The Lord is a God of social justice. That’s the message in many—maybe most—churches
and synagogues in America and the West today. But here’s the problem: The Bible doesn’t
actually say that. It says (in Isaiah), “The Lord is a God of justice.” You’ll find
a lot of references to justice in the Bible. But you’ll never find it preceded by the
word “social.” But you’re probably thinking, “What’s
the difference? Isn’t God the God of justice and social justice?” Well, not if He’s
consistent. You see, God cannot be the God of justice and social justice because social
justice is not just. Justice is getting what you deserve without
favor. Social justice is getting what you don’t deserve because you are favored.
Justice is blind. Social justice is not. Let's say a man robs a store. Justice demands
but one thing: that he be tried in a court of justice, and, if he is found guilty, punished.
That is not how social justice works. Social justice doesn’t only ask if the person is
guilty. It asks about his economic condition: Is he poor or wealthy? About his upbringing:
What kind of childhood did he have? About his race or ethnicity: Is he a member of a
group that has been historically oppressed? Justice demands that everyone be equal under
the law. Social justice demands that everyone be equal. Period. Economically, socially,
and in every other possible way. Justice asks, “Who did it?” Social justice
asks, “Why did he do it?” Lost in all these social justice considerations
is the individual’s own responsibility for what he did. That’s why social justice advocates
have abandoned the term “justice.” They deem justice alone as unfair. And sometimes
it is. A man who was beaten by his father and abandoned by his mother is more likely
to commit a violent crime than a man raised in a loving home. But those facts cannot and
should not determine his innocence or guilt. Why? Because justice is, first and foremost,
about truth: Is the person guilty or innocent of the crime? None of us is omniscient. We
don’t know why people do what they do. After all, the vast majority of people raised in
abusive homes do not commit violent crimes. Nor do the vast majority of people who are
members of an historically oppressed group. Being a victim, however that is defined, is
no excuse for hurting other people. And what about those who are hurt—the victims of
those crimes? Shouldn’t they, and other law-abiding citizens, be society’s first
consideration? Social justice advocates say no. They say
we need social justice to even things out. And that means favoring the have-nots over
the haves—the poor over the rich, the female over the male, and the brown or black over
the white. The Bible does not see the world this way.
In fact, it speaks against it in very explicit terms.
Here’s a law in the Book of Exodus: “Do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd,
and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit.”
Here’s one in Leviticus: “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor
or favoritism to the great but judge your neighbor justly.”
Moses, the greatest lawgiver in history, declares in Deuteronomy: “Follow justice and justice
alone.” And the New Testament declares in the Book
of Romans: “God shows no partiality.” None of this means that there is no place
for compassion in a system of justice. Of course, there is. The Bible is preoccupied
with the protection of the widow, the orphan, and unfortunate. But compassion follows justice.
It doesn’t precede it. Also, justice, in and of itself, is compassionate.
First, to the victims of crime and to their loved ones. And second, to the criminal: How
can you become a better human being if you don’t first recognize that you’ve done
something wrong? That’s why any time we put an adjective
before the word “justice,” we no longer have justice. Economic justice, racial justice,
environmental justice—any form of “social” justice which seeks to “correct” actual
justice—undermines justice. So, then, if social justice is not a biblical
concept, why do so many churches and synagogues promote it?
Because many Christians and Jews no longer regard biblical principles as binding. Because
it’s a lot easier to dispense compassion than hold people to a biblical standard. And
because leftism has superseded the Bible in many houses of worship—and leftism, as a
guiding principle, holds that the weak are good and the powerful are bad.
That’s why the great battle of our time is between Judeo-Christian values and leftist
values. The former is rooted in justice; the latter is not.
I’m Allie Beth Stuckey, host of Relatable on BlazeTV, for Prager University.