Social Justice is a Christian Tradition - Not a Liberal Agenda

In light of recent events, I thought this article was very appropriate.

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But the Bible tells us that Jesus cared deeply about the social causes around him.

Instead of saying all lives matter, Jesus said, "Samaritan lives matter."
Instead of saying all lives matter, Jesus said, "Children's lives matter."
Instead of saying all lives matter, Jesus said, "Gentile lives matter."
Instead of saying all lives matter, Jesus said, "Jewish lives matter."
Instead of saying all lives matter, Jesus said, "Women's lives matter."
Instead of saying all lives matter, Jesus said, "Lepers' lives matter."

Even though Jesus loves everyone, even to the point of dying for their sins, he went out of his way to intentionally help specific groups of people the alienated, mistreated, and those facing injustice.

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Christians must recognize that our society is filled with numerous groups and communities facing systemic oppression, and we must act. We must be willing to admit and address the complex realities within our world that create such problems, and avoid the spiritual laziness that tempts us to rely on generic excuses and solutions.

Christians do a disservice to the gospel message by removing the cultural context from Jesus's ministry and watering down his message to one of religious platitudes. We like to generalize the words of Jesus and transform his life into a one-size-fits-all model that can apply to all of humanity.

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Throughout the New Testament Jesus was more complex than we give him credit for.

He intentionally, purposefully, and passionately addressed very specific causes. He radically addressed the diverse and complicated conflicts of the time and shattered the status quo.

Jesus wasn't just preaching a universal salvation message for the world, but he was also addressing specific political, social, and racial issues. He was helping those who were being abused, violated, and oppressed.

Involving ourselves within these issues serving those who need justice is an example of following Jesus that today's Christians must adhere to, because throughout the world there are millions of people who are suffering. But many Christians remain simply apathetic, ignorant, or refuse to admit any problems exist.

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Because everyone is created in the image of God and loved by God, we are responsible for identifying the victimized not rejecting their existence.

That's why the New Testament goes into great depth detailing the newfound worth given to the Gentiles, slaves, and women. These countercultural instructions to believers were radically progressive, to the point where the gospel writers had to put them in writing to make sure they were implemented within the newly formed church.

While God does love everyone and all believers are united in Christ, this doesn't negate the fact that we have a unique cultural identity and upbringing and are called to recognize the marginalized, help the oppressed, and avoid rejecting their significance by denying their identity or ignoring their plight.

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[insert eating popcorn gif]

Yeah I was leery about posting this. Don't get me wrong though. I think a lot of the social justice type issues are handled with such anger and resentment that it drowns out the validity of the complaint. I think that's why it's so important for Christians to being a spirit of boldness, but gentleness, to issues of social justice.

Amalekite lives matter!

Saving space for later.

Edit 1: That was a really long blog post to only have one bible verse, and even then, to completely ignore it for the sake of reconciling the bible to your feelings (instead of the other way around). Liberation theology is not biblical.

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By acknowledging and actively participating in the #blacklivesmatter movement, addressing racism, immigration, gender equality, and a litany of other issues, you are following in the steps of Jesus.

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lol...oh jeez

I will say Christians do have a good message regarding social justice: marriage. It is the #1 driving force of economic and social inequality.

What many people consider "Social Justice" would be more accurately identified as "Social Mercy".

Justice is getting what you deserve
Mercy is getting better than you deserve

I know that I do not really want to get what I "deserve".

Jesus was all about mercy, not justice.

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By acknowledging and actively participating in the #blacklivesmatter movement, addressing racism, immigration, gender equality, and a litany of other issues, you are following in the steps of Jesus.

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lol...oh jeez

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I think a lot of the social justice type issues are handled with such anger and resentment that it drowns out the validity of the complaint.

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I'm pessimistic so I apologize but I think many social justice posts on Facebook are people grandstanding on an issue to advance their own image and brand

Prayers for all involved in every situation. Everyone turn off facebook.

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I'm pessimistic so I apologize but I think many social justice posts on Facebook are people grandstanding on an issue to advance their own image and brand

Prayers for all involved in every situation. Everyone turn off facebook.

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I'd agree, but would extend that to beyond issues of social justice. It's easy to change your profile picture to the latest cause, whether that it something related to a terrorist attack, BLM or cop support. Everyone gets to see how much you care without having to do anything of substance to address the issue. It cheapens very real and pressing issues. Combine that with those that are "doing" something, but being hateful and violent, then the root of these problems never gets addressed. It's very frustrating. I think that's where the church can be so effective, but we have to approach the issue with gentleness, boldness and love for both sides.

Social media has been a great, yet horrible creation.

It is grandstanding. The word I like is "virtue signaling".

It's hard to be "oppressed" in modern America unless it's self-inflicted.

Jesus, Paul, etc. also taught to work, not to be lazy, and that if you don't work - you don't eat.

I have to pick up the slack for A LOT of kids at church whose parents completely dropped the ball. I've met these parents. It's their own fault.

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It's hard to be "oppressed" in modern America unless it's self-inflicted.

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I personally do not feel oppressed. I'm also a clean cut white heterosexual male who grew up and still lives in the burbs. Many people do feel oppressed in some way or another. Regardless of whether I agree with the claims of opression or not, I feel that simply telling them their complaints are invalid - especially since I really do not have any experience in their shoes - is simply willful ignorance. The world that I grew up in, and probably a lot of us here, likely bares little resemblance to the upbringing of the poorest of the poor.

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Regardless of whether I agree with the claims of opression or not, I feel that simply telling them their complaints are invalid - especially since I really do not have any experience in their shoes - is simply willful ignorance.

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Agreed. Simply because, from our perspective, we believe their claims are invalid does not make their claims invalid from their perspective. This is where there is an alarming lack of empathy. We can't just stick our fingers in our ears and pretend that the oppression doesn't exist because we don't see it. We have to try to understand the perspective of those that feel oppressed and meet them where they are.

Enlighten us then.

Edit: I won't discuss because I can't but do give us some ideas.

Enlighten about what? Ideas about what?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabiography

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By acknowledging and actively participating in the #blacklivesmatter movement, addressing racism, immigration, gender equality, and a litany of other issues, you are following in the steps of Jesus.

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lol...oh jeez

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Are you saying black people are looters?

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Regardless of whether I agree with the claims of opression or not, I feel that simply telling them their complaints are invalid - especially since I really do not have any experience in their shoes - is simply willful ignorance.

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Agreed. Simply because, from our perspective, we believe their claims are invalid does not make their claims invalid from their perspective. This is where there is an alarming lack of empathy. We can't just stick our fingers in our ears and pretend that the oppression doesn't exist because we don't see it. We have to try to understand the perspective of those that feel oppressed and meet them where they are.

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Aaaaaaand there it is. If you feel it, it must be true.

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Regardless of whether I agree with the claims of opression or not, I feel that simply telling them their complaints are invalid - especially since I really do not have any experience in their shoes - is simply willful ignorance.

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Agreed. Simply because, from our perspective, we believe their claims are invalid does not make their claims invalid from their perspective. This is where there is an alarming lack of empathy. We can't just stick our fingers in our ears and pretend that the oppression doesn't exist because we don't see it. We have to try to understand the perspective of those that feel oppressed and meet them where they are.

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Aaaaaaand there it is. If you feel it, it must be true.

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Not my point at all. Their feelings are real and to simply dismiss them because you think they're invalid will result in nothing actually being addressed. Two people can watch the same incident yet see completely different things. Two people can live in the same society, work in the same buildings, and have similar experiences yet see them from completely different perspectives. Dismissing immediately without trying to actually understand the other perspective, trying to actually be empathetic, will only result in more division.

True or not, their feelings are very real. Their perspectives are very real. That's what we must work to reconcile. That's what we must try to understand.

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For most of the history of this country, differences between the black and the white population--whether in income, IQ, crime rates, or whatever--have been attributed to either race or racism. For much of the first half of the 20th century, these differences were attributed to race--that is, to an assumption that blacks just did not have it in their genes to do as well as white people. The tide began to turn in the second half of the 20th century, when the assumption developed that black-white differences were due to racism on the part of whites.

Three decades of my own research lead me to believe that neither of those explanations will stand up under scrutiny of the facts. As one small example, a study published last year indicated that most of the black alumni of Harvard were from either the West Indies or Africa, or were the children of West Indian or African immigrants. These people are the same race as American blacks, who greatly outnumber either or both.

If this disparity is not due to race, it is equally hard to explain by racism. To a racist, one black is pretty much the same as another. But, even if a racist somehow let his racism stop at the water's edge, how could he tell which student was the son or daughter of someone born in the West Indies or in Africa, especially since their American-born offspring probably do not even have a foreign accent?

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- Thomas Sowell

I believe he did a study, or cited one, in which the most successful immigrant group was West Indies blacks, or it may have been the most successful group of all peoples of the U.S.. If this country is "so" racist how does that explain the success of blacks not born and raised here?

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True or not, their feelings are very real. Their perspectives are very real. That's what we must work to reconcile. That's what we must try to understand.

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What a white patronizing thing to say. Adults should deal with facts, not feelings. Blacks are capable of that.

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True or not, their feelings are very real. Their perspectives are very real. That's what we must work to reconcile. That's what we must try to understand.

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What a white patronizing thing to say. Adults should deal with facts, not feelings. Blacks are capable of that.

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Empathy is not patronizing. Trying to understand other perspectives and how that is shaping attitudes and behaviors is not patronizing. It's trying to get to the root of the problem so that can be addressed. It's trying to understand why our perspectives differ and how can we address the root problems together. That also includes having honest, but difficult discussions about self-inflicted wounds on both sides and owning them.

And that isn't limited to issues of race. Trying to actually understand where the other side(s) are coming from and their perspectives is important in any conflict.

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True or not, their feelings are very real. Their perspectives are very real. That's what we must work to reconcile. That's what we must try to understand.

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What a white patronizing thing to say. Adults should deal with facts, not feelings. Blacks are capable of that.

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Are you capable of admitting that the facts demonstrate there are racial disparities in our justice system?

What was their socioeconomic background? Their previous education?

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Regardless of whether I agree with the claims of opression or not, I feel that simply telling them their complaints are invalid - especially since I really do not have any experience in their shoes - is simply willful ignorance.

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Agreed. Simply because, from our perspective, we believe their claims are invalid does not make their claims invalid from their perspective. This is where there is an alarming lack of empathy. We can't just stick our fingers in our ears and pretend that the oppression doesn't exist because we don't see it. We have to try to understand the perspective of those that feel oppressed and meet them where they are.

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Aaaaaaand there it is. If you feel it, it must be true.

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Not my point at all. Their feelings are real and to simply dismiss them because you think they're invalid will result in nothing actually being addressed. Two people can watch the same incident yet see completely different things. Two people can live in the same society, work in the same buildings, and have similar experiences yet see them from completely different perspectives. Dismissing immediately without trying to actually understand the other perspective, trying to actually be empathetic, will only result in more division.

True or not, their feelings are very real. Their perspectives are very real. That's what we must work to reconcile. That's what we must try to understand.

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Understanding what someone feels doesn't mean that their feelings are true (note this is different from feelings being real). Feelings change, they are easily manipulated. But if there is no underlying truth to them, the person whose feelings are wrong must change, not simply be reconciled.

If you had a Christian friend cheating on his wife who felt it was acceptable would you try to reconcile with him based on those feelings? Would you work to understand his feelings and perspective? Should you be empathetic to it?

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True or not, their feelings are very real. Their perspectives are very real. That's what we must work to reconcile. That's what we must try to understand.

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What a white patronizing thing to say. Adults should deal with facts, not feelings. Blacks are capable of that.

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Are you capable of admitting that the facts demonstrate there are racial disparities in our justice system?

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Statistics are descriptive. They do not establish causation, nor can they tell you whether an individual truly deserves to be there or not.

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If you had a Christian friend cheating on his wife who felt it was acceptable would you try to reconcile with him based on those feelings? Would you work to understand his feelings and perspective? Should you be empathetic to it?

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I would try to figure out what the root cause of the adultery was. Why the friend felt to leave the confines of marriage. What deep-seated issue manifested itself in adultery. The adultery is the symptom of a deeper issue. The deeper issue needs to be addressed, while also working to make right and repair the damage done to the relationship.

That's what I'm talking about. Getting down to the root of the problem. That's only going to happen if you try to understand where they're coming from. It doesn't mean excusing bad behavior. It means trying to address the deeper issue that led to the behavior.

Also, I'm not saying that anything they "feel" is true. I'm saying that we have to understand that from their perspective, they see it as true. We are guilty of it. It's like when 2 nations go to war. Both sides believe only their side is just. It doesn't make either just, but just dismissing without trying to understand will only increase the division. We have a tendency to only see our side, on any issue, as the "right" position. It may be, but it may not be. But the conflict won't be resolved if we simply shut our ears and refuse to try to understand where they're coming from, because there very may well be a nugget of truth that they see but we don't.

So you would ignore his feelings that it was ok and look for something else? Isn't that what you just said we shouldn't do?

If his perspective is real, how would you reconcile it?

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True or not, their feelings are very real. Their perspectives are very real. That's what we must work to reconcile. That's what we must try to understand.

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What a white patronizing thing to say. Adults should deal with facts, not feelings. Blacks are capable of that.

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Are you capable of admitting that the facts demonstrate there are racial disparities in our justice system?

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Statistics are descriptive. They do not establish causation, nor can they tell you whether an individual truly deserves to be there or not.

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What they can establish are systemic problems that demand explanation. The differences in sentencing for the same crimes, the differences in arrests and charges for the same crimes, etc, demand explanation. Race is not going to be the only dynamic. Wealth, age, and gender are going to play a role. But when controlled for, race is still a serious issue.

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Participating in social justice is a Christian tradition inspired by Jesus, not liberal causes.

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Participating in social justice is a tradition LEARNED by Jesus.


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