Tag Archives: social justice

Speaking out against injustice

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In preparation for a discussion on immigration, I’m trying to get a feel for how the church has done when it comes to speaking with a prophetic voice on social issues. That is, how well we’ve done at speaking to issues from a Christian standpoint.

I’m thinking of a number of things that over time society has come to recognize as wrong. I’m wondering how well the church has done in speaking out on these issues before the general society did so. A good example today is abortion. The church, to a large degree, has identified this moral outrage as something that needs to be corrected. What about other issues?

Here are some issues that come to mind. Beyond the actions of specific individuals, do you think the church in this country was ahead of society or behind society in speaking out?

  • The genocide of the native population
  • The breaking of treaties with the native population
  • Slavery
  • Imperialistic wars/The taking of foreign lands by force (I’m thinking Mexican-American and Spanish-American Wars specifically; you might know of other such conflicts)
  • Child labor
  • The internment of Asian families during WWII
  • Jim Crow laws/racism

Christians often speak of following the laws of the land unless they conflict with God’s laws. Yet few of us can point to an example of anyone who has actually fallen into “civil disobedience” because of religious convictions. Some of the above might have called for such reactions, so I’d love to hear of examples.

Can you think of examples of how the church took a stand against the above injustices?

5 Resources about how our consumption affects others

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Migrant workers' childrenSince I can’t speak from expertise nor experience, let me share some resources with you on the issues I’ve been discussing this week.

  1. Francis Lappe’s Why Can’t People Feed Themselves is a must read. Just one article, and I’m sure it’s open to charges of bias and inaccuracies. But I think we need to think along historical lines and realize that, to some degree, we and our forefathers share some responsibility for the current state of the world.
  2. Slavery Footprint is a good site to make you think about how your possessions and your consumption affect people in other countries.
  3. The Story of Stuff presents a view point of the consumerist society. You might also want to see Lee Doren’s rebuttals on his YouTube channel; he calls The Story of Stuff a “leftist indoctrination movie.”
  4. The book 7 : An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess has caused many to think about their lifestyle. Author Jen Hatmaker’s website has additional resources.
  5. The American Way of Eating: Undercover at Walmart, Applebee’s, Farm Fields and the Dinner Table brings the discussion back home, focusing on the exploitation of the poor in America and how that relates to our food supply.

So if any of this discussion has sparked your interest, you’ve got some places to go for more information.