before i get into the differences, i think i should note to conservatives that we did get glenn beck's message- doing anything beyond voluntary charity is communism, or socialism or fascism. since these ism's are blended together so seamlessly in glenn beck's mind, it's a little difficult to tell whether social justice will lead to killing jews, killing capitalists, or soul-crushing bureaucracy. or will it lead to all three? who knows? more importantly, who cares?
i think it's important to note that countries like france, britain, canada, post-war germany, to name a few, went, at least mostly, down the social justice path. so far, no communism, socialism, or fascism. no concentration camps or gulags. just bureaucracy. which, for all its negatives, puts people to work. and longer life spans. and some sweet-ass vacation time. for all of conservatives' attacks on our government-maintained safety nets, i don't see these fuckers moving to places that lack them, just complaining about their fellow americans who need them.
i guess now would be a good time to describe why glenn beck has pissed off a lot of christians who normally might agree with him. christians, traditionally, have considered it one of their church's duties to support and administer programs for the poor. and, technically, glenn beck doesn't seem to have a problem with this because apparently it's voluntary to give to christian charities. but many other christians go further. there is a branch of christianity that interprets the teachings of jesus to avoid wealth and give to others even when it's a sacrifice to oneself. these christians believe that charity from your excesses is only to impress others instead of actually fostering the sense of unselfishness jesus christ came to spread. some catholics took this even further to develop liberation theology, which supported the human rights of the poor against the property rights of the rich, especially in latin america. combined with the catholic worker movement, liberals and those even more leftist in catholicism have kind of carved an unofficial (and unapproved) niche for themselves. but even pope john paul 2, while no fan of communism, was also no fan of unregulated capitalism and unrestrained greed. his cyclical on treatment of workers makes andy stern of the seiu look like a libertarian. martin luther king considered it his christian duty to examine the causes of poverty itself, and attempt to eliminate them. king called this "a revolution in values", and he called on his supporters to not just fling coins at beggars, but to restructure a system which produced beggars (which is why the right should think twice before insisting MLK actually acted on conservative values). mormons actually require members of their congregations to donate, or tithe, 10% of their yearly income. they actually have to state to their bishop that they've tithed every year. this is not voluntary if you want to belong to a mormon congregation. even muslims are also in on the act, requiring all muslims to contribute a minimum percentage of their wealth to charity, and to show hospitality to strangers. this is not considered voluntary in islam. these contributions are considered a part of improving one's soul and one of islam's five pillars. social justice has a long history in various religious beliefs, including christianity. glenn beck may want to pause before he chalks social justice up to marx and hitler.
why is glenn beck so pissed about social justice anyway, and why would he think churches should shun it, and people should shun churches that practice it? because it's compelled by law. oh, my stars and garters! social justice is when you decide you've had enough of an economic system in which people who do the grunt work of a company make poverty wages. social justice is when you demand that health insurance companies do the job we pay them to do, or the government will step in and do the job better. social justice is when you decide that some money in taxes to support school lunches is better than seeing kids go hungry. social justice demands that our economic system value something besides profit. social justice sees people as more important than profit, and that our economic system must provide for us, not the other way around. we don't have to support unregulated, unprotected capitalism if all we have to show for it are fat cats and slums.
social justice does not denigrate charity. in fact, involving oneself in charitable acts is one way in which people learn about social justice. some who involve themselves in charitable programs see too many decent people who are not afraid of hard work but have bosses who are afraid of paying living wages. some see too many people thrown away by our economy from sickness, drug addiction, and the loss of one paycheck. social justice is what you do when you realize that private charities are not equipped to provide the help needed to everyone who needs it, especially in hard times when private charities cannot muster the donations to meet the need. that is why our government, which can compel you through fines and possibly jail time, maintains a safety net of its own. this safety net is not voluntary- giving to it doesn't make you look good for your friends, or get one into heaven. however, this safety net is always there, whether the rich want to pay for it or not.
long story short- if you belong to a church which administers and supports various charitable programs, and your church has not come to question an economic system that treats rush limbaugh better than your own neighbors (who actually do something productive, instead of selling ads on a radio show)- then i'm asking you- how can your church not add 2+2 and get 4? how can any institution which spends time with the poor not see the numerous roadblocks our economic system puts in their way? record company profits through layoffs and poverty wages are great for stockbrokers, but end up placing a huge strain on our secular and religious charities. poverty wages and easy credit nearly destroyed our economy, which also puts a huge strain on charities. which charities don't see this? and even worse, which charities see this and choose to do nothing about it because they can't find a bible verse explicitly telling them to? i guess somebody thinks he can get through the eye of a needle.
