When greed needs to discredit Social Justice

In his essay titled "The 'Social Justice' Fallacy: Wolves in Sheep's Clothing", Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson attempts to peel back the covering on the modern notion of "social justice".  Or, at least, his notion of what modern social justice is and says.  The entirety of his argument can be boiled down to the 3rd paragraph:

The modern left’s “social justice” strives for economic equality. It endeavors to reduce, if not erase, the gap between rich and poor by redistributing wealth. This is “justice” more akin to Marx and Lenin, not according to Moses and Jesus.

And there we have it.  A neat, tied with a bow right wing talking point which includes the following key aspects:

1. It creates a distinction between "left" and "right", thus making it into a polar issue one must decide on


2. It uses scary buzzwords commonly used by right wing political candidates and office holders, such as "redistributing wealth"


3. It invokes the scary specters of Marx and Lenin to drive home the point.


4. It invokes Jesus and Moses as being in agreement with the right wingers.

As support for his point regarding "Biblical justice", this apparently-Christian author puzzlingly invokes ancient Hebrew law, which is neither applicable to his religious belief nor is part of what the Christians consider their "New Covenant" with their god.

“Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty”  -Leviticus 19:15

Leviticus being the go-to book of non-applicable law the Christian right wingers use for a quick and direct condemnation of something they dislike, the above passage is about fairness.  The chapter lists multiple things the ancient Hebrews were to do in conducting themselves with their neighbors.  It's the usual stuff we would expect, such as don't cheat someone in a business deal, don't lie, don't steal, and don't mess with the handicapped.

But Dr. Hendrickson picked out the verse about not paying attention to the poor or the rich during judgment as being the example of Biblical justice out of step with "social justice".  He claims that when we attempt to create an egalitarian society, wherein the poor are taken care of and the rich pay their fair share of taxes, it's a form of punitive judgment, with the economic classes being treated differently.

This is a familiar screed to those versed in the various tax arguments used by Republicans, teabaggers, Libertarians, and the like.  Taxing the rich is described as "punishing" the rich.  After all, isn't the fact that the rich pay more in taxes than the poor a form of discrimination?  Aren't forced taxes which are then used to feed the poor a method of income redistribution akin to the monstrous Marxists and Communists?

The answer is, ironically enough, within the very same chapter Dr. Hendrickson quote mined.  Several verses prior to the passage about judgments (more on that in a minute), we find this:

And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.  And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.

The ancient Hebrew lawgivers, and by extension, their god, weren't strangers to the notion of taxes for the purpose of a social safety net.  In the same list of commands their law dictates blind justice, respecting no economic class where the dispensation of justice is concerned, it also commands a portion of the harvest, one's income at the time, to be held back and given over to the poor and "strangers", Bible-speak for foreign travelers.  The verse Dr. Hendrickson picked out was for judgments, for the courts and his use of it to conflate the meaning of "social justice" is all the more egregious as a result.

Social justice as a concept has its very roots in Christianity, first coined by a Jesuit priest named Luigi Taparelli and based on the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas.  It doesn't use "justice" in the legalistic sense Dr. Hendrickson misrepresented it as, but in a larger, more abstract moral sense.  Justice even in terms of when Jesus said "whatsoever you do unto the least of these, you do also unto me."

Dr. Hendrickson is simply one among many in the right wing who would seek to make the Christian god into a capitalist, his son Jesus into a Supply Sider.  Whether through ignorance or malice, they rip passages from context from a book which has many fantastical, unbelievable claims, but also serene nuggets of comfort for the afflicted and downtrodden.  As a recent Pew study confirmed, atheists tend to be the best educated regarding religions and holy books.  With that, I offer Dr. Hendrickson some sorely needed education on what the Bible has to say about helping the poor:

More income tax:

At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.  --Deuteronomy 14:28-29

More protection for the poor:

Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise, says the LORD, I will protect them from those who malign them. --Psalm 12:5

Social Justice:

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.  --Proverbs 31:8-9

The rich need to share:

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.  --1 Timothy 6:17-19

Uplift the poor:

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. --1 John 3:17-19

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="463" caption="Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson --kind of a dickhead"][/caption]