Mar 13, 2010

What Would Jesus Say About Social Justice in the US Today?

Have christian values changed over the years? Is it because there's been an evolution of thinking and changing times? Or, is it because certain scriptures have been interpreted wrongly? Whatever it is, Glenn Beck may have put his foot into his big mouth by equating social justice with communism, fascism, and everything he thinks the progressives stand for. Maybe the rest of the media isn't willing to take on the Fox Network for the latter's distortion of journalistic standards, but many people of faith are now taking on this fool.
There are many conservatives who have placed a higher value on capitalism than on social justice, so Glenn Beck isn't an exception. I wonder what Jesus would say about the current state of wealth inequality in the US. What would he say when Americans suffer personal bankruptcy, unnecessary pain and early death because they don't have health insurance. Or, that there are close to 10 million children living in extreme poverty and go to bed at night hungry; or that 1 million of them are homeless in the wealthiest country on earth!





It's been said that there's not  much logic in religion, but I think it depends how religion is perceived--from the inside (believers) and the outside (the secularists). The insiders are divided into two groups. One of those who use it as a guide to be better moral people; the other is of those who use religion to justify their actions.

The outsiders are also divided into two groups. One of those who think religion can (not always, as we know) be a force of goodness. The other of those who think that religion has shackled human reason and progress. 

At any rate,  the notion of a social contract is that free people enter into a civil society and establish government in order to promote the welfare of all people, not just the few. So, what's happening in our country?....