My problem with what has become of the “social justice” movement is that the term has largely been co-opted and been used by many as the primary focus of our faith, to the extent that many have satisfied themselves with their works of social justice while throwing out their faith in the true doctrine of Christ transmitted through the Church.
Sounds like a Protestant sermon might have much valid criticism here about faith vs. works, eh?
More than that, the real co-opting going on is that the charitable drive of the Church has been subverted by a “social justice” crowd that pushes for government solutions rather than charitable ones. It attempts to use the government to meet their ends, regardless of the cost or concerns of government intervention, be it law, liberty, constitution, or Church principles of subsidiarity sold out for an easy solution with the vast power of the state.
Here again we seem to have another Protestant sermon with much valid criticism of corruption: just as they have criticized Church control of secular states no matter the circumstances, they too could criticize this idea of using the heavy hand of government to achieve “Church” ends–be it some definition of public welfare.
In fact, the Left might call it a form of theocracy–except they’re too busy using their Catholic patsies to advance their agenda, including the anti-religion and amoral points so high on their list.
I do get the counterargument, though, that many non “social justice” crowd people tend not to live out their faith in works of charity to the extent that they should. I think this is quite false for when it is a criticism targeted at active and faithful Catholics, conservative or not. I think it does apply more broadly to the vast number of lukewarm Catholics in our midst.
However, I don’t think the “social justice” crowd do themselves any favors here. By pushing so hard and openly for the government to solve problems of social welfare, turning a blind eye to concerns about just how it does so or to what other things are being advanced alongside,
they have truly helped create a society that believes it is the government’s responsibility to take care of people–not our own!
And so we end abdicating our personal responsibility for charity to the government, and worse, hindering our ability to engage in private charity because the government claims so much of our wealth.
I dearly wish they would turn their attention instead, not to government, but to the Church. Encourage more active, more faithful Catholics. Help get us engaged in caring for our fellow man and building our communities so that we can build the Kingdom. Not sell out the Kingdom of God to the kingdoms of man in which we live, and not pass by the people in need because some government official is supposed to be the one taking care of them.
Our Church practically invented large scale charity, with our schools, hospitals, orphanages, monasteries, convents, etc.
IF we had focused on these rather than governments, we might truly be making a much larger impact on the welfare of our fellow brothers and sisters in this world than any governments can hope to.
Imagine if the wealth of the modern age had been turned to charity–NOT government control–by a culture with a spirit as dedicated to Christ as the West once was through the Church. We could be lifting the whole world out of poverty, giving them unprecedented health care, education, and meeting their material and (most importantly!) spiritual needs.
Instead, many liberal Catholics effectively abandon that vision to put too much of their faith in a state-run one (rather than a Christ-run, charitable Church); this triggers the conservative to oppose them, creating internal division and weakening the whole; and it leaves lukewarm Catholics (the majority) believing that it’s primarily the government’s role to take care of people, not our own.
