizens would possess equal fundamental rights, protection, opportunities, obligations and social benefits (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2015, p. 29). Unfortunately, we understand there are many members in today’s society that are not receiving social justice. Some may not want help and believe that s/he is able to do it on their own and then there are the individuals that we may not know about that could really use our help. Our jobs as social workers is to help those who need help no matter if they are rich, poor, disabled, white, Hispanic, it does not matter because everyone should be treated equally. As NASW states, “The original mission of social work had much to do with championing the rights of society’s most vulnerable members, from children to homeless people to the physically disabled” (NASW: National Association of Social Workers, 2015, para. 1).
Institutions that affect our social justice views can include religions, schools, our government, social networking and media. Our own identity of ourselves is highly impacted by the restrictions and judgments that come along with these institutions. Whether you believe in it or not, you are impacted directly by the views from these institutions. The views of these institutions can be a determining factor in your decisions, because if you decide the rebel against these views you can look like an outsider. Social justice defines what should be done in order the live the perfect American Dream, be socially acceptable, fulfill life to the fullest and be an active member of society.
Critical social justice, unlike the more mainstream social justice, looks at the inequalities present in society more critically and actively tries to change them. Though the word “critical” has many negative connotations critical social justice purpose is not to judge but to help people think about the different perspectives of an issue. Nothing happens in a vacuum and when looking at an issue critical social justice understands that a person has to comprehend the history and cultural perspectives surrounding the issue. The more critical social justice realizes that inequality is not just a hateful word here or there, but is actually is something ingrained into the structures that make up
Rourke, Nancy. “Christianity Notes.” Religion 101 Notes Christianity. Entry posted April 14, 2011. https ://angel.canisius.edu/section/default.asp?id=43760%5FSpring2011 (accessed April 18, 2011).
Defined by the NASW (2016), social justice is the idea that everyone is entitled to equal economic, political, and social rights and opportunities. This is one of the main goals social workers aim to achieve. There are many injustices occurring in the world today, such as wage inequalities, institutional racism, and the amount of people living in poverty. Fighting for social justice is fighting for equality in all of these
At its core, this form of contextual theology serves the purpose of providing a “preferential option for the poor” through approaching Christian life in a “more radical, total, and efficacious” manner. When the movement’s most famous piece of literature, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation, was introduced, its goal was to “abolish the current unjust situation and to build a different society” within the Latin American community (A Theology of Liberation 13). Liberation theologians believe that if the Gospel is interpreted from the perspective of the poor and governmental bodies align their policies in conjunction with these philosophies, this goal can be achieved (Duncan 2). Therefore, Gutiérrez, who was the author of A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation, does not believe in the separation of religion and politics, which contradicts most modern secularist
What does social justice mean to a mother on welfare struggling to feed her family, or to a young college graduate looking for a job? Of course it can be said that all people are subject to the same experiences included in the American dream no matter race, religion, gender, economic status; yet centuries seem to fly by like water in a downhill stream, and the world’s smudged reality of social justice is still intact. Social justice is defined as fair treatment in the distribution of wealth, opportunity, and privileges: this includes education, economic opportunities, health care, property, and fair subjugation to laws. Although some progress has been made, it is still very important for society to fully grasp
Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity. 2nd ed. New York City, NY: HarperOne, 2010.