Thursday, February 17, 2005

No need for charity if there is justice

I have been talking with people about my revolution (my fiancée) and a genius topic was brought up, that I think everyone should think about and should definitely be included in my quest for a better (insert noun). The genius-ness is that if there was justice in the world there would be no need for charity. This is because justice involves a social change, while charity involves a social service. If there was a social problem, and it was changed, it would not have to be serviced. Justice takes care of problems in the long term while charity is a quick fix.
The downfall to this is that charity can happen quickly, you can donate clothes or food or money in a snap, but justice takes time.

I found the perfect quote on the internet:

"Charity will never be true charity unless it takes justice into account ... Let no one attempt with small gifts of charity to exempt themselves from the great duties imposed by justice."
Pope Pius XI, Divini Redemptoris , #49

I have decided that in my ever changing personal quest of some sort of revolution, I will definitely try to be involved with charities, or social services, but I will not let myself think that a quick fix is good enough. I want to work towards social justice, but until then charity is the second best option.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Awesomely good! That is an excellent quote and an excellent point.