The acronym SJW, or social justice warrior,
is most often used in a pejorative way
to mock someone who is presumed
to be a virtue signaling attention seeker.
But for others, the term social justice calls to mind
the revered examples of those who worked
to overturn unjust laws and to uphold human dignity.
Like the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Or William Wilberforce.
The term social justice
has become such a muddled catchphrase
that it's difficult to define it with specificity.
For some, social justice means that
every person must be treated equally in every circumstance,
without regard to the difference
between the people themselves.
For others, social Justice represents a just society
that allows for the unique potential of each human being
to be fully achieved.
The various conceptions of social justice include
equality, needs, merit, and social utility.
Like the term itself,
defining those who are involved in causes of social justice
can also be wildly disparate.
Today, the concept of social justice
has quite a secular connotation,
but its origins are indisputably rooted
in what is called Catholic social thought
or Catholic social doctrine.
Although a reference to social justice
can be found in the Federalist Papers
and inferred from the work of St. Augustine
and St. Thomas Aquinas.
The coining of the term social justice as a philosophy
or a political ideal is most often attributed
to the mid-19th century writings
of an Italian Catholic priest, Luigi Taparelli.
A member of the Society of Jesus,
Father Taparelli was said to have influenced
Rerum Novarum,
the papal encyclical widely considered
to be the foundational document of Catholic social thought
and social justice movements.
Taparelli asserted that social justice was a societal norm
or construct where individuals, families and associations
would be permitted the maximum range of liberty
and pursuit of the good with a minimum of interference
or direction from governmental authorities.
Social justice, at its most fundamental level,
is based on the premise that each human person
is made in the image and likeness of God.
Social justice is necessary in order to help people
to live their lives with authentic meaning,
free to become their truest selves
without interference from
and with the assistance of societal structures,
including government.
Social justice is also grounded in the common good.
The common good begins with a presumption
that all human life, from conception to natural death,
merits dignity and respect,
and that directly killing is a violation of human dignity.
So, the common good presumes human rights
in their most basic form, the right not to be killed.
No law or policy can serve the common good
if it violates this principle.
To act on behalf of the common good means
that for each individual or association,
the optimal conditions, backed by societal structures
and life-affirming laws, exist
to help them reach their full potential.
A society or structure that prevents another
from developing his or her talents
or from forming and maintaining
healthy and loving family lives and friendships
contravenes both the dignity of the human person
and the common good.
Social justice may appear to be an unattainable goal,
the rights of the individual
and the common good will always be in tension,
but social justice in its truest form is not,
as some have described it,
the preference of those who prefer government solutions
to human problems, funded by the redistribution of wealth.
A true social justice framework is one where
the sum total of social conditions exist,
where people may fully develop their gifts
and their talents.