‘Seek Social Justice’ (Part One)

[Part 1 of 6 in my review of the Seek Social Justice study from the Heritage Foundation and WORLD Magazine]

In the introduction to the study, the authors emphasize the importance of “correctly diagnosing the suffering we see around us.� Failing to do so, they wisely argue, can result in well-intentioned efforts that actually do more harm than good. In this case, we’re invited to explore the roots of poverty specifically in the United States. The authors acknowledge that for the poor in developing countries, different circumstances may require different approaches. But the same general rule applies: there is a unique role for everyone - families, churches, non-profit groups, businesses and government.

Section One of the study is called Rethinking Social Justice: Getting to the Root of the Problem, and the emphasis is overwhelmingly on the importance of relationships, even invoking the term relational justice. In a nutshell, “a relational approach means that social justice is best cultivated from the ground up.�

I love that this is where they start.

Dr. Amy Sherman, of the Morsch Center for Social Justice at Trevecca Nazarene University, is featured in the video that accompanies the study. She articulates the rich Hebrew concept of shalom, which has to do with relationships in four directions: with God, self, others, and the created world. When these relationships are damaged or destroyed, things go haywire. Working to restore these relationships is what Jesus was all about during his earthly ministry and is what the church is to be about today. It’s what we mean when we pray the Lord’s Prayer: “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.�

Marvin Olasky, editor-in-chief of WORLD Magazine and author of books including The Tragedy of American Compassion, sums up these insights when he says, “Social justice is the sum of millions of acts of relational justice.� Is that true? Well, yes or no, depending on what exactly the term relational justice includes.

As would be expected from a think tank that exists to promote (among other things) limited government, the role of the state is quite minimized in this study, at least so far. That’s perfectly understandable, given the source. But while loving relationships will undoubtedly go a long way in addressing injustices, I’m with Martin Luther King, who articulated the matter quite poignantly: “It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.�  Just as government policies and laws are in place to prohibit such evils as rape and murder, it seems to me there’s a place for robust policies that prevent the abuse of the poor and marginalized by the powerful, the sort of abuse that medical anthropologist Dr. Paul Farmer brilliantly describes as structural violence - which includes far more than what one might immediately think of as violence. (The issue of welfare programs and so-called “government handouts� is a different topic altogether, which will certainly arise in the study’s later section dealing specifically with the role of the government.)

One final theme that I think warrants a brief mention is from the study’s workbook, in which participants are asked to read a few handpicked verses from the book of Proverbs (10:4; 13:18; 19:15; and 21:5), and to reflect on what is taught about the roots of economic poverty. Key words and phrases from the selected verses are “a slack hand,� “the one who ignores instruction,� “sloth,� “idle,� and “hasty.� Now, I’m not about to argue with the wisest person who ever lived (Solomon), but bear with me for a moment. Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC, makes an important observation about the book of Proverbs:

When I studied the book of Proverbs, I came to see that a proverb is not the same as a command or a promise. Proverbs say things like, "In general, if you work hard, you won't find yourself lacking the basics, but there are plenty of exceptions. So work hard, but don't be shocked if something goes wrong." That's not an iron-clad promise (that everyone who works hard will be well off) nor a command. It is a statement about a wise course of action.

We’d do well to take the wisdom in these proverbs quite seriously. No argument from me there. But what about the rest of what the Bible has to say about the rich and the poor? Whereas these proverbs certainly represent “a wise course of action� the Bible is also full of warnings to the rich - verses that are quite inconvenient for successful free-market capitalists, even compassionate and well-intentioned ones, which certainly includes those behind this study. Perhaps in a later section there will be a more complete exploration of relevant biblical teachings on the matter of wealth and poverty, but it struck me as unbalanced (I won’t go so far as to say deceptive) to focus solely on verses that support a “pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps� mentality without considering the bigger picture.

Again, despite my concerns with these certain weak spots, I love that the study begins by focusing on relationships. It is, after all, social justice we're talking about.