an entry i plan on taking very seriously ~ so give me alittle time . . . =)
okay, so this is a very important topic to me, well really to every one and everything on the earth. . .
here's a verse to think about
Micah 6:8
8 He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
so when talking about my faith i often get asked questions like if you know God will always forgive you, why be "good"?
a very valid question, our faith is not about deeds so why stress out about them??
Because by becoming a Christian we say not only that we believe in God and his son but Christianity is a lifestyle. Not something to do sundays and the ever popular wednesday nights but every day of the week. Jesus preached every day and his actions gave us a picture of how to live everyday. He helped those in need, he worked for the betterment of human kind, he showed love and kindness. Justice is at the heart of all of these things.
It is important to learn about God from the bible, however it is essential that we transfer the ideals from the bible to our lives. Like here in micah, the Lord requires us to act, love, and walk. These are not activities that can be limited to one or two days a week but every waking moment of everyday.
There are many forms of justice i hope to cover soon (maybe we'll have a justice week!) some of which are social justice, political justice, economical justice, restorative justice vs punative justice (in no particular order) so. . . if anyone wants to do an entry on one of these, or another kind of justice, that would be great just let me know.
*Question for the day~What is justice to you?
God Bless!
your sister in Christ~Erin
prayer requests~stressed out students!
2 comments:
Here's a freewrite i did for philosophy of ethics class last year:
What is the nature of justice?
Justice is commonly defined as people getting what they deserve. This definition works pretty well for everyone, because we get to choose what people deserve!
Christ’s gospel preached that what people deserve is the opportunity to be fully human; that is the opportunity to reach their human potential. There were many systems in Jesus’ day that were oppressive, that kept people down, that prevented them from fully living, and Jesus challenged them all. He outsmarted the Roman authority by encouraging folks to “turn the other cheek” and ask for a slap of equality. He denied racism power through the actions of the Good Samaritan; he gave feminists a high five by talking with the woman at the well. In our day, we have tools of democracy and citizenship to challenge unjust systems of oppression. It is our duty as Christians to fight against these systems through refusal of compliance and at times government action. I think of a Desmond Tutu line: “It is dangerous to pray, for an authentic spirituality is subversive of injustice.” That leads nicely into something I probably should have started with—the basic theology of justice…existing in a Christian context as I do, any talk of justice requires reflection on God’s idea of justice. This of course is built on the foundation of justification: sin separates us from God, Jesus comes, proposes radical things like love your neighbor as yourself and love your enemies, he dies, forgives his killers, rises from the dead, offers salvation to all of humanity. Thus only through Christ can we be made whole; ultimate reparative justice, or the restoring of us to our full potential. That’s the basic idea used by Tutu to back his “no future without forgiveness” philosophy, and restorative justice was definitely behind the TRC in South Africa. So the nature of justice is forgiveness.
And what about our criminal justice system? Like most in the world, it’s retributive. The key here is that while forgiveness is important, that can’t always mean we get to walk away from the consequences of our actions. Rather, reparative measures must be just as important in a criminal justice system as retributive measures—the ultimate goal should be to restore the perpetrator to his/her full personhood and ability to function in society. This may require that jail time be served, fines paid, community service done, etc. And there may be cases—such as level 3 sex offenders—when assimilation back into society isn’t workable. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t treat them with respect; for as Tutu says, if we make them monsters we take away their responsibility as moral agents.
P.S. Speaking of lots of different kinds of justice, check out these resources from the General Board of Church and Society of the UMC: www.umc-gbcs.org/afterthestorm. Resources A-G are just a page each, check 'em out.
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