Benedict on Social Justice
Published by Peter Mains on September 07, 2009 at 10:50 PM
I've heard people talk a lot over the years about "social justice," particularly in the context of the Catholic Church. Distributism seems to me to be an intellectual dead end -- more a repudiation of 1930s style fascism than, say, free market capitalism, and thus not very relevant. Secretly, I've always wondered if "distributism" and "social justice" weren't just code for socialism.
Well, reading Benedict's book, "Jesus of Nazareth" gives some interesting insight into what he believes would make for a more just society. He strongly condemns the "Marxist experiment," as well as "compassionate" government policies that breed dependence and obliterate the social order.
The aid offered by the West to developing countries has been purely technically and materially based, and not only has left God out of the picture, but has driven men away from God. And this aid, proudly claiming to "know better," is itself what first turned the "third world" into what we mean by that term today.
This is fascinating stuff, and not the sort of thing I'd expect to hear from a European. It's absolutely true, though, that the poverty we see in Africa and throughout the 3rd world is truly unparalleled in human history. The world is so rich than it was 2,000 years ago, and yet we still have starvation. How is this possible?
As Benedict tells us, when Jesus fed the multitude, he starts by asking for God's blessing. He breaks the bread, and commands people to share the loaves and fishes. Then, there is more than enough. They are moving from faith, to love to fulfillment. (I stress, this is Benedict's insight, not mine!)
If we are centered in Christ, we can find answers to hunger. However, putting this into practice is still difficult, if not impossible on a large, political level. As Benedict points out several pages later,
"the fusion of faith and political power always comes at a price: faith must become the servant of power and bend to its criteria."