A few things have motivated me to clarify my claim. First, to this point my comrades for social justice are almost entirely Christians functioning in Christian organizations. At times, some folks who do not share our belief join in, but they knowingly and willingly work with a group of Christians to advocate for justice and work to relieve poverty. My group of co-advocates is growing. I am now part of a group that is passionate for social justice and does not have a particular religious affiliation, while still welcoming Christians to join the group’s efforts. This has been a refreshing role reversal.
Beyond this, I am becoming increasingly confident and certain in my political ideas and statements. Again, my politics express my faith, but the expression often comes through seemingly faith-neutral ideas. As I work with people who do not necessarily share my religion and I align myself politically with people who do not necessarily share my religion, I think that it is only fair to let them know where I am coming from.
My second reason is a confession of sorts. A few weeks ago, I told a friend that I am finding it difficult to look to the church as a group to work for justice. This was not an off-the-cuff statement, but something I had been thinking about for some time. The tipping-point was when I read about anexecution of a Texas man whose IQ borders on intellectual disablity. I write and live in Canada and we no longer have executions. Despite this, I recall a few specific conversations with my Canadian Christian friends about why they approve of the death penalty. Their view is not unique. Although this execution happened in another country, it reminded me of these conversations. These two realities make me sad. Some people who approve of execution use the same word to describe themselves that I use to describe myself. Part of why I am writing this essay series is to reacquaint myself with why it matters that I am a Christian who advocates for justice, rather than a Christian who advocates for something else, or someone else who advocates for justice.
A few caveats are needed here. I am always – as in 100% of the time – opposed to execution. (You can go ahead and label me “pro-life” if you wish.) Someone smarter than me, I think it was George Carlin, suggested that it is never okay to put a person in a cage and then kill him. This does not meet our standard of self-defense. Although I am always against the death penalty, this execution seems particularly horrific and it pisses me off more than normal. It is also important to note that I do not doubt the belief of fellow Christians who disagree with me about particular justice issues and I hope they return this favour. Finally, I have not spoken to any of my friends who approve of the death penalty regarding this particular event.
The third reason that I am writing is that it is impossible for me to keep my faith private. Whenever religion comes up in The Globe and Mail, many contributors to the comments section of the website tell me (not specifically) to keep my religion to myself and that I need to keep it out of how I engage with the world. I don't understand this line of thinking. Disagree with my faith if you wish, but it is part of who I am so I cannot keep it to myself and be part of society. Further, I choose to be part of society as an advocate for justice and I make this choice because of my religion. If not for my religion, I would not be an advocate for justice. Many times my natural instinct is to act quite selfishly.
With these three reasons for writing in mind, I begin to explore my religion as a reason for social justice. I don’t want to use anything radical to define what it is to be a Christian, so I will use The Nicene Creed, which Christians have used for centuries to express what we believe. I intend to divide the creed into six sections and I will use one idea from each of these sections to frame an essay that I hope explains why my religion motivates me to advocate for justice. The divisions are my own and I acknowledge that others may outline the creed differently. The titles of my upcoming essays are as follows:
·
The
Father: Maker of Heaven and Earth
·
Jesus:
Of One Being With the Father · Jesus: Was Made Man
· The Spirit: Has Spoken Through the Prophets
· The Church: One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church
· The Church: The Life of the World to Come
Beyond the creed itself, my primary source material for the essays will be The Bible, usually The Message and English Standard Version translations. It will be necessary to look to thinkers other than myself for guidance and I will note when I do. This essay series does not come out of a vacuum. As I was coming up with the idea for this series, I was reading Generous Justice by Timothy Keller and Power and Poverty by Dewi Hughes. I was also listening to recordings of N. T. Wright lectures. I don’t know if any of these sources will have specific impact on what I write, but each helped me ask the question: What does it mean to be a Social Justice Christian? Christians I am directly involved with, whether at church or elsewhere, will also effect my thoughts, directly or otherwise.
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