Social justice

Social justice seems to be a hot topic in popular culture these days, especially in the college crowd. I'm just glad that the West is actually trying to do something. Just in case the topic is a little hazy, I define social justice as defending the rights of the afflicted and needy in society(based on this article: A Biblical View of Social Justice). It's pretty general, but in solid terms, this means fighting against injustices, like prostitution, human trafficking, other unfair labor practices. And in the globalized society that we live in, it means doing this internationally as well as locally, especially since many of the products we get are from overseas. We can't and shouldn't turn a blind eye to what we may be inadvertently funding.

Passion Conference in January focused on this huge problem and blind spot of our materialistic culture, as we learned about 27 million slaves that still exist around the world. Stop and think about this again. At least 27 million slaves exist in our modern world. In this modern day and age. Read here to get a good synopsis of the conference. While the conference went on, they created the hand monument on the left out of items commonly made by slaves to represent their hands reaching out for us to help free them.


As an international affairs major, I have studied and dealt with the concepts of justice in many of my classes. I wrote about something similar back in 2010, in the middle of my international ethics class: Humanitarian Intervention.  But it hasn't been personal. And still if I'm honest, it still isn't as personal as it could be. A few weeks ago, I was wrestling with the idea of how God could let such injustice happen. And in my personal time with him, I read Psalm 94. And it answered many of my questions, and encouraged me that people have been asking these question a long time. It's great how God provides! I'll probably post more on the topic of social justice and what we're supposed to do to accomplish it later.


Psalm 94 is below(ESV, bold mine):

94 O Lord, God of vengeance,
    O God of vengeance, shine forth!
² Rise up, O judge of the earth;
    repay to the proud what they deserve!
³ O Lord, how long shall the wicked,
    how long shall the wicked exult?
⁴ They pour out their arrogant words;
    all the evildoers boast.
⁵ They crush your people, O Lord,
    and afflict your heritage.
⁶ They kill the widow and the sojourner,
    and murder the fatherless;
⁷ and they say, “The Lord does not see;
    the God of Jacob does not perceive.”

⁸ Understand, O dullest of the people!
    Fools, when will you be wise?
⁹ He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
¹⁰ He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?
He who teaches man knowledge—
¹¹      the Lord—knows the thoughts of man,
    that they are but a breath.^[a]

¹² Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord,
    and whom you teach out of your law,
¹³ to give him rest from days of trouble,
    until a pit is dug for the wicked.
¹⁴ For the Lord will not forsake his people;
    he will not abandon his heritage;
¹⁵ for justice will return to the righteous,
    and all the upright in heart will follow it.

¹⁶ Who rises up for me against the wicked?
    Who stands up for me against evildoers?
¹⁷ If the Lord had not been my help,
    my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.¹⁸ When I thought, “My foot slips,”
    your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
¹⁹ When the cares of my heart are many,
    your consolations cheer my soul.
²⁰ Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
    those who frame injustice by statute?
²¹ They band together against the life of the righteous
    and condemn the innocent to death.^[b]
22 But the Lord has become my stronghold,
    and my God the rock of my refuge.
²³ He will bring back on them their iniquity
    and wipe them out for their wickedness;
    the Lord our God will wipe them out.