Social justice issues absent from presidential debate
The easy column to write this week would be one on the recent Trump/ Clinton debate.
A review of their performances and a consideration of the effects of the presidency of either candidate through a lens of faith is something I know I should write — but not today. Thankfully, or perhaps unfortunately, there are two more debates that afford us the opportunity to look at the candidates from a faith perspective.
Understanding that this was the first of three televised debates, I was surprised at how little time was devoted to social justice issues. I hope that there will be a fuller examination of these themes in the followup meetings, but it does provide us with the opportunitytoconsidersomeofthese problems from a faith perspective.
And that is always the place that a genuine examination of social justice issues begins — with us, with the self, not the other. At the end of the day, while it’s important what influential leaders say and do on the social justice front, it’s far more important what we do, in our own circles of influence, regardless of how big or small those circles may be.
But before we consider just how we might view our communities with an eye towards social issues, the Christ- follower needs to ask why would we want to develop just such a perspective. The short answer, of course, is that these types of issues, and more importantly, the people impacted by these issues, were very dear to, and deeply loved by, Jesus Christ.
The poor, the marginalized, the racially and religiously other — Jesus showed amazing compassion and consideration for such people.
So the short answer, at least in this case, is far from an easy answer.
Unfortunately, we don’t have to look far to find similarly disadvantaged people in our society today. You’ll likely find several examples of social injustice on the pages of the newspaper that you’re reading right now. A professor friend of mine shared with me just this week that she was amazed at how many news stories in the Canadian press can be traced back to our attitudes towards social justice. I think she’s right. In the pages of our newspapers recently we’ve read the following stories: St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik challenged other Niagara mayors to make addressing poverty in our communities a priority; our prime minister challenged the world to give more for AIDS research and for treating tuberculosis, and in Belgium, physicians euthanized a child younger than 18 years old for the first time.
Poverty issues. Life issues. Quality of life issues. These problems are before us every day. And those are just a few of the ones that make the pages of our papers.
What about payday loan organizations setting up shop and targeting the economically challenged areas in our cities? Domestic abuse of women and children continues to be a shameful reality in our communities, as does racism, in both subtle and blatant ways.
Every one of the problems that I mentioned in the previous three paragraphs has a biblical direction on how to handle it. Sometimes it is as simple as “Do not do this,” as in the case of charging interest to those in need of a loan.
From Leviticus 25: “If one of your countrymen becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you. Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God, that your countryman may live beside you. You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food at a profit.”
Whether the Bible clearly lays out how we proceed on justice issues or not, it’s always the implementation of these directives that requires commitment of us.
And maybe if we were to commit a little more, our leaders will be forced to address these problems during the first debates.