IT TAKES COURAGE TO STAND UP FOR JUSTICE
AMID growing uncertainty and turmoil around the globe, it takes courage to stand up for what you think is right.
It’s easy to shake our head in dismay and complain about all that’s wrong with the world. But as Gandhi reminded us in words and actions, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Not happy with police brutality? Worried about the acts of terrorism across the globe? Concerned about the seemingly unstoppable refugee crisis? Frustrated with major corporations benefiting at the expense of ‘the little people’? Well now is the time to stand united and practise social justice – for a better future for all.
At a local level, we see examples of injustice at every level of society, some of which we cannot comprehend when we see large corporations achieve a win above a small business operator. We see innocent people held accountable and unable to protect or defend themselves because our legal system is too powerful and favours those in powerful positions with the means to achieve their goals.
Yet this week, we saw a glimmer of hope that justice and love do prevail when it comes to compassion for humanity, with the muchwelcomed decision that the Tamil family was to be reunited back in Australia. As the community of Biloela joyously celebrated the news, the term ‘Love wins above all’ brought a huge smile and tears of joy to all Australia.
When we think about justice, we often consider it in the context of our personal lives. We have all suffered injustice, so everyone naturally imagines how it could be replaced by actual justice.
Yet justice is a little different in the context of the relationship of the individual with the state, as compared to the relationships between individuals.
Each state and nation have a duty to protect its citizens, to adhere to the rule of law, and to ensure fairness and equity for all. No governmental entity has reached that pinnacle of fairness, but many try – some more than others – to attain it. Justice is a standard that brings order, peace and tranquillity to the life of society. It creates order and fairness, but it also benefits every person because it provides to others what is morally right, does good to all we interact with, and expresses kind, loving, forbearing and generous actions.
In this sense, justice embodies all qualities of moral virtue. To be just means to act with moral rectitude – and if we are acting as such, we know we are being just to the best of our ability.
And as we witnessed with the circumstances surrounding the Tamil family, it was the loving and determined voice of the people in a small rural town in Queensland that showed us a lesson of hope for a refugee family, true compassion and friendship from the community and assurance for the rest of Australia that love and justice can and did prevail.