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The "Social Justice" Trap
What is Social Justice? Ask 10 people, get 10 different answers ranging from social responsibility, racial equality, and economic distributism to the ubiquitous "isms" of the 20th Century: Marxism-Leninism, Fabian Socialism, Maoism, Islamic Collectivism, and European Socialism that inspired the latest utopianism, Global Collectivist Society. In a relativist world where all ideas are thought to be created equal, any and all ideas that advanced the development of "the human being" in history are subject to reinterpretation and adulteration. Therein lies The "Social Justice" Trap.
"Social Justice" originates in the 19th Century writings of Italian Jesuit Luigi Taparelli who articulated the idea that free will is not the sole condition of the dignity[1] of man.
Rather, man's social existence (natural dependence) carries moral dimensions. As such, one cannot equate "the good" with the pleasurable nor the useful; in fact, the autonomous individual who pursues material existence cannot experience true transcendence, for it is grace that transforms the (informed) conscience and moves us to choose the greater good over the fulfillment of individual desires. Link (here) to the great article at American Thinker.
1 comment:
I enjoyed the article. At the same time, this is a good example of why we can’t hear God. Consider: “the autonomous individual who pursues material existence cannot experience true transcendence, for it is grace that transforms the (informed) conscience and moves us to choose the greater good over the fulfillment of individual desires.”
So no one here can experience transcendence by pursuing the material? Did God tell someone that? Isn’t it possible for God to use the material to such an end in specific cases, as He chooses?
Is it only grace that transforms conscience? God can’t allow other techniques to work for those who may not have a Catholic definition of grace? God’s goals for people do not disappear if those people aren’t Catholic.
Why wouldn’t judgment, values, or internal transformation (current level of soul perfection) allow choosing the greater good? Or does someone claim to understand grace so well that their understanding can override God’s wishes?
In many ways, it’s a waste of time to explain these things. Even if someone were to memorize this understanding, they would still be at their current level of “soul perfection”, and still wouldn’t hear God’s voice. Real help, more often, takes the form of overriding free will to create lessons, consequences, and punishment. I often hear people wish that they could be God or Christ, but they don’t understand the actual obligations.
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